Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) will have 50 new places for undergraduate medical students from 2019-2020, as part of 1,000 new medical places announced by Government to fill the shortfall in clinicians.

The increased places will help BSMS meet future workforce needs in order to improve health outcomes for an increasingly aged and frail population, and to address the current health inequalities in the Kent, Surrey, and Sussex region, particularly in areas of coastal deprivation.

The School intends to allocate all extra places to candidates who meet certain criteria, including living in deprived areas, attending a poorly performing school, whose parents are in receipt of benefits, or who are coming from care.

Welcoming the announcement, Dean of Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Professor Malcolm Reed, said: “We are one of the most successful medical schools in terms of widening participation, and the allocation of these extra places will allow us to increase our focus on medicine as a career for those from under-represented backgrounds.”

“We are known for our supportive and encouraging atmosphere, and received an overall score of 99% in the National Student Survey 2017, making us the top undergraduate medical school in the UK. The newly allocated places will allow us to continue to provide an outstanding educational experience for students, while offering such an opportunity to those who would otherwise very probably miss out.”

The medical school will extend the reach of its widening participation programme, BrightMed, which helps talented students from local state schools, who may not have considered medicine a possibility, to apply to and prepare for medical school.

BSMS is a partnership between the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. The strong reputations of both universities in medical-related sciences underpin teaching in the School, which is also partnered by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.