The BMA Resident Doctors Committee took three rounds of five-day strike action in 2025 (25-30 July, 14-19 October and 17-22 December 2025).
Here, we tell you everything you need to know about the BMA resident doctor strikes, including what patients need to know about their care.
Are resident doctors going on strike?
There are no planned resident doctor strikes in England this year.
However, the BMA Resident Doctors Committee has secured a mandate from their members for strike action for the next six months, to 1 August 2026.
This means they may choose to call future strike action, but the BMA must provide notice of any planned action.
Turnout was 52.5%, down from 55.3% in 2025, 61.9% in 2024, 71.3% in June-Aug 2023, and 77.5% in January-February 2023.
Fewer than half of BMA resident doctor members and only a third of all resident doctors voted for strike action.
Before 18 February, the BMA is required to give a minimum of 14 days' notice before any planned industrial action.
Following 18 February, the BMA is required to give a minimum of 10 days' notice before any planned industrial action, in line with the amendments introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025.
What happens next and what are you doing to stop strikes?
On top of a 28.9% pay rise over the last three years, this government is continuing to work with the BMA to address the issues resident doctors face in their careers, including fast-tracking legislation to prioritise home grown medical graduates for specialty training.
The government has been in intensive and constructive discussions with the BMA Resident Doctors Committee since the start of the new year to try and bring an end to the damaging cycle of strikes and avoid further unnecessary disruption for patients and NHS staff.
We hope that these talks result in an agreement that works for everyone.
These talks are continuing to avert any strike action.
Is it true that there’s a doctor employment crisis, and what are you doing to tackle this?
We recognise the legitimate concerns resident doctors have raised about access to specialty training places.
We invest over £4 billion each year in training the medical workforce, yet homegrown talent has faced worsening bottlenecks for specialty training places since 2020.
This government is addressing the incoherent workforce planning decisions made by the previous government, decisions that have seen competition for doctors' jobs skyrocket.
We’re addressing these issues, like we did with the graduate guarantee for nurses in August, so that the doctors we train and other doctors who have NHS experience aren’t squeezed out of opportunities.
We responded to resident doctors' concerns by introducing The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill on 13 January. The Bill prioritises UK medical graduates and others with significant NHS experience for speciality training. It is currently making its way through parliament so that it can benefit this year’s applicants.
Our 10 Year Health Plan also commits to creating 1000 extra speciality training places over three years.
In October last year, NHSE also made changes to this year’s specialty training application process to reduce competition and support UK medical graduates.
What about international medical graduates?
Internationally trained doctors make a huge contribution to the NHS and will continue to do so.
If passed, the Bill will also enable us to prioritise internationally trained doctors with significant NHS experience. We are not excluding anyone from applying for training places, they just won’t be prioritised.
How much do resident doctors earn?
Resident doctors can increase their pay if rostered during unsocial hours or through working additional hours. The impact of additional earnings means that average earnings for Foundation Year 1 doctors are expected to be around £49,000 increasing to £97,000 for the most experienced resident doctors.
That is significantly more, in a resident doctor’s first year, than the average full-time worker in this country earns.
What pay rises have they had in recent years?
Resident doctors pay has increased by 28.9% across the last three years, thanks to this government.
For the second consecutive year, resident doctors received the highest pay increase across the public sector – 5.4% this year.
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