A mature student* enrolled in Warwick Medical School (WMS) has just lost a formal appeal after being denied the opportunity to resit an exam.
The events that led to this outcome indicate that WMS provides poorly for trans students undergoing a physical transition, and suggest that other students with access needs are likely to face similar problems. The student in question argued that these oversights amount to indirect discrimination: a claim rejected by a committee of senior academics from the wider University.
This message this sends is that discrimination against trans people and others is acceptable at the University of Warwick.
An inappropriate request
The first sign of trouble came in September 2011 (at the start of the WMS course) when the student (who I shall henceforth refer to as “B”) was asked to attend an Occupational Health doctor at the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire.
This is not a standard procedure for all students on the course, and instead related to information B had provided to WMS upon enrolment. She was informed by a secretary in WMS that: “You are not being asked to attend on the grounds of being transgender […] I can only assume that you have ticked one of the health issues boxes and the Occupational Health team are required to assess your fitness to cope with the course.”
B sought an explanation, writing: “I’m concerned that I am actually being asked to attended simply because I am TG. Under the strictest definition, transexualism is still classified as a ‘severe mental illness’ and consequently it was necessary for me to tick the corresponding box (9? – mental health).” B had commented on the form that was was trans, believing this action to be private disclosure.
Upon further enquiry, Occupational Health confirmed B’s suspicion, explaining that she was asked to attend the meeting because she had ticked the “mental health” box. The meeting was compulsory, with B being told that: “Failure to attend will result in us not being able to clear you health wise for the course“.
Conflicting messages
Ahead of the meeting, B attempted to clarify the situation in an email to an Occupational Health Nurse based in the hospital: “Just so that I’m completely clear, am I being asked to attend due to declaring that I have dysphoria of gender identity?”
The nurse’s response was: “No – it is connected with the health question you replyed yes to on the form. It has nothing to do with your gender. We work in accordance with the equality act 2010.”
B describes the eventual meeting as follows:
When the OH appointment occurred the doctor walked in, checked the notes, and then said, “Oh, you’re trans”.
At which point I said, “Oh, you’re breaching the Equality Act then,” and proceeded to lecture them on how they were breaking my rights. At which point they asserted the party like about OH being a positive thing. And I pointed out, “then in that case I could have the right to decline your invitation”.
And the appointment ended. Nothing else was discussed.
There was no good reason for Occupational Health to know that B was trans. Through the arrangement of this meeting, she was unnecessarily outed to considerable number of people, and it was implied that her trans status might upon her ability to eventually graduate as a “Warwick doctor”.
A limited window of opportunity
Medical degrees are typically very intense. Students on B’s course are expected to take no more than three week’s sick leave per year during their four year course and subsequent two years as a foundation doctor. The maximum holiday period available is four weeks. The only exception to this is the summer holiday period between students’ first and second years.
As of autumn 2011, B was undergoing a physical transition, funded by the NHS and overseen by Charing Cross gender identity clinic. She intended to take a brief break in order to undergo genital surgery during her time as a medical student. However, the long recovery time (patients are typically recommended to take off at least eight weeks post-op; B was recommended to take off twelve weeks because of the physical nature of her course) and short breaks permitted during the six years of medical training meant that it would be difficult for her to find time to do so.
B was informed by the Senior Tutor at WMS that the only time she could realistically take off for surgery was her first summer holiday period. As a consequence of this, she was likely to forgo any chance to resit exams failed during her first year.
Private surgery
B then approached Charing Cross about the possibility of scheduling genital surgery for the summer of 2012. At this point, she would have completed the year of “real life experience” required by the current World Professional Association of Transgender Health Standards of Care. However, her request was rejected by Charing Cross on the grounds that she would have been attending the gender clinic for less than two years at the time of surgery.
B then faced a difficult dilemma: to wait six years for surgery, or pay for a private operation in order to complete her physical transition within the timeframe effectively demanded by WMS. She eventually took the decision to spend her savings on private treatment in order to minimise disruption to her study.
The possibility of failure
Whilst considering her options, B approached a couple of tutors for advice. She was particularly concerned about the possibility of failing her exam and then missing the resit during her time in hospital. This was a valid concern: not because B is a poor student, but because resits are not exactly uncommon within medical schools. As one academic within WMS commented in email correspondence to B:
As I am sure that you are becoming aware, medical exams can be a bit of a lottery and do not necessary relate to the candidate’s ability.
B was, however, informed that she was unlikely to fail any of her modules, and decided to go ahead with the surgery.
The exam
As it turned out, B failed her exam – along with 35% of her cohort.
An investigation by WMS formally dismissed any possibility of responsibility for this on the part of course conveners and school policy. However, B’s failure is arguably down in part to the complexities of the system as much as her own work. The manner in which the exam was marked meant that B got a higher percentage of marks than some students who passed, but failed the exam after doing poorly on a couple of very particular sections.
The exam results were announced the day that B regained consciousness in hospital following her operation. She spent the next few days in email contact with WMS from her hospital bed in an attempt to safeguard her second year of university.
The response
B requested that she be allowed (like the rest of her cohort) the opportunity to resit her exam. Unfortunately, the resit was to take place whilst she was still in hospital. WMS refused to provide any means for B to take her exam remotely, and insisted that it would not be possible for her to re-take her exam individually.
It later emerged that WMS were not prepared for any student to resit an exam individually under exceptional circumstances. Their argument is that it takes 60 working hours over the course of six months to prepare an individual exam, and that it is therefore too much work to prepare more than one paper.
B was reminded that she had been made aware that she would have to re-take the year in the event of failing any exam. WMS was not prepared to make any accommodation for her exceptional circumstances.
This would seem to imply that any student at WMS who is forced to miss an exam because of transition, disability or emergency surgery would be placed in a similar position to B.
The appeal
After pursuing the case within WMS for several weeks, B eventually decided to make a formal appeal within the wider University. The appeal entailed the preparation of a case, to be scrutinised by a committee of senior academics (including several faculty heads) before a recommendation was made to the Vice-Chancellor.
B argued that the approach of WMS amounted to indirect discrimination. The Equality Act and Disability Discrimination Act (which is applicable to individuals recovering from major surgery) both insist that suitable provisions are made for individuals with a legitimate need. The inability of WMS to provide a resit for students who have a legitimate medical reason for missing the standard resit effectively makes it difficult for anyone requiring surgery to undertake particular courses.
She therefore requested the opportunity to resit her exam, or (failing that) financial support for her re-take of the first year.
After a lengthy process of assessment (including an hour-and-a-half meeting with B in which she was able to direct present her case and answer questions) the committee rejected B’s appeal.
Some particularly telling extracts from the appeal documents follow (emphasis mine).
From the minutes of the committee’s meeting with B:
(i) It was noted that [B] believed she required surgery as a matter of medical need;
(ii) [B] was aware that she intended to undergo surgery at the time she applied for, and subsequently enrolled on, her degree and would also have been aware of the structure of the academic year (through the School’s Code of Practice 2011) and the fact that this would limit her opportunities to undergo elective surgery
From a letter outlining the panel’s decision:
(ii) [B’s] decision to undergo private, rather than NHS, surgery was a result of her own rational choice and was not forced by the Medical School;
(iii) The Committee accepted that the structure of the academic year for the MB ChB, in which resit exams are scheduled during the long vacation, did not allow sufficient time for students requiring long-term elective medical treatment, including transgender students requiringtransition surgery;
(iv) The Committee considered that the imposition of a structured academic year applicable to students generally is proportionate to the legitimate aim of providing education and therefore does not constitute indirect discrimination against students requiring gender re-assignment under s.19 Equality Act 2010;
(v) It was noted that the University has a duty to make reasonable adjustments under s.92(6) Equality Act 2010 where a rule or practice impacts adversely on a student with a protected characteristic;
(vi) As such, the Committee deemed temporary withdrawal for an academic year a reasonable adjustment, as it is always available for students requiring long-term treatment, including students undergoing gender re-assignment;
(vii) In relation to the question whether the Medical School should prepare a special resit paper to be taken at a time convenient to [B], it was noted that it is not uncommon in other Faculties for special arrangements to be made to enable students with disabilities to take scheduled resit examinations;
(viii) Nevertheless, it was noted that in this instance, the process of setting, marking and moderating a special exam would take the equivalent of 60 staff hours and if it were required that special resit papers for individual students with particular characteristics (i.e. transgender students) should be set, to be taken outside the calendared exam periods, it would be necessary as a matter of fairness to offer this service to other students with disabilities, protected characteristics or general illness who were unable to take scheduled resits
[…]
In relation to the supplementary ground of complaint:
(i) That there would be no reason for any member of Warwick Medical School staff to anticipate this level of failure;
(ii) That advice given to [B] by the Senior Tutor made clear that early scheduling of treatment would incur a risk and that [B] should consider her degree of confidence in passing the exams, before scheduling her elective treatment;
(iii) The Committee was therefore satisfied that the advice given by the Senior Tutor was appropriate.
Particularly unimpressive is the assumption that students such as B can afford (in financial as well as emotional terms) an entire year out from study, and the implication that a decision in her favour would set an awful precedent in which the University would have to appropriately support disabled students.
Concluding thoughts
I find the handling of this whole affair by WMS and the wider University of Warwick to be quite disturbing.
Of course medical courses should be difficult, and of course exams should be stringent. But everyone should have an equal chance to pass (and fail!) them.
Of course University departments have limited time, resources and money, particularly at this time of financial crisis. But they’ve had to spend a whole lot of time and money on this appeal, and they’re going to have to spend more on dealing with the fallout from this case.
I’ve tried to keep this post relatively succinct. It’s inevitably ended up being pretty long, but there’s so much background to this, and so much I haven’t been able to cover. The general impression I get is that WMS (and the University of Warwick) were keen to bury this case underneath a mountain of bureaucracy. The fact that it even reached the appeal stage is a minor miracle.
My concern now is not just for B, but for future students at WMS. I’ve seen a lot of evidence that suggests they don’t take discrimination seriously enough. Let’s hope that in the wake of this we might see policy change to ensure otherwise.
If you wish to contact WMS about this affair, please do. But please do not send any hate mail or threats!
* The student in question wishes to remain anonymous at the time of writing.
Edit: for a more personal take on this story, see No More Lost. There is also now a discussion up at Trans Medic.
Dr Ruth Pearce 
Pingback: » Discrimination? You bet! What you might you expect from Warwick Medical School? » No More Lost
“The manner in which the exam was marked meant that B got a higher percentage of marks than some students who passed, but failed the exam after doing poorly on a couple of very particular sections.”
This is exactly how, on paper, I failed one of my final medical exams (aside from the medical school’s screw-up during the exam itself). It’s how medical school exams work, on the principle that even if you achieve the passmark, you can’t be a good doctor if you’re totally shit at respiratory medicine or something else important.
At the time I was very miffed about that technicality, but in retrospect I can see I needed to re-take that exam.
Hope B ends up feeling similarly on the technical side of failing and having to re-take.
Having spoken to B and read through some of the appeal documents at length, all she wanted was the same opportunity to resit as the rest of her cohort. I can’t really speak for her, but get the impression she’d agree with your perspective.
The way WMS exams work is that they have integrated questions based on multiple questions worth 20 point each. You then pass or fail questions.
Its fair enough if questions are on one topic but this way’s a lottery.
Prof. Philip Young submitted a report to House of Commons that data rigged the report in exactly the same way you described. I saw his data and can see that an entry level OECD Data detective will find immediate flaws in his sampling. It is completely in violation of UK and International Research Ethics code, especially around biomedical research (which was his area). He used this rigged sampling and bias delimitation to claim that there was no racism at Warwick, a year after THIS happened:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/08/bananagate-highlights-racism-among-warwick-students
And year on year EDI complaints by students and staff of African descent!
” Severe Mental Illness” will do the trick every time. Plus Charring Cross being involved and the Umbrella term Transgender ( mixed-up people, drag acts, transvestites or anyone putting on there wife’s earrings ) . Yep it Ticks all the BOXes for rejection.
Can we please not use this as an opportunity to have a go at other people who happen to be gender variant?
I’m Not “having a go” as you put it. I live in the real World, I have never Ticked a Box that implies I am suffering from ” severe Mental illness” ordinary people do not want to see a doctor that has ticked that box..
Until people stop using terms like Transgender and Gender Variant there can be no hope of integration into Society. If your gay then you know your gay, there is No gay variant. There is man or woman if you don’t know witch one you are, then tick the box but don’t expect to be accepted into the real world only tolerated. This is NOT my opinion but facts taken from life’s experiences. I was fighting for my right to live as a woman before Transgender had been thought of.
If you’re gay, you know you’re gay. If you’re straight, you know you’re straight. Okay.
You want to equate that to knowing you’re a woman, or knowing you’re a man?
Fine. I’m willing to accept that analogy.
(By the way, I’m bi. Juuuust saying.)
I ended up dropping out of/getting thrown off my masters course due to a mental breakdown and identity crisis (which eventually led to my coming out). They were very understanding and helpful for all of about a month, and naturally local mental health services are lovely enough that it took just over a full calendar year before I was offered an appointment with anyone, despite my case being marked as priority. During this time, I could not get anyone to produce any documentation that the university would accept – my GP didn’t feel qualified to say anything other than that I had been referred to mental health. Eventually (after some two months?) the University effectively told me they didn’t believe me, there was no way it could take this long to get NHS help, and that was that. Naturally, this did *wonders* for the horrible hole I was in mentally at the time, too.
Warwick are not good for student welfare issues.
One more thing. From the GRA:
“It is an offence for a person who has acquired protected information in an official capacity to disclose the information to any other person… A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.”
(http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/section/22)
IANAL, but as far as I can read all of the stipulations there, this is clear cut: their breach of confidentiality is illegal, and subject to a £5,000 fine. Sadly, this wouldn’t be payable to B herself, but may be worth at the least holding over their heads.
Pingback: On *the* Institution of Transgender Discrimination Within Healthcare « transmedic
As I understand it, that only applies if one has a GRC, which it sounds like B doesn’t.
I’ll get jumped on for saying this, but I’m baffled as to why B is surprised and angry Occupational Health knew she was trans. Presumably, they were sent the form on which she’d written she was trans.. That’s pretty much the entire point of the form. If they dropped the ball, it seems to be the part where they failed to enquire as to her mental health and assumed (albeit rightly) she’d ticked the box solely because she was trans.
Presumably the surprise and anger expressed by B wasn’t due to the fact that Occupational Health knew she was Trans, but that they had requested an appointment with her solely on those grounds (thus violating the Equality Act).
It’s also illegal to ask about possession, making it, de facto, a case of airing on the safe side.
To the best of my understanding, she was required to tick the mental health box on account of being trans, thus triggering the meeting, and in so doing, introducing an additional obstacle to training on account of it.
Forgive my naivety – but why do trans identifying people have to tick a ‘mental health’ box – is it the law?? As a student advisor (at a different University) it sounds like they were following their policies and procedures – unfortuante for the student – but not discriminatory.
The person affected by the conduct and negligence of Warwick Medical School may wish to contact me privately regarding information about Warwick Medical School alleging you ‘failed’ an exam.
Regarding the denial of a delayed re-start to the academic year meaning the person would not meet the alleged GMC attendance requirements – well they were lying to you. The GMC does not care whether Warwick Medical Students fulfil the minimum number of hours of education to qualify for the award of a medical degree. How so? Because since inception Warwick Medical School has issued fraudulent medical qualifications – by which I mean the degrees awarded by Warwick Medical School have not met the minimum requirements for the recognition of professional qualifications. The GMC, however, is happy to turn a blind eye to this persistent systemic breach of the Medical Act 1983.
I have information that may be very relevant to anyone who has been adversely affected by fraudulent allegation of Warwick University Medical School and the discrimination, victimisation, and educational negligence within Warwick Medical School, where there is a “culture of victimisation”, as one Personal Tutor at WMS put it.
I would be interest to know whether the ‘Senior Tutor’ in the above account was the ‘Senior Tutor’ or the ‘Deputy Senior Tutor’, who is on record as being instructed not to provide academic support.
Anyone adversely affected by the £2million per annum UKCAT fraud committed by Warwick University et al may also want evidence they may be able to use in legal claims against Warwick et al.
Whistleblowers and complainants may wish to consider the prospect of class action – re breaches of the Medical Act 1983, re educational negligence, re prejudicial attitudes towards healthcare for elderly patients, re discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, re falsification of GMC QABME, re fraudulent examinations, re etc.
If you set up a private message option I will provide you with the evidence that may support your claims against Warwick.
Oh Yes, as soon as I complained, my Supervisor Frederik Dahlmann said he can no longer supervise me, but when I asked him to resign for 2 years, he would not resign on paper, YET also refuse to supervise. He was really upset, as up until then, I thought we had a decent professional supervision interactions! But they made him work through Covid19 in atrocious and abusive conditions that NO HUMAN BEING should be subjected to!
When I complained, they said that he made a complaint against me and told him I made a complaint against him; Divide and conquer so no one can form normal professional interactions, and everything must be controlled by Rape chat University!
They have a policy of victimisation as soon as someone refuse to waive their ethics and help them breach things like UN Ethics Code!
There is no need to hide such things! It is all over the news, their privacy breach, their rape chats and their abusive complaints and appeal procedures!
They had a Nazi Song club scandal and have yearly hosting of Annual Far Right conference, here:
https://theboar.org/2024/08/breaking-outrage-as-university-of-warwick-hosts-far-right-new-order-conference/
I don’t understand why you are hiding? Just publish it! It is a known fact all over the news! Don’t be afraid. I understand Warwick may use covert and overt threats against you, but if you keep hiding there will be another 20years of Victims, Phds and Staff!
Sorry to hear you also had a bad experience at Warwick. I wrote this post in 2012 but to this day universities are often not set up in a way that is supportive of marginalised students.
Hi Ruth. I did a UN report (2024) against them for asking me to breach UN Ethics code for their corporate funded reserach convenience (they already had a case where a Prof was found guilty of hate crines against the memory of Holocaust victims and fined because Warwick pushed it too hard for Fame and stupidity!)…then there were endless cases…..over 20 yrs including your patient’s!
So this is simply bigger than just one or two cases
or my personal information data privacy breach which is also a group action lawsuit! It is two decades of Far Right ideologies radicalising Professors, staff and students into Racism, Sexism and prejudice towards all things Human Rights. Russell Group knowingly ignored their practices of systemic illegal Discrimination and Victimisation.
There is a moral duty to talk about it openly AND at some point all of them will end up in the Higher Education equivalent of the Nuremberg trail for colluding with decades of Fossil Fuel rsearch to abuse the Sustainability of our planet and human rights violations against Indigenous groups globally.
I am glad I foubd your article in 2012. It showed their Exact playbook and their Nazi style harassment of LGBTQ and general disregard for Health of All students especially “projected groups” will be the focus of my next sets of publications and probably future UN Human Rights reporting Naming them and their legacy starting with VC Stuart “Rapechat” Croft & his Senates !
Q: Was Jane Miller, Philip Young, Gareth Bennett (all 20 yrs plus inside Warwick) part of the CRCPanel against your client? They have a track rcord of this and we’ve already instigated FOI on who are the exact group at Warwick sitting on cases between 2002 to 2025 for a new report on human rights abuse at Warwick University Russell Group!
Anyway Stuart Croft and his Senate in 2012 was 100% responsible or the abuse by crcpanel of your client and responsible for ALL subsequent abuse since!
Google also their Nazi student song club (BBC, 2024)
Keep up the G🌏🌏D fight! 💚😎
So you don’t want to help people? Why would that be?
Set up a secure private portal. Or is this page defunct!?
I’m on holiday! No need to be passive aggressive.
I’ll pass on your comment to the individual affected, I figure it’s up to them whether or not to contact you.
Trying to talk to Warwick Uni impossible. Barriers have gone up. they are ignoring requests for meeting and emails, keep sending us to complaints team. really fed up with the lack of interest shown.
The complaints team are designed to wear you down, then if you still continue, they will make up a false allegation against you like they did to MANY, Staff and students! It is a known modus operandi.
Don’t go to Office of Students, go straight to this:
https://www.gov.uk/report-hate-crime
There are several Group action lawsuits against Warwick “Rapechat” Uni, I joined the last 2 years since they bullied and abused me when my Nobel Peace Prize 2022 winners and colleagues were getting bombed by Putin, on the day of my upgrade panel. They got very nasty about UN ethics code and tried to bully me to use only their Professors citations (who was involved in several Nhs scandals) and one claimed to have UNDP accreditation when they did not have any links to UNDP! I checked with UN Ethics office about their request to make me breach confidentiality about a LIVE case about Environmental Human rights I was working on for CSR and UNSDG goverance!
They went completely nuts on me and the ProDean also shouted me during workshop against the UN. When I reported it, I found out he was in charge of EDI so can coverup everything.
There is a House of Common submission against Warwick for 20 years of EDI student/staff abuse, up to and including sexual abuse and students suicides!
Anyway to start with, if you data privacy has been breached, even if you did not go to Warwick, they may have taken your personal email or passport details to attend one of their PR junkettes at the Shard etc. So your data privacy might be breached since 2020 onwards, here’s the group action lawsuits link:
https://www.legalexpert.co.uk/data-breach-compensation/university-of-warwick-data-breach-compensation-claims/
Also google Warwick annual Nazi conference and Student Nazi Song Clubs, I think it is in The Boars, BBC, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera, just google, it is also there!
Also Egyptian Cancer victim PhD abused by Warwick and used by VC Rape chat Croft for PR 1.5 month before her death!
Also Will Bargate, bullied at workshop, then suicided after locked down at student dorm and neglected, there is another Group Action lawsuits against Warwick 22K students suing in a 200K students case against all the Russell group.
Also there’s cases of female Profs being sexually abused and/or libel to remain silent about their colleagues sexual abuse, google or on X.com, I can’t remember but it is all public news!
I hate to say it, I think there is Nazi Far Right DNA at Warwick that even the best Professors, will end up behaving in violation of Human Rights, as soon as they stay at Warwick for too long!
There are so many cases, I wished some law firm will just bring it all together in one BIG EDI group action lawsuits against Warwick, after the successful Rape chats lawsuit! That would be FUN.
They are terrible human rights violators, they kind of deserve all the Group Action Lawsuits!
Best wishes,
Amb. Prof. Cecilia W. Yu