Wales holds 5th highest number of postgraduate trainee doctors in the UK, while junior doctors strike start

Swansea University has the biggest proportion of medical dropouts, with 4.7% of students leaving the profession. The Welsh capital, Cardiff just misses out on the top 10 here, ranking 11th with 0.4% of students leaving the medical profession.

When it comes to healthcare vacancies, Cardiff ranks in 14th place with 27.8 job vacancies in the healthcare sector per 10,000 residents.

For students hoping to get appointed straight out of university, Swansea University ranks quite low with only 50% of graduates finding themselves chosen for a medical-based job in the UK. The Welsh Capital’s, Cardiff University ranks even lower with only 48.2%.

However, Cardiff University has seen one of the highest numbers of graduate doctors leave its walls between 1907 and 2023 with a grand total of 11,357 – 7th highest in the UK.

Almost three-quarters of Lancaster Medical School students are clinically appointed in the UK – the highest proportion of any medical school in the country.

Of all the UK cities, you’re most likely to find healthcare vacancies in Lancaster, with more than 300 opportunities per 10,000 residents.

With 368 sites as of 2022, the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has the most sites of every NHS trust on our list.