Recommendation BRIS-78: Widen medical school access for diverse academic and socio-economic backgrounds
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Access to medical schools should be widened to include people from diverse academic and socio-economic backgrounds. Those with qualifications in other areas of healthcare and those with an educational background in subjects other than science, who have the ability and wish to do so, should have greater opportunities than is presently the case, to enter medical schools.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say in progress (27 February 2026)
The Medical Schools Council has published a framework for active inclusion, which seeks to challenge exclusions in medical education (2021), including recruitment to medical schools.
The GMC also sets standards for the delivery of medical training, stating selection must be open, fair and transparent. UK medical schools are free to set their own policies in how they select their students.
The NHS has set out targeted actions to address prejudice and discrimination – direct and indirect – that exists through behaviour, policies, practices and culture in the NHS. The Long-term Workforce Plan (confirmed by the Messenger Review) reaffirmed the need for this action. The plan defines the size, shape, mix and number of staff needed to deliver high quality care, now and in the future. The EDI improvement plan supports the Long term Workforce Plan by improving the culture of our workplaces and the experiences of the workforce.
Site note: DHSC and NHS England's own account of progress, supplied to the Thirlwall Inquiry in September 2024 and printed in the Inquiry legal team's Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025, published 27 February 2026). It is not a finding of the Inquiry. Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Implemented – Ongoing”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 78, PDF page 107.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (15 May 2024)
The Government agreed with this recommendation.
In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said that when medical schools were asked to bid for extra places in 2000 and 2001, they were asked to demonstrate an active commitment to recruiting students from a broad range of social, ethnic and educational backgrounds.
Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 6.2 No. 78, PDF page 97.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding