Equality and diversity in UK medical schools claims there is ‘no evidence' that the government's drive to encourage students from low-income families into medicine has had any impact.
After a study of the profiles of 40,000 medical students, the BMA found those from the lowest economic group make up just one in seven students, despite them making up nearly half of the UK population.
Up to £392m has been spent since 2001 on schemes to widen access, the report says. There has been an improvement in the number of ethnic minorities and women entering medicine, the study noted.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA, said more needs to be done to reduce the costs of medical training, and to address the needs of the increasing number of women entering medicine.
