GP selection rests entirely on the MSRA.
There is no interview or portfolio stage. NHS England's GP recruitment overview says: "A subsequent face-to-face or virtual assessment at a Selection Centre will not occur." The same page describes the Single Transferable Score used for UK-wide portability, which allows successful applicants to be considered across the UK instead of one region. STS is not the name of the result or the ranking method.
Band 1 in either paper ends the GP application
Both MSRA papers receive a standardised score. For GP, each paper is then placed in Band 1, 2, 3 or 4. Band 1 records performance below the minimum acceptable standard. A Band 1 in either paper makes the whole GP application unsuccessful, even if the other paper went well.
NHS England has not published a combined score that guarantees a nationwide offer. Offers depend on your rank, the posts available, other applicants' choices and, now, priority status. An appointable score may still fall short of the programme you want. The 2025 competition ratio was 20,995 applications for 4,276 posts, or 4.91 applications per post, although that predates the Act's effect on offer order.
The MSRA outcome is final. NHS England's complaints route covers an evidenced failure in the recruitment process; disagreement with the mark sits outside it.
Fresh GP sittings follow the rules published for each round. Resits within a recruitment year have historically depended on application volume, while score transfer has its own time limit and conditions. The 2026 Round 3 vacancies, from the application round closing on 29 July 2027 for posts starting January to March 2028, went to the existing reserve list. That leaves the sitting attached to your current application as the one to plan around. Our GP resit and score-transfer guide holds the current wording to check before you rely on an older score.
Three national Round 1 dates are confirmed
The published dates are:
- applications open at 10:00 on Thursday 22 October 2026;
- applications close at 16:00 on Thursday 19 November 2026; and
- initial offers are due by 17:00 on Tuesday 6 April 2027.
The closing time belongs in your calendar with the date. The MSRA 2027 dates page holds the national selection, hold and upgrade deadlines. The Oriel walkthrough covers the application form, priority-status check and offer choices in the order you will meet them.
The GP-specific 2027 timetable was still unpublished at the time of writing. The 2026 cycle provides the previous pattern. Its advert appeared on 22 October 2025, applications ran from 23 October to 20 November, and the MSRA was split between 6 to 19 January 2026 for all MSRA specialties and 12 to 25 February for GP-only and Core Psychiatry-only applicants. The February allocation depended on capacity. GP results followed from 17 March and first offers were due by 17:00 on 31 March.
Those exam dates remain a previous-cycle pattern. By 3 August 2026, NHS England had published the national January-to-April selection window; the exact 2027 MSRA sitting and booking dates were still pending.
Round 3 closes on 29 July 2027 for posts starting January to March 2028
GP ST1 was absent from NHS England's confirmed recruiting list, published on 6 July 2026. The update says available posts in specialties with enough suitable, appointable candidates will be offered directly to people on the existing reserve list, without a new application. The next fresh GP opportunity after a missed main application was the following recruitment cycle. A future recruitment notice could change that position, but the published 2026 list did not support a new application in that round.
Prioritisation now reaches GP shortlisting
Pulse, citing NHS England data, reported 4,364 GP places; all were accepted by "UK graduates or applicants working in the NHS", compared with 62% in 2025. That reporting category is broader than the statutory priority group, so the labels describe different groups. The separate statutory figure covered all specialties: 98% of posts were filled by priority candidates in 2026, compared with 72% in 2025. NHS England's impact publication gives both measures. They answer different questions.
The Act became law in March 2026 and applied at the offer stage in that cycle. For GP in 2027, its extension from shortlisting through offers means a non-priority applicant may be affected before the offer stage, however strong the eventual score. The score establishes rank within the applicable tier; the legislation sets the order in which tiers are considered. At the time of writing, the further regulations for a possible group based on significant NHS experience and/or immigration status were due in early autumn 2026 and remained unpublished. The 2026 immigration route belonged to that cycle. Our Prioritisation Act guide sets out the categories and their edge cases, while NHS England's live prioritisation page is the place to check when applications open.
IMG eligibility and priority remain separate
The RCGP says IMGs make up over 50% of GP registrars. International doctors are already a large part of the registrar workforce. The 2026 category above describes accepted training places; it does not change that workforce fact. If you are a non-priority IMG, eligibility and a high score still do not establish that an offer will follow.
Some IMGs have a priority route. Established routes include a qualifying primary medical degree from the UK or one of the specified European countries, subject to where the training took place, and completion of or current enrolment in the UK Foundation Programme for ST1 entry.
CREST answers a different question. Many IMGs use it to prove foundation competence for eligibility; doctors who started and then left the UK Foundation Programme are excluded from this route. The accepted form is the 2024 version, and an eligible signatory must have supervised you continuously for at least three months full-time-equivalent within the relevant 3.5-year window. A valid CREST form establishes eligibility only. Priority status is separate.
The Medical Training Initiative closed to new applicants at noon on 31 March 2026. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published the notice; NHS England had taken the decision to end the current scheme. Doctors already in placements could complete them, and a successor remained unconfirmed.
There is also an immigration problem after qualification. GP training lasts three years, so many international registrars complete it before reaching the usual five-year point for settlement. The RCGP has argued that international GPs completing UK training should be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain instead of having to find an employing practice that will sponsor them. This remains RCGP advocacy; current entitlement is unchanged.
If you know you are non-priority, the regulations are needed before you can judge how much time and money a GP-only application deserves. A high MSRA score remains necessary if recruitment reaches that group, but the 2026 GP result offers no reassurance about an offer. Service-post and other-country plans remain open. Our IMG options for 2027 page compares those routes and states the training outcome of each.
More GP places do not settle the odds
GP training capacity has grown. A ministerial answer said places increased to 4,500 from September 2025. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims for 5,000 GP training places a year by 2027/28 and 6,000 by 2031/32. Those capacity ambitions do not support a personal forecast. The 10 Year Health Plan also referred to 1,000 new specialty training posts over three years, across all specialties. Full Fact found the GP share was unpublished, so there is no figure to add to the GP total.
GP training usually runs for three years
GP specialty training normally runs for three years to CCT under the GMC-approved curriculum. NHS England's overview guarantees at least 18 months in an approved training practice, with the rest in approved hospital or integrated posts. The RCGP says programmes are increasingly constructed with 24 months in general practice and about 12 months in hospital, community or integrated posts. A growing number of four-year options may add academic, fellowship or wider experience around the core programme.
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Questions doctors ask about GP training in 2027
Is there a GP interview?
The MSRA is the sole national selection assessment. NHS England says a subsequent face-to-face or virtual assessment at a Selection Centre "will not occur".
What MSRA score do I need for GP?
Both papers must clear Band 1. Beyond that, the required rank changes with post numbers, preferences, the cohort and priority tier, so an old regional cut-off is context instead of a target.
Can IMGs still get GP training in 2027?
IMGs can apply if eligible, and some qualify for priority through their degree, UK programme history or a route confirmed in the 2027 rules. For a non-priority IMG, every reported GP place in 2026 went to the UK-graduates-or-NHS-workers category. Access in 2027 depends on the final priority rules and whether recruitment reaches that tier.
Could Round 3, closing on 29 July 2027 for posts starting January to March 2028, replace a missed Round 1?
February-start posts may exist, but in the 2026 cycle they were filled from the existing reserve list. A missed Round 1 meant waiting for the following recruitment cycle. Use the published round for your plan because an unannounced fresh application is guesswork.