Measuring differential attainment: a longitudinal analysis of assessment results for 1512 medical students at four Scottish medical schools

Objective To measure Differential Attainment (DA) among Scottish medical students and to explore whether attainment gaps increase or decrease during school. Design A retrospective analysis of undergraduate student performance on written assessment, measured at the start end Setting Four schools (universities Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh Glasgow). Participants 1512 who attempted (but did not necessarily pass) final assessment. Main outcome measures The study modelled change in gap school for four demographical categories (white/non-white, international/Scottish domiciled, male/female with/without a known disability) test grew, shrank remained stable Separately, expected versus actual frequency different groups top bottom decile cohort. Results grew significantly white non-white ( t (449.39)=7.37, p=0.001, d =0.49 95% CI 0.34 0.58), internationally domiciled Scottish-domiciled (205.8) = ?7, p=0.01, =0.61 –0.75 ?0.42) male female (1336.68)=3.54, =0.19 0.08 0.27). International, received higher marks than their comparison group but lower by No significant differences were observed disability status. Students with disability, over-represented under-represented decile. Conclusions tendency grow education suggests that educational factors may—however inadvertently—contribute DA. It is critical importance investigate within cohorts potential underlying causes.