New Top-up Fee System Is Making Medical Students' Debts Much Worse, Says BMA (Northern Ireland)

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 11 Oct 2007 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

First year medical students could leave university £8,000 more in debt than this year's graduates because of the introduction of variable tuition fees, according to a BMA survey published today, 11 October 2007.

The BMA's UK wide annual medical student finance survey shows the average final year medical student will graduate with debts of over £20,000 (1). It also shows the level of debt among first year students is much worse than it was in 2006. By the end of the first year the average debt is now £7,776, an increase of 12%.

This year's new entrants were the first group to pay variable tuition fees. Under the old system students had to pay a flat rate of £1,175, now it can be anything up to £3,000. According to the BMA survey first year students paid an average of £2,779. This means that in five years they could be £8,000 more in debt just because of the extra money they are paying in tuition fees.

Commenting on the results, Gerard Millen, a fifth year medical student at Queen's University Belfast and Chair of this year's BMA Medical Students Conference, said: "These latest figures are appalling. We are very concerned that the higher fees will hinder accessibility to higher education for talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is bad for the medical profession and bad for society.

"Excluding any of the money that I will have to pay out this year, I have accumulated about £21,000 of debt already."

Ian Noble, chair of the BMA's Medical Students Committee, said: "We have been warning for a long time that variable top-up fees will make student debt much worse. My fear is that these higher fees will put off students from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Becoming a doctor should always be about ability, not how much you are prepared to pay. The government has said it wants to widen access to medical education yet our research shows variable top-up fees are making the situation worse not better."

The findings, based on the completed questionnaires of 1,737 medical students, also show nearly all students have a government loan (91%), over half have an overdraft (55%) and nearly three in five have at least one credit card (59%). Almost one in five students has a bank loan (17%) - the same as last year, but on average they owe £1,400 more than in 2006.

Tom Foley, a graduate whose second degree is medicine and who is also chair of the BMA's Medical Students Finance Subcommittee, said: "The system as it stands is extremely unfair. Our survey shows that more than one in ten students have debts of over £25,000 with some owing £60,000 when they graduate. This isn't because they've mis-spent the money. Many people are unfairly treated by the current system. I've experienced this myself because as a graduate I have to pay £3,000 in fees upfront every year when other students don't (2).

"Financial pressures are forcing medical students to take on ever larger bank loans and jeopardise their studies by working while at university. We need affordable, high quality training for all medical students regardless of their ability to pay."

The BMA is calling for NHS bursaries and other forms of financial support to be more easily available and will be campaigning against the removal of the cap on tuition fees (3).

The full report can be accessed here.

(1) - Includes students in their final years of four, five and six year degree courses. The average amount of debt is £20,266.
(2) - Undergraduate students are able to defer re-payment of their fees until after graduation. However, students who already have a first degree from a UK institution are required to pay their top-up fees up-front. Because government maintenance support cannot be used to pay for tuition fees, the likely source of funds to cover tuition is personal loans borrowed from commercial banks.
(3) - Top-up fees will come under review in 2009. Ministers have made firm commitments not to raise the £3,000 cap until then.

Higher levels of debt among medical students compared to other students are due to longer courses - normally of five or six years, fewer opportunities to work part-time and additional expenses for travel to hospital placements and for equipment such as stethoscopes.

British Medical Association
http://www.bma.org.uk

• Additional
• References
• Citations