Finance: Previous degree equal or higher to medicine degree

[studentessa]

Hello everyone
Thank you in advance for reading this as I am sure it has probably been asked many times before but I couldn't find an answer...

I am a bit stuck on the bit of the student finance form where it says

"Was the level of the qualification(s) achieved equal to or higher than the level of course you are now applying for?"

I already have a BA and an MA, but now I'm applying for the medical degree I don't know if this counts as equal, higher or what really. I was just interested to hear what others have put down as I have tried called Student Finance for an answer but gave up after half an hour on more than one occasion. I don't know if or how my answer to this might affect the level of funding so I don't want to put the wrong thing.

Many thanks for any light people can shed on this one.

[studentessa]

Ok sorry everyone, I think have answered my own question. Actually I think that box on the form only applies to undergrad degrees which solves my problem really I don't think that is equivalent to or higher than a medical degree so I will tick the appropriate box. Thank you to anyone who looked!

[EvaA]

You know I have just been wondering about the same as I have a Master degree in Chemistry and have no idea if it is equal or higher to medical degree. I think I will rang them tomorrow and ask because I cant realy see how it can be equal but you never know.

[gep2010]

You still qualify for some of the student loans/maintenance as Medicine doesn't get caught under the ELQ due it to being a vocational course.

As a graduate (on the 4 year course) you're looking at about £5000 roughly in your first year, then about £2500 in the second, third and fourth years.

You pay your fees yourself in the first year, then the NHS pays in second, third and fourth.

In your second to fourth years, you're entitled to a NHS bursary which can be anything from £0 to about £4500. However, even if you qualify for nothing (it's income assessed either from yourself or parents depending on whether you fit the requirements), you still only get £2500 of student loan money.

I'm currently waiting on a reply from the NHS regarding whether there's a minimum income requirement to use your own earnings instead of your parents (if you have worked for 36 months or more and have the proof). Got a sneaking suspicion, there is a minimum threshold though

[Chwirkytheappleboy]

Your first degree is equal level to a medical degree - they're both undergraduate degrees. This applies to the graduate course too. It's an undergraduate level course (as opposed to postgraduate) but it just (normally) requires you do already have another degree to do it

[Dave.S.HYMS]

Hi all,

If you are a graduate on an undergraduate medicine course you may find the following report interesting

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dm.smit...t-28-05-10.pdf

Please forward the link to as many students in this situation as possible

Kind Regards

[studentessa]

Thanks for that everyone.
Dave.S.HYMS, that link is really interesting and clearly took a lot of work. I had a good look through.
We shall see what comes back from Student Finance.

So, on the basis of that report, I think I understand correctly that medical degrees are actually NOT equal to or lower than other undergrad degrees as medicine is a level 7, and most others are a level 6.
BUT....shouldn't this be academic ( no pun intended ) anyway, as medicine is exempt and one of the few
courses which attracts limited funding as a second degree. Or is the exemption due to the fact that it is a level 7
rather than level 6?...........I think I'm more confused than ever........

[Dave.S.HYMS]

Hi,

Current funding for Medicine as a 2nd degree is:
Income Assessed Maintenance Loan
+ Any Supplementary Special Support Grants, EG: Childcare, Disability, etc.

However as Medicine is a HIGHER qualification than a bachelor's degree (with or without hons) every student is entitled to:
Loan For Tuition Fees
Income Assessed Maintnenace Grant
Income Assessed Maintenance Loan
+ Any Supplementary Special Support Grants, EG: Childcare, Disability, etc.

You may have fight the SLC for the additional funding however.

Send the report to some medical schools and get their feedback, you'll be surprised how supportive they can be.

Kind Regards

[studentessa]

Thanks for that Dave.

I appreciate what you are saying about medicine being a higher qualification than a BA now.
However- I already have an MA. Does this change things? I have a higher qualification than a BA
already, and from what I can see the MA is also a level 7, same as medicine. Would this simply mean I
am entitled to the maintenance loan then due to previous qualifications?

[Dave.S.HYMS]

Hi,

Yeah, unfortunately as you have a qualification equal to a Medicine degree you'll only get the basic entitlement listed in my last post.

Sorry.

At least you'll your CV will look amazing when you apply for your F1 post & onwards!!

Kind Regards