Medics wary of ratings

SCOTTISH medical schools are responding warily to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's teaching assessment.

Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow Universities have won the top rating of excellent in SHEFC's latest quality assessment, with Scotland's two other medical schools, Edinburgh and St Andrews, rated as "highly satisfactory".

SHEFC normally rewards an excellent rating with an extra 5 per cent of funded student places. But medicine's overall intake is determined by the Government's planning projections for medical staff.

The Medical Workforce Standing Advisory Committee is preparing a report expected to herald a new phase in medical school expansion. SHEFC has therefore decided to boost Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow in any future increases in intakes to the Scottish schools.

Graeme Catto, vice principal and dean of medicine at Aberdeen, said: "The Scottish medical schools would have preferred to have the unit of resource increased for the students they already have, rather than increased intakes. But it's unlikely that they will turn down an offer." A SHEFC spokesman said teaching excellence was marked by allowing more students to experience it, rather than being a financial reward in itself.