Row over medical student cash aid

The Tories say better-qualified students are denied places

The Conservatives say the government is paying universities to admit medical students with below-par A-levels.

Over the past year, 480 students in England with less than three A-levels at grade C came under the scheme.

Their institutions got £126,092 from what a minister called the "improving retention pot". Another 80 students are expected to benefit this autumn.

The government calls it a Tory "scare story" and says universities seek students with the best potential.

'Political targets'

But the shadow higher education minister, Chris Grayling, said: "It is quite absurd that the government is paying universities to admit students without the level of exam passes that they would normally need to study medicine.

"We should not be compromising our normal standards for medical students just to help meet the government's political targets in higher education.

"This also means that top quality students with good exam results are being denied the chance to study at leading medical schools simply because their social background doesn't fit the government's plans."

He said it was high time ministers stopped trying to "fix" university entrance.

INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED Bath Birmingham Bristol Cambridge Durham Leeds Leicester Liverpool Imperial College Queen Mary, London University College, London Newcastle Oxford Southampton King's College London St George's Hospital Medical School Manchester Nottingham Sheffield Warwick

In a Commons written answer, the Higher Education Minister, Alan Johnson, had told Mr Grayling that the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) was allocating £159m for the 2004-05 academic year to help institutions retain students.

This is based on profiles of the students and an assessment of the risks of their failing to complete their studies.

The government wants universities to recruit more students from poorer backgrounds and with no family history of higher education. It is acknowledged that they are more likely to drop out - and that assisting them puts a financial burden on universities.

Mr Johnson said £21,950 of the total was based on about 80 full-time medical students who had less than the equivalent of three Cs at A-level.

For 2003-04, some 480 medical students with less than three Cs attracted a total of £126,092 in additional funding.

The usual requirement to study medicine at University College, London, for example, is three suitable A-levels at grades AAB. Liverpool would expect at least the same.

St George's Hospital Medical School, London, says that, if an applicant's school has relatively low average A-level points, it will use a formula to consider a lower offer - but still a minimum of BBC/b at A/AS-level.

'Potential to succeed'

A spokesman for Hefce said: "Many universities with our support are committed to broadening the range of medical students to reflect better the needs of the diverse communities which are served by the NHS.

"Admissions decisions are a matter for the universities. They will make these decisions in the light of the particular circumstances of individual applicants and their potential to succeed."

And the Department for Education and Skills said that after almost a year the Conservatives were still struggling to come up with a credible higher education policy, so it was no surprise they tried to justify themselves by "throwing stones from the sidelines".

Their "rather boring, annual, 'more mean worse' summer scare stories" discredited students who had worked hard and accused universities of unfair admissions.

The money was not an incentive to recruit students with lower A-level scores but to assist with their extra costs.

"Universities will always recruit students they see as having the talent and potential to succeed - it is not in their interest to recruit them otherwise. Medicine remains an extremely competitive subject," a spokesperson said.