Competition for places at medical schools is tougher than ever beforeSydney Uni

A controversial new university, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, will open its doors in January 2015 – to students who can afford the annual £35,000 fees. 

The Buckingham Milton Keynes Medical School is a joint venture between the University of Buckingham and the Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust. The university will receive no government funding and will be a not-for profit enterprise. In defence of the high fees, a spokesperson for the University said that £35,000, nearly four times the cost of tuition fees at public universities (which are capped at £9,000), is similar to what is already charged for international students studying for medical degrees in the UK. Because it is a private institution, it will be able to accept an unlimited amount of said internationals. The University of Cambridge currently charges £33,069 per year to overseas medical undergraduates.

However Liam Burns, President of the National Union of Students, does not approve. Speaking to The Independent, Burns said: “The University of Buckingham seems to be purposefully designing degrees accessible only to the jet-setting super-rich.”

UK students are currently only able to borrow a maximum of £9,000 per year of tuition fees, through the Student Loans Company.

The course also differs from a typical medical degree in that it is a “fast-track” option – lasting only four-and-a-half years as opposed to the standard five or six. Budding doctors will spend the first two years studying biomedical science and clinical skills, and will then complete a series of placements at various hospitals belonging to the Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust.

Medical degrees in the UK are fiercely competitive – in the 2012 UCAS cycle there were 10.6 applicants for every available place. So it is hoped that the Buckingham Milton Keynes Medical School will not be short of home students. Professor Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham said: “We have long held an ambition to pioneer a medical school with a patient orientation. We intend to provide high-quality students with a first-rate, caring, medical education.”

The last university to provoke similar controversy was the New College of the Humanities, based in London. NCH had its first intake of students in 2012, the same year that the cap on public annual tuition fees went from £3,000 to £9,000. However the NCH cohort will be paying £18,000 per year – double the public fees, but £17,000 per year less than the Buckingham Milton Keynes Medical School.