Parents would have to save £188 each month to pay their child’s way through medical school if they began saving at birth, according to Wesleyan, a provider of financial services to doctors.
Following the increase in tuition fees to a maximum of £9,000 a year in 2012, the BMA estimated that medical students are likely to graduate with debts of £70,000 if they receive no parental support.
Research carried out earlier this year by Wesleyan found that 72 per cent of doctors believed the increase in tuition and training cost would put people off entering the medical profession.
Higher fees deter students
Speaking after the rise in tuition fees in 2012, then chairman of the BMA junior doctors committee Dr Tom Dolphin said little consideration had been given to the effect of higher fees on longer courses such as medicine.
In evidence to the House of Commons health select committee, Dr Dolphin said: ‘There’s no doubt that these huge debts put people off applying to medical school, particularly people in lower socioeconomic groups.’
