The GMC have announced (29 March 2023) that their updated guidance for students applying to join the medical register “has led to a sustained fall in the number of low-level fitness to practise declarations needing no further action by the regulator, according to new data”.
“In 2022, of 7,943 applications, only three were refused (0.04%). Students who are refused often join the register later, once they can demonstrate the concern has been remediated. In 2022, health declarations were down by 63% when compared with the four-year average, pre-update”.
The report makes clear that “Of the 462 applicants that declared fitness to practise concerns, 207 were referred to [the GMC] Registration Investigation Team…[they] refused provisional registration to three applicants in 2022, which equates to just 0.04% of all applications received from UK medical graduates”.
A copy of the announcement and summary report can be found here:
The report is well worth a read – in particular the comparisons with declarations in earlier years.