Newcastle medical students to take part in ‘Stop the Drop’ campaign today

Newcastle students will join medical students across the country today to take part in a British Medical Association (BMA)-backed campaign calling on the government to provide full maintenance funding for the entire length of medical degrees.

The campaign, branded “Stop the Drop” and led by the BMA Medical Student Committee, will take place across 10 university campuses in England, including Newcastle. This coincides with the release of a new report highlighting the financial pressures faced by medical students.

“Fix our Funding” forum events will bring the issue directly onto campus through student-led events aimed at raising awareness of how funding gaps are affecting student wellbeing, education, and future careers.

According to the BMA, in the 2025/26 academic year some students transitioning onto the NHS bursary will experience a drop in annual funding of more than £4,500, leaving many struggling to cover basic living costs.

Unlike most undergraduate courses, medical degrees last five or six years. While students receive standard Student Finance maintenance loans in the early years of their degree, support is significantly reduced in later years when they move onto a lower-rate loan alongside a much smaller NHS Bursary.

In the report, a BMA survey of more than 3,500 medical students found that over 100 students relied on food banks to get by.

Lily*, a second year medical student at Newcastle, said: “I don’t know how we are expected to do a full-time placement when we can’t even afford a full food shop. I think we should be paid for placement like other courses are, especially because we are training to save lives.”

Yalna Pouya, deputy co-chair for finance on the BMA Medical Student Committee, said: “Too many students are struggling to afford the basics while they’re studying hard to become the doctors of the future.

Most Read

I’m in prison with Lucy Letby right now and this is what she’s really like

Here’s why people are so freaked out about that super creepy Ring Doorbell advert

Here are Bad Bunny’s translated Super Bowl lyrics, so you know why people are angry

“They’re burning out trying to work multiple jobs to keep afloat, and in too many cases questioning whether they can continue training as doctors at all. The NHS can’t afford to lose them.”

Fellow co-chair Anusha Gajanan said: “This awareness day is not about confrontation. It’s about education and unity. By bringing the campaign onto campus, students can show just how widespread and serious this issue has become, and why the Government needs to pay attention and act.

“Making sure medical students receive full maintenance funding for the entirety of their studies is a small change that would make a real difference, for students and for the sustainability and diversity of the future NHS workforce.”

The BMA estimates restoring full maintenance funding across all years of medical degrees would cost the Treasury £29 million, equivalent to just 0.147 per cent of Student Finance England’s annual lending.

The association warns that failing to address the funding gap risks driving students, particularly those from less privileged backgrounds, out of medicine at a particularly stressful time for the NHS.

A Newcastle University spokesperson said: “The national funding available to medical students in the later years of their degrees is both unfair and inadequate. It means many of our students are living in very difficult circumstances.

“While we are able to support students in serious financial hardship, we know the majority of our students are impacted by this shortfall in funding, to the detriment of their studies.

“We have campaigned for a long time for a fair funding system to enable medical students in the later stages of our programme to flourish.”

Newcastle University is among the universities the BMA wants to hear from. Medical students impacted by inadequate funding can get in touch here.

*Pseudonym used for anonymity.

Featured image via Instagram @bma.students