Is there a GP shortage in the UK?
Demand for GPs in the UK is high. As of July 2026, the number of fully qualified full-time-equivalent (FTE) GPs in England has broadly not kept pace with the growth in registered patients β so the number of patients per fully-qualified FTE GP has risen. That gap, not any single headline figure, is why UK general practice has sustained demand for doctors. This page points you to the real, official sources rather than repeating numbers that change every month.
Published policy figure
6,000 GP training places a year by 2031/32
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (June 2023) set out plans to increase the number of GP specialty training places to 6,000 a year by 2031/32.
Source: NHS Long Term Workforce Plan β NHS England, Published June 2023..
The current headline numbers
NHS England publishes the General Practice Workforce Official Statistics every month, including GP headcount and full-time-equivalent (FTE) figures for England. Because those figures are revised with each monthly release, we do not reproduce a specific count here β reading a stale number is worse than reading the live one.
Latest monthly figures β load from the source
For the current fully-qualified FTE GP count, total GP headcount, and the trend over time, open the latest monthly release:
Open NHS England General Practice Workforce statisticsWhy the workforce is measured in FTE, not headcount
GP numbers are usually discussed as full-time-equivalents (FTE) rather than headcount, because many GPs work part-time. A rising headcount can sit alongside a flat or falling FTE count if average hours per GP fall β which is why the FTE figure, and the number of patients per FTE GP, is the more meaningful measure of capacity. The NHS England statistics report both.
From shortage to pathway
Sustained demand is the backdrop to the registration pathway covered in this guide. If you are a doctor who has independently decided to work in UK general practice, the routes onto the GP Register β a UK CCT or the portfolio (equivalence) route β are set out on the UK GP pathway overview.
Source
General Practice Workforce, Official Statistics β NHS England (formerly NHS Digital).
Published monthly. Headcount and full-time-equivalent (FTE) figures for GPs in England, updated each month β look up the latest month for current headline numbers.
Related Gera data
For patient-side access measures, see the Gera GP Access Index and GP appointment access by ICB. For the broader NHS clinical vacancy picture, see the NHS vacancy index.