University apologises for examiner’s comments about student’s ‘short skirt’

A university has apologised to a medical student who was told her skirt was too short during a roleplay examination.

Newcastle University has said the medical student, who posted on Twitter about her experience as @thegradmedic, should not have received a “yellow card” warning from her examiner.

The university said the comment about the dress was made by a roleplay patient as part of the mock examination, and was passed back to the student as feedback.

The issue emerged in June when a friend of the student posted a photo of her in a black dress that goes below the knee.

He wrote: “A friend did their OSCE’s with me recently & got yellow carded for wearing a ‘short skirt’… could someone explain to me how it’s 2021 & medical schools are still pushing sexist notions of primness upon its female student cohort, for daring to display their ankles.”

The student made a complaint to the university and said she was told “it was the most inappropriate dress they had ever seen” and that the “examiner’s word is final and the investigation is closed”.

Now, in a series of tweets, the university said: “However, we agree it should not have resulted in a yellow card from the examiner.

“This is why, when the concerns were raised with us by @thegradmedic earlier this year, they were investigated and the yellow card was rescinded.

“ We would not want any student to come away from these exams feeling remarks like this in any way reflect the values of the University and the issues will be addressed in future examination briefings.”