Exeter University offers new medical students a year’s free accommodation and £10,000 to defer place

Official says there has been ‘significant upturn’ in number of applicants putting institution as first-choice for subject

The University of Exeter has made prospective students an offer to defer medical places by a year (Google Maps)

The University of Exeter has offered medical applicants free accommodation for a year and £10,000 if they agree to defer their place.

Students holding an offer to start their course this autumn can access the deal if they push their studies back a year and start in 2022 instead.

A university official said Exeter has experienced a “significant upturn” in numbers putting it down as their first choice for medicine.

The Medical Schools Council said there had been a “marked increase” in medicine applications at UK universities from 2020 to 2021, with this year seeing nearly 5,000 more students apply for the subject.

Universities agreed all students who met offers would be able to take up their place at their first choice institution in 2020 or 2021, after thousands saw marks increase after results day due to a government U-turn.

The University fo Exeter has said medicine offer holders would receive their first year of accommodation free if they agree to defer their place until 2022.

They would also receive a £10,000 cash bursary this October to spend on “preparing” themselves.

The university’s Rowancroft accommodation building costs around £6,500 for an en-suite room, with prices rising to just over £7,600

“We’ve seen a significant upturn in the number of outstanding applicants prioritising the University of Exeter as their first choice for medicine this year,” Professor Mark Goodwin, one of the university’s deputy vice-chancellors, said.

“All medicine student numbers are set by the government to ensure that we can accommodate everyone in a way that provides a high-quality education and stimulating student experience, as well as safe and secure NHS placements.”

He added: “To maximise the choices available to our students, we are offering a range of options, including financial incentives, deferral or studying a post-graduate programme, prior to students commencing their medical studies next year.”

Last year, thousands of teacher-predicted A-level results were downgraded in moderation by a controversial algorithm used to calculate grades after exams were cancelled due to the pandemic.

After outcry followed results day, the government agreed to let students take higher teacher predicted marks.

As thousands of grades went up, more students were able to meet their offer for universities, who agreed with the government to let every student who got the required grades start either start this year or defer until next year.