Medical students could end up £100,000 in debt

29 October 2010

A RISE in tuition fees could burden medical graduates with debts of up to £100,000, the BMA has warned.

The organisation has raised concerns in the wake of government plans to allow universities to charge more than the current limit of £3290 per year. There are fears students could be charged as much as £12,000 a year to study. The plans have yet to be finalised and business secretary Vince Cable has recently suggested the cap could be set at the lower level of £7000.

The new report by Lord Browne, Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education: An Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, recommends removing the cap on tuition fees and allowing universities to charge as much as £12,000 a year. It also recommends that students should pay higher rates of interest on their student loans and to increase the income level at which these loans are repaid from £15,000 to £21,000.

The BMA has estimated that any further increases in tuition fees could lead to prohibitive levels of debt for future medical trainees. If fees were allowed to be increased to around £10,000, the BMA argued that graduates could rack up at least £70,000 in debts. If fees were higher than £10,000, they say debt levels could hit £100,000 for some, once credit cards and professional loans are taken into account.

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.

“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. If tuition fees are increased further then students are looking at incredibly high levels of debt that could reach as much as £100,000.”