Funding for medical students in their final years of study

That this House is alarmed at the current drop in funding for medical students in England in their final years of study; recognises the anomaly that medical students in England have their student loan reduced when they are also in receipt of the NHS bursary; notes 90 per cent of respondents to a BMA survey of over 3,500 medical students said that current student finance and the NHS Bursary did not cover living costs, disproportionately affecting students from widening participation backgrounds, with four in 10 having considered leaving or pausing their course due to financial pressures; further notes at a time when the Government is committed to getting the NHS back on its feet and supporting medical students from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds, it is vital no medical student is forced into hardship, or to leave their study due to financial pressures; and calls on the Government to stop the drop by making provision for England-domiciled medical students to have access to their full Student Finance maintenance entitlement for all years of medical study.