Application numbers & regional competition ratios
The table below shows the number of posts, applications and resulting competition ratios from recent years. Please be aware that the figures in this table were taken at the end of the recruitment year.
| Vacancy / application numbers, round 1 2015-2023 |
|---|
| Year | Vacancies | Applications | Competition ratio |
|---|
| 2023 |
1633 |
4406 |
2.69 |
| 2022 |
1640 |
4008 |
2.44 |
| 2021 |
1567 |
3590 |
2.29 |
| 2020 |
1610 |
2798 |
1.74 |
| 2019 |
1563 |
2225 |
1.42 |
| 2018 |
1638 |
2455 |
1.50 |
| 2017 |
1678 |
2337 |
1.39 |
| 2016 |
1640 |
2516 |
1.53 |
| 2015 |
1550 |
2631 |
1.70 |
Changes were made to the recruitment process in 2018 such that applications are now made nationally, with candidates in competition for all regions throughout the process, where in previous years applications were made to a specific region. Although the process has changed, there is data on the website from previous years to help you gauge the relative popularity of each region:
- Information about programme preferences and the competitiveness of each region can be found in the document library.
- Fill rate data from previous years is available in the document library.
- The table below shows the posts, applications and competition ratios for each region for round 1 of recruitment between 2015-2017 (when applicants preferenced specific regions at time of application); notes on the table's columns are given beneath the table:
| Vacancy / application numbers per region, round 1 2015 - 2017 |
|---|
| Region | | 2015 | | | 2016 | | 2017 |
|---|
| Vacancies | Apps | Comp
ratio | Vacancies | Apps | Comp ratio | Vacancies | Apps | Comp
ratio |
|---|
| HE East Midlands |
85 |
95 |
1.12 |
87 |
119 |
1.37 |
94 |
95 |
1.01 |
| HE East of England |
109 |
141 |
1.29 |
115-140 |
116 |
0.91 |
119-139 |
105 |
0.81 |
| HE Kent, Surrey & Sussex |
98-111 |
122 |
1.16 |
115 |
104 |
0.9 |
99-130 |
107 |
0.93 |
| HE North East |
70 |
106 |
1.51 |
81 |
72 |
0.89 |
91 |
72 |
0.79 |
| HE NW (Mersey) |
70-80 |
92 |
1.39
|
70-90
|
266
|
1.43
|
70-90 |
238 |
1.33 |
| HE NW (North Western) |
103-121 |
168 |
94-118 |
90-107 |
| HE SW (Peninsula) |
88
|
179
|
2.03
|
47-57
|
160
|
1.37
|
47 |
150 |
1.33 |
| HE SW (Severn) |
65 |
66 |
| HE Thames Valley |
33-58 |
92 |
2.04 |
38-48
|
96 |
2.23 |
43-48 |
85 |
1.87 |
| HE Wessex |
64 |
77 |
1.20 |
56-67 |
82 |
1.33 |
60-67 |
60 |
0.94 |
| HE West Midlands |
108-132 |
164 |
1.37 |
122-150 |
139 |
1.02 |
102-122 |
133 |
1.19 |
| HE Yorkshire & Humber |
122 |
156 |
1.28 |
152 |
156 |
1.03 |
144-179 |
141 |
0.87 |
| London |
309 |
832 |
2.69 |
267-312 |
784 |
2.71 |
250-305 |
745 |
2.68 |
| Northern Ireland |
52 |
113 |
2.17 |
70 |
83 |
1.19 |
88 |
82 |
1.07 |
| Scotland |
102 |
231 |
2.27 |
116 |
244 |
2.1 |
134 |
249 |
1.86 |
| Wales |
62 |
59 |
0.95 |
77-92 |
89 |
1.05 |
82-92 |
69 |
0.79 |
| Total | 1524 | 2627 | 1.72 | 1666 | 2510 | 1.51 | 1683 | 2337 | 1.39 |
|---|
Region
These are divided into the regions to which applicants could be considered in 2015-17. The number of applications relates to the total that chose it as their first choice region on their application form.
Vacancies
The vacancy numbers given here for each region are the total of all ACCS-IM and CMT vacancies available in the round. Numbers for this table are taken at the end of the round 1 application period; however, please note that post numbers sometimes change (usually upwards) during the recruitment year; final post numbers for the year is available with the fill rate information in the document library.
Competition ratio
The competition ratio for each region is calculated simply by dividing the number of applicants by the (total) number of posts available; eg 10 applicants competing for five posts would give a ratio of 2.0. When a range is given for post numbers, the mid-point is taken to calculate competition ratios and totals.
