The attitudes, perceptions and experiences of medical school applicants following the closure of schools and cancellation of public examinations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Objective
To describe medical applicants’ experiences of education and their views on changes to medical school admissions, including the awarding of calculated grades, following the 2020 closure of schools and universities, and the cancellation of public examinations in the United Kingdom due to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic. To understand how applicants from diverse social backgrounds might differ in these regards.
Design
Cross-sectional questionnaire study forming part of the longitudinal United Kingdom Medical Applicant Cohort Study (UKMACS).
Setting
United Kingdom medical school admissions.
Participants
2887 participants (68% female; 64% with at least one degree-educated parent; 63% with at least one parent in the highest socioeconomic group) completed an online questionnaire between 8thand 22ndApril 2020. To be invited to complete the questionnaire, participants had to have registered to take the University Clinical Admissions Test (UCAT) in 2019 and to have agreed to be invited to take part in the study, or they needed to have completed one or more previous UKMACS questionnaires. They also need to have been seriously considering applying to study medicine in the UK for entry in 2020 between May and October 2019, and be resident in the UK or Islands/Crown Dependencies.
Main outcome measures
Views on calculated grades, views on potential changes to medical school admissions and teaching in 2020 and 2021, reported experiences of education following the closure of educational institutions in March 2020.
Results
Respondents had concerns about the calculated grades that will replace A-level examinations, especially female applicants and applicants from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who felt teachers would find it difficult to grade and rank students accurately, as well as those from non-selective state schools and those living in deprived areas who had some concerns about the grade standardisation process. Calculated grades were not considered fair enough by a majority to use in the acceptance or rejection of medical offer-holders, but several measures - including interview and aptitude test scores - were considered fair enough to use in combination. Respondents from non-selective state (public) schools reported less use of and less access to educational resources compared to their counterparts at private/selective schools. In particular they reported less online teaching in real time, and reported spending less time studying during the lockdown.
Conclusions
The coronavirus pandemic will have significant and long term impacts on the selection, education and performance of our future medical workforce. It is important that the views and experiences of medical applicants from diverse backgrounds are taken into consideration in decisions affecting their futures and the future of the profession.
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