It’s getting better

In preparing his lectures to Scottish ministers, Brian Wilson ought to check his facts more carefully (“SNP dogma on university fees is hitan ting higher education”, Perspective, 29 December). The lower rate of access to medical schools for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a longstanding problem throughout the UK, and is particularly marked in Scotland.

Indeed, a 2012 study published in the British Medical Journal stated that this inequity had “remained largely unchanged since the 1970s”. All the more reason, then, to welcome the Scottish Government’s current efforts to reduce such a stubborn attainment gap. These efforts are meeting with some success: in the past five years, according to Universities Scotland, applications to Scottish medical schools by would-be students from the 40 per cent most disadvantaged areas have increased by 60 per cent (compared to an overall increase in applications of 8 per cent), and the number of places awarded to applicants from these areas by 50 per cent.

PADDY FARRINGTON Marchmont Road, Edinburgh