Students from less affluent backgrounds are penalised

Jennie Ciechan

The average amount of total debt owed by medical students is �9,732.

By the time they qualify as doctors the figure rises to �13,350.

The highest figure reported in the survey was almost �30,000.

A fifth of medical students in the survey had a total debt of over �15,000 and among final year students this proportion rose to 40%.

A typical final year medical student owes �8,000 in student loans and has a bank overdraft of almost �2,000.

Over two-fifths of final year students also have a personal bank loan, the average size of which is just over �8,000.

The BMA says debts have soared since the introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of maintenance grants with student loans.

No work

It says that unlike many other students the vast majority of medical students are unable to take on paid work in term or holiday time making it particularly difficult to finance their education.

Financial help is also limited in the final year at a time when medical students are having to regularly travel to different hospitals or GPs' surgeries as part of their course.

Jennie Ciechan, a medical student from Edinburgh and chairman of the BMA's medical students committee said: "Students from less affluent backgrounds are penalised because the current financial arrangements rely on significant parental income.

"The present system is clearly unsatisfactory if the government is serious in its pledge to attract a broad socio-economic mix of students into higher education."

Review

The Department of Education and Skills is currently undertaking a review of student finance.

The BMA said it would be particularly concerned if student loans were dropped in favour of commercial loans as a significant proportion of students already have bank loans on top of their student loans which attract higher interest payments.

It is in favour of re-introducing grants for students from lower income backgrounds and implementing a graduate endowment system, as in Scotland, with repayments starting when income reflects the benefits of a university degree.

The BMA's 1999/2000 survey found that the average total debt was �7,981 and for final year students this rose to �10,797.