Studying a much longer course than other undergraduates, medical students are at university for five or six years; thus, towards the end of their degree, they lose access to full maintenance loans from Student Finance. The NHS Bursary they receive in lieu of the maintenance loan is not only a decreased amount, it coincides with many students having more hours at their financially and temporally demanding clinical placements.
over 50% of medical students work paid jobs to cover living costs, while over 85% cut non-essential purchases to continue their studies.
BMA Students report that in their final year of medical school, students face an “overall drop of over £4,500 in maintenance funding — rising to £6,000 in London”. Their research shows that over 50% of medical students work paid jobs to cover living costs, while over 85% cut non-essential purchases to continue their studies. Thursday’s on-campus event is a ‘Fix our Funding’ forum, led by the BMA Medical Student Committee, aiming to raise awareness of how this decline in funding is harmful to students’ education, wellbeing, and career prospects.
Lewis, a first year medical student at Newcastle University, told The Courier that he lives at home and works part-time alongside his studies to avoid debt: “I was going to initially set my hours at work to be something that was manageable alongside my degree. So, I allocated myself my weekly budget - I would spend what I earned at work throughout the week. I decided not to tale a student loan, and I live at home, so I could hopefully have less debt later on. But managing car expenses, living costs, such as food, travel, it can be quite a lot.
“I think my financial situation [in the next few years] is going to be based on how much time I can dedicate to spending in paid employment.
"As my degree progresses, I know that I'm going to have less time to dedicate to paid work, and I'm going to have to dedicate more time to actually working on the degree. It's something that I'm already seeing now, as I'm already trying to consider a financial shift that will benefit me educationally more than economically.
"Due to the intensity of the degree, more financial support is likely going to be needed for medical students. I think would be good to at least to have as an option for students in more difficult degrees.”
BMA co-chair Anusha Gajanan stressed that the campaign “is not about disruption or confrontation. It’s about awareness, education and unity”, and that students’ involvement is vital: “by bringing the campaign onto campus, students can show why the Government needs to pay attention and act. Making sure medical students receive full maintenance would make a real difference - not just for us students, but for the sustainability and diversity of the future NHS workforce.”
four in ten medical students have reported that they considered dropping out after worrying that they cannot afford to continue their studies
The ‘Stop the Drop’ campaign day coincides with the release of a BMA report, which surveyed over 3,500 medical students. It finds that the existing system is failing students: four in ten medical students have reported that they considered dropping out after worrying that they cannot afford to continue their studies; nine in ten students say their financial situation has a detrimental effect on their mental health; over 100 students reported relying on food banks; many said they were unable to heat their homes, turning to overdrafts, private loans, working alongside their studies, or family and friends to get by.