Management training scheme more likely to reject minority ethnic applicants

Applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds are much more likely than others to be rejected by the NHS graduate management training scheme, HSJ can reveal.

Last year, 84% of the 37,557 applications to the graduate management training scheme were from people with a minority ethnic background, but they made up 38% of the 197 people that started the scheme.

HSJ analysis of NHS England data shows that of the previous five full recruitment cycles, one in every 198 minority ethnic applicants was successful, compared to one in every 41 for white applicants.

Of the 1,193 successful applicants in each of the past five full recruitment cycles, 321 (27%) identified as from a minority ethnic background. 

The latest NHSE Workforce Race Equality Standard report warned that many more staff were from a minority ethnic background than board members, with the gap, at 16.8% nationally, being “especially large in 2024, having increased from 13.5% in 2021”.

Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said the low rate of successful minority applicants to the GMTS identified by HSJ was “concerning, not least because the lack of diverse representation at leadership level is a long-standing challenge for the NHS”.

He told HSJ: “Healthcare leaders need to take stock of the data and lead by example in ensuring opportunities for these coveted placements are equally accessible and open to applicants from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds.

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Source: HSJ, 20 October 2025