Covid: Trainee doctor must resit year over exam missed due to isolation

Wenbin Guo was at the end of his third year studying medicine at the University of Manchester when he missed the test

A trainee doctor who has been forced to retake an entire year after missing an exam due his housemate having Covid-19 has said his university has "wasted" his time and "cost me a lot of money".

Wenbin Guo, 22, missed the test at the end of his third year at the University of Manchester (UoM) in July after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

Mr Guo, from Sheffield, said he was not allowed to resit the exam and was told by UoM that he must restart the year.

UoM said his case was under review.

Mr Guo, who was just over halfway through the university's five-year MBChB Medicine course, said he was "very shocked" when he found out he had to miss the test due to lockdown regulations.

'Full support'

He said he was notified that he had to isolate on 29 June, nine days before the Objective Structured Clinical Examination at Salford Royal hospital on 7 July.

At the time, government advice in England was that anyone living with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19 must self-isolate for 10 days.

He said he "was desperate" and "offered to take a Covid test every day to prove I was negative".

A spokesman for the university said Mr Guo still had a "further right of appeal"

After missing the test, he said he was told by the university that the General Medical Council and another medical assessment body would not allow a resit, but when he contacted those bodies, they informed him that it was an internal matter for the university to consider.

As a result, he submitted an appeal to the university, but it was rejected.

He has since asked for that decision to be reviewed, but was forced to restart his third year in September while he awaits an outcome.

He said he had not been offered financial support by the university and would have to pay not only the tuition fee of £9,250, but another year of living expenses, including £5,500 in rent.

"The university's actions has wasted a year of my time and has cost me a lot of money," he added.

A UoM spokesman said it was in "correspondence with the student in question" and was offering "our full support".

However, he added that as Mr Guo still had a "further right of appeal within the university... we will not be commenting on this case any further at present".