Sally Curtis Carolyn Blundell Linda Turner The effect of English language skills on academic performance of medical students on a widening access course Sally Curtis Carolyn Blundell Linda Turner

The reason for this study

English language test given correlated with previous Method English language test given 3 times during the year – correlated with previous standard of English Correlation of initial attainment and test scores Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Spearman’s correlation test (rho values) 0.608** 0.563** 0.590** ** p< 0.001

Method Test correlated with current standard of English ** p< 0.001

Correlation of examination performance and test scores

Improvement in English language test scores

Distribution of differences in English language test scores

“Since starting the BM6 programme Student perceptions “Since starting the BM6 programme do you think your language skills have improved?” Using a scale of 1 – 5 1 = no improvement 5 = greatly improved Semester 1 mean (median) score Semester 2 mean (median) score E1 2.56 (3) E2 3 (3) 3.5 (4)

“Do you think you would have benefited from English language support?” Student perceptions “Do you think you would have benefited from English language support?” Yes No Did not answer E1 3 11 2 E2 5 4

English language skills did not predict performance Conclusions English language skills did not predict performance in BM6 examinations Language skills appear to improve during the course especially in E2 students Optional tutorials in English language skills would be welcomed by all students

With thanks to the BM6 05/06 cohort Acknowledgements With thanks to the BM6 05/06 cohort