Major Debt Ahead For Medical Students

Doctors’ leaders have warned ministers that increasing tuition fees could result in medical students facing a debt bill of potentially £100,000.

Proposals to allow universities to charge fees up to £12,000 are contained in Lord Browne’s report, Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education: An Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance.

The review recommends that students should pay higher rates of interest on their student loans and an increase in the income level at which these loans are repaid, from £15,000 to £21,000.

The British Medical Association (BMA) estimates that any further increases in tuition fees could result in a prohibitive level of debt for the next generation of medical students.

Graduates are currently leaving medical school with an estimated £37,000 worth of debt under the present £3,290 annual fee1. They also have to rely on around £16,000 worth of support from their families over the course of their degree2.

It is believed that raising fees would increase debt significantly. If fees are levied at around £10,000 for example, this could leave students studying in the UK living with debt of around £70,000. However, these are conservative average levels of debt, based solely on student loan debt and exclude credit card, professional loans and other debts.

There is also the potential that some students could incur debts up to and beyond £100,000 if fees are set at £10,000 or above by medical schools.

Responding to the report, Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of BMA Council said: “The BMA is encouraged that Lord Browne recognises that there are special circumstances pertaining to degrees like medicine, in terms of the cost of study and the social benefit they bring, that need to be examined. It is also pleasing that Lord Browne has raised the income level at which loans will be paid back.

“However, it is deeply disappointing that he has decided to recommend a set of proposals which, at their heart, will lead to crippling levels of debt for future medical students.

“The five-year medical degree is already an expensive undertaking because of its length, costly course materials and an intensive programme of study that leaves students with little room for taking on part-time work to supplement their fees. If tuition fees are increased further then students are looking at incredibly high levels of debt that could reach as much as £100,000. At this level many potential students from low-income families would be discouraged from applying to become the doctors of the future. Already just one in seven successful applicants currently comes from the lowest-income backgrounds.”

He concluded: “The BMA will be writing to Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in order to ask him to abandon the most damaging recommendations. If they are implemented they could place a massive financial barrier in front of talented students who have the potential to become great assets to the NHS and patients.”

(BMcN/GK)