Health education funding

Undergraduate medical and dental training is jointly funded by:

• OfS high-cost funding for teaching costs
• NHS England clinical placements costs
• the fees paid by students to providers.

Our high-cost funding for teaching takes the form of a grant allocated as part of our annual funding allocations to eligible providers. These grants are based on the number of medical and dental students studying at each provider. 

Maximum fundable limits

We limit the number of students on pre-registration medical and dental courses that we will count towards our funding allocations. These limits recognise the very high cost of training for doctors and dentists and help ensure that unplanned growth on these courses does not divert OfS funding away from other priority activities and courses. They also support workforce planning in the NHS, enabling consistency between the numbers graduating and the number of foundation programme training places available.

Find out more about the maximum fundable limits

Education standards

Medical and dental schools set their own admissions criteria. Standards for medical and dental education are set by the General Medical Council and the General Dental Council.

Read about the General Medical Council’s role in setting education standards

Read about the General Dental Council’s role in setting education standards