Best graduate doctors from state schools

 State school students are more likely to become top doctors because they are used to battling against the odds, a study has found.

Medical students are nearly twice as likely to graduate top of their class if they were educated in the state sector than at fee-paying schools, according to research published in BMJ Open by the University of Aberdeen. It comes despite the fact that students from private institutions score slightly higher in the entry tests.

Prof Jen Cleland, lead author of the paper, said that state school students tended to be more motivated and resilient than their privately educated counterparts, which meant they were better equipped for the challenges of medical school.