Urgent action plea over exam errors

Jeremy Laurence

Doctors leaders have demanded urgent action to rectify errors in a marking system that left thousands of medical students in the dark about their first hospital job.

Some 7,200 final year medical students were told on Monday which hospital they would be assigned to from next August. But the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) has since announced it is rescinding the offers because of "scoring errors" on multiple choice tests.

Thousands of students could now find they are allocated to a different hospital. There are fears that a long delay will mean some will not be ready to start in August.