FOUNDATION SCHOOL GUIDE
Northern Foundation School hospitals
Northern Foundation School covers North East England and north Cumbria. Possible sites extend from Newcastle and Sunderland through County Durham and Teesside to Carlisle and Whitehaven.
UKFP 2026 PRIMARY-ALLOCATION RATIO
0.76 first-choice applicants per programme- Programmes
- 568
- First choices
- 432
- After pre-allocation
- 0.74
A ratio above 1.00 means there were more first-choice applicants than programmes. It is a historical demand measure, not an individual probability of allocation.
Compare all 18 Foundation Schools across 2024–2026Possible hospital locations
The table lists the hospital sites currently shown for Northern. Availability can change between recruitment years, so confirm rotations in the live Oriel programme information before ranking.
| # | Hospital site | Town or area |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Victoria Infirmary | Newcastle |
| 2 | Freeman Hospital | Newcastle |
| 3 | Sunderland Royal Hospital | Sunderland |
| 4 | University Hospital of North Durham | Durham |
| 5 | Darlington Memorial Hospital | Darlington |
| 6 | Cumberland Infirmary | Carlisle |
| 7 | Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital | Cramlington |
| 8 | Wansbeck General Hospital | Ashington |
| 9 | North Tyneside General Hospital | North Shields |
| 10 | Queen Elizabeth Hospital Gateshead | Gateshead |
| 11 | South Tyneside District Hospital | South Shields |
| 12 | Bishop Auckland Hospital | Bishop Auckland |
| 13 | University Hospital of North Tees | Stockton-on-Tees |
| 14 | University Hospital of Hartlepool | Hartlepool |
| 15 | James Cook University Hospital | Middlesbrough |
| 16 | Friarage Hospital | Northallerton |
| 17 | West Cumberland Hospital | Whitehaven |
SCHOOL-SPECIFIC ANALYSIS
What the mapped footprint shows
The largest repeated locality labels on the map are Newcastle (2 sites). In total, 17 sites are distributed across 16 named towns or localities.
Northern recorded primary first-preference ratios of 0.82 in 2024, 0.94 in 2025 and 0.76 in 2026. The 2026 figure was lower than the 2024 figure. Across the three published cycles, the range was 0.76 to 0.94, illustrating why one year should not be treated as a forecast.
Questions to check for this school
- Which current programmes include the mapped sites, and in which training year?
- Are programmes divided into local groups that reduce travel across the full school footprint?
- Which locations would require a move, a car or travel outside normal public-transport hours?
- Have programme numbers or local allocation arrangements changed since the historic ratio was published?
How to use this information
This is an independent orientation resource. A mapped hospital is a possible location associated with the Foundation School, not a promise that a placement will be offered in every recruitment round. Use the official Foundation School and Oriel listings for final decisions.