Overview
- The BMA reports newly qualified doctors are driving Ubers and working in bars to manage debt accrued during reduced funding periods.
- Final-year undergraduates face an average £3,674 drop in support, while post-graduate and six-year students can endure up to three years of shortfalls.
- Intensive hospital placements, night shifts and exam preparation leave little room for paid work, deepening financial strain.
- The government has applied its first bursary uplift since 2015 and pledged an inflation-linked increase while exploring targeted support for low-income students.
- The BMA’s Fix Our Finance campaign calls for guaranteed maintenance funding throughout medical degrees at an annual cost of £24 million.