Posts Tagged ‘Debt’

Study shows continued rise in student debt

By Mike Broad - 12th August 2011 1:08 pm

Next year, when higher fees kick in, new students should expect their average debts to reach £53,400 - and that’s just those doing three year courses, new figures show.

The annual survey by Push finds that student debt already tops £5,680 for each year of study. The inflation-busting increase of 6.4% may reflect a continuingly difficult economic climate for students, with many having to perform part-time and temporary jobs to continue.

Will Seiligman, chair of the BMA’s student finance committee, said: “The predicted increases in graduation debt contained in the Push survey are depressing, but expected.

“Many current students are already struggling with the expense of their degree, especially those studying longer, costly courses like medicine. The BMA estimates that most medical undergraduates are relying on around £15,000 worth of support from their parents during their five to six year degrees.

The Push Student Debt Survey interviewed over 2,800 students at 115 university campuses throughout the UK.

“For the next generation of medical students the situation will be even worse now that the government is allowing medical schools to treble their annual tuition fee charges to as much as £9,000 from next year,” said Seiligman.

BMA research estimates that they could face debt of at least £70,000 - a huge figure that could deter many able youngsters from low and middle income families from applying to medical school.

Medical degrees take five to six years to complete, longer than most undergraduate courses which usually take three years. In addition, in most degrees the academic year is 30 weeks long, but for a medical degree it can be up to 45 weeks. This extra long academic year means more debt is accumulated and there is less chance for medical students to work in their holidays. Medical courses also tend to have expensive course equipment and materials.

He said: “We must not enter an era where your ability to become a doctor depends on the depth of your bank balance rather than the extent of your talent. The government must do more to address the student debt crisis that we are heading into - or it risks failing the next generation of aspiring doctors.”

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Juniors can’t meet professional training fees

By Francesca Robinson - 18th March 2011 9:12 am

The first generation of junior doctors to graduate with significant debt because of increased tuition fees are burdened with financial problems and are struggling to pay mandatory training fees.

More than three quarters (78%) of trainee surgeons who responded to a survey said they graduated in 2004 with an average debt of over £20,000 and now had poor credit ratings. Many were having problems getting approval for mortgages and credit cards.

The BMA is warning these financial concerns will escalate when tuition fees are raised to £9,000 from 2012.

The survey was conducted by the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) to investigate concerns about the costs of surgical training. The 1,085 trainee surgeons who replied revealed that they are struggling with the expense of mandatory courses and exams during the early years of training.

ASiT says training costs are rising but trainees’ salaries have been reduced because European Working Time Regulations have restricted the time officially spent at work. The loss of free house office accommodation has also had an impact.

ASiT president Mr Charlie Giddings warned that the covert and sustained push of educational fees toward the trainee could make surgery an unpopular career choice.

“The results of this survey are troubling and have far reaching implications for the medical profession and for the future of the surgical workforce,” he said.

The BMA has calculated that an increase in tuition fees to £9,000 next year will result in medical students graduating with debts starting at £70,000. With current fees of £3,250 students are predicted to graduate with debts of £37,000 and £47,000 in London, for the first time this summer.

Dr Shree Datta, co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said increasing debt could force some newly qualified juniors to abandon a career in medicine or work abroad in more lucrative jobs.

“With the national pay increment freeze and the rising cost of living, the squeeze on junior doctors’ salaries has never been greater. We need to make sure that trainees are well supported in terms of their study leave and their finances,” she said.

Mr John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “Increased local control over training budgets to be brought in under the coming NHS reforms could mean greater variability between trusts in how these funds are spent, so it is timely for ASiT to be raising this issue.”

Juniors only received a 1% pay rise for 2010/2011.

Read one blog criticising a surgical career, or another defending it.

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Medical students burdened by 23 grand of debt

By Mike Broad - 12th April 2010 9:08 am

Many families have to find over £3,000 a year to fund their children through medical school, a report reveals.

The BMA research says that two thirds of medical students are now relying on parental support while they study, with the average amount being given in a year standing at £3,123. This equates to over £15,000 during the course of a five-year medical degree.

The report, which surveyed nearly 2,000 students, also finds that juniors who graduated in 2009 left medical school with an average debt of £22,851 - a fifth higher than in 2008.

The number of students entering medicine from low income groups remains poor, with just one in 20 medical students coming from the lowest two income groups.

Louise McMenemy, the BMA’s student finance lead, said: “The UK is facing a growing crisis in medical student finance that many policy makers appear unwilling to address.

“It is vital that these huge financial burdens are tackled, especially by the current higher education funding review, and not exacerbated by any further rise in tuition fees. This move would be a disaster, as we are already facing a situation where the NHS risks being denied the services of talented individuals with the ability, but not the bank balance, to get them through medical school.”

Read the full report.

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Tuition fee review threatens to exclude majority

By Mike Broad - 12th June 2009 1:22 pm

Doctors are going to be recruited from increasingly privileged backgrounds in future if the government lifts the current tuition fee cap in its anticipated review on fees and funding later this year.

Student leaders this week called for a thorough review of medical school funding. Many medical students, paying the maximum annual tuition fee of £3,140, already face financial hardship over the five to six year course.

They warned that large parts of society will be excluded from studying medicine because of the cost, with many only being able to do so with significant parental support.

The National Union of Students (NUS) published a new document Funding Our Future: a blueprint for an alternative higher education funding system, which proposes a graduation contribution scheme to replace the current tuition fee system.

Last month, the government announced that an independent review of funding and fees would be launched following the release of a Higher Education Framework in June or July.

Tom Foley, BMA lead on student finance, commented: “The BMA agrees with the NUS that the introduction of tuition fees has been a total disaster for students that will be exacerbated further if the government lifts the current fee cap. 

“Tuition fees have done nothing to solve the chronic problem of higher education underfunding and, worse still, they have saddled many medical students with a mountain of debt.

“Graduation debt from a medical degree is expected to reach £36,000 in the coming years. Just 4% of clinical students come from the lowest two socio-economic groups and all students are now relying on £3,000 of yearly handouts from their parents – a terrible burden on working families at a time of recession.

“We will be consulting our members on the way forward as it is important in these testing economic times that we have a serious debate about how we guarantee that our university system is based on the principles of fair access.”

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