{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:45:23Z","timestamp":1785908723938,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The variation in levels of performance on educational assessments between students from different societal groups where ethnic minority (EM) students are awarded lower academic outcomes compared to their white counterparts remains a persistent issue across all UK higher education. At Warwick Medical School, the largest graduate entry medical school in the UK, a detailed analysis of all examinations from 2015 to 2024, across all three phases of the medicine course, showed that a statistically significant higher number of EM students end up in second sit examinations in comparison with their white peers. However, in the second sit examinations there was no statistically significant difference in performance. Therefore, the research aim was to explore factors that facilitated EM students\u2019 improved performance in second sit examinations and if those factors could be transferred to first sit examinations, the outcomes of which are used for honours degree award. We used a qualitative design and interviewed medical students that have failed, resat their examinations and passed. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: socio-cultural factors, resources, support and personal factors that influenced performance and how addressing these factors improved students performance. The study highlighted the complex and multifaceted factors that contributed to failure and identified strategies to improve performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1870616","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T04:52:56Z","timestamp":1785905576000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Factors influencing ethnic minority medical students\u2019 performance in second sit examination"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Olanrewaju","family":"Sorinola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Mole","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emily","family":"Unwin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Cranshaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Wopara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Business School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Casie","family":"Osborne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Politics and International Studies (PAIS) Department, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Collette","family":"Clay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick","place":["Coventry, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","author":"Stevenson","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Ethnic Minority Graduates: Differences By Degrees. Report 309","author":"Conner","year":"1997"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"Degree attainment, ethnicity and gender: Interactions and the modification of effects - A quantitative analysis","author":"Fielding","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1080\/03075070701794783","article-title":"The attainment of ethnic minority students in UK higher education","volume":"33","author":"Richardson","year":"2008","journal-title":"Stud High Educ"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/S40037-021-00696-3","article-title":"The do\u2019s, don\u2019ts and don\u2019t knows of redressing differential attainment related to race\/ethnicity in medical schools","volume":"11","author":"Fyfe","year":"2022","journal-title":"Perspect Med Educ"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1147","DOI":"10.1080\/0309877X.2021.1932773","article-title":"\u2018Fair and square\u2019: what do students think about the ethnicity degree awarding gap?","volume":"45","author":"Wong","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Further High Educ"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1665","DOI":"10.1080\/03075079.2023.2209597","article-title":"Narrowing awarding gaps: the contributory role of policy and assessment type","volume":"48","author":"Cagliesi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Stud High Educ"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1235","DOI":"10.1111\/MEDU.15460","article-title":"Towards addressing the awarding gap\u2014using critical race theory to contextualise the role of intersectionality in black pharmacy student attainment","volume":"58","author":"Mawdsley","year":"2024","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.1080\/10668926.2015.1112319","article-title":"An analysis of nonfirst-generation community college men of color: comparing GPA, noncognitive, and campus ethos differences across race","volume":"40","author":"Palacios","year":"2016","journal-title":"Community Coll J Res Pract"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1111\/J.2044-8279.2011.02060.X","article-title":"The mediators of minority ethnic underperformance in final medical school examinations","volume":"83","author":"Woolf","year":"2013","journal-title":"Br J Educ Psychol"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1097\/ACM.0000000000003837","article-title":"Admissions is not enough: the racial achievement gap in medical education","volume":"96","author":"Jones","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acad Med"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"75945","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-075945","article-title":"Is the awarding gap at UK medical schools influenced by ethnicity and medical school attended? A retrospective cohort study","volume":"13","author":"Brown","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e069009","DOI":"10.1136\/BMJOPEN-2022-069009","article-title":"\u201cWhere are you really from?\u201d: a qualitative study of racial microaggressions and the impact on medical students in the UK","volume":"13","author":"Morrison","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e032493","DOI":"10.1136\/BMJOPEN-2019-032493","article-title":"Student perspectives on barriers to performance for black and minority ethnic graduate-entry medical students: a qualitative study in a west midlands medical school","volume":"9","author":"Morrison","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"443","DOI":"10.1111\/MEDU.15246","article-title":"Bridging the gap: understanding the barriers and facilitators to performance for black, Asian and minority ethnic medical students in the United Kingdom","volume":"58","author":"Morrison","year":"2024","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1177\/019394598400600108","article-title":"Phenomenological research","volume":"6","author":"Knaack","year":"1984","journal-title":"West J Nurs Res"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31364\/scirj\/v7.i5.2019.p0519656","article-title":"Phenomenological research methodology","author":"Greening","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci Res J"},{"key":"ref18","first-page":"191","volume-title":"The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research","author":"Guba","year":"2005"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706QP063OA","article-title":"Using thematic analysis in psychology","volume":"3","author":"Braun","year":"2006","journal-title":"Qual Res Psychol"},{"key":"ref20","year":""},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"826","DOI":"10.5334\/pme.1873","article-title":"The struggle to belong for underrepresented medical students: a narrative review","volume":"14","author":"Luong","year":"2025","journal-title":"Perspect Med Educ"},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-018-1426-5","article-title":"The ethnicity attainment gap among medical and biomedical science students: a qualitative study","volume":"18","author":"Claridge","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.3109\/0142159X.2012.669082","article-title":"The hidden medical school: a longitudinal study of how social networks form, and how they relate to academic performance","volume":"34","author":"Woolf","year":"2012","journal-title":"Med Teach"},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511803932","volume-title":"Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity","author":"Wenger","year":"1998"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"376","DOI":"10.1111\/MEDU.14382","article-title":"Students\u2019 social networks are diverse, dynamic and deliberate when transitioning to clinical training","volume":"55","author":"Atherley","year":"2020","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"a1220","DOI":"10.1136\/BMJ.A1220","article-title":"Ethnic stereotypes and the underachievement of UK medical students from ethnic minorities: qualitative study","volume":"337","author":"Woolf","year":"2008","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1007\/s40037-021-00679-4","article-title":"\u201cAs an ethnic minority, you just have to work twice as hard.\u201d Experiences and motivation of ethnic minority students in medical education","volume":"10","author":"Isik","year":"2021","journal-title":"Perspect Med Educ"},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1331","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-025-07684-9","article-title":"Navigating challenges in healthcare education: perspectives from ethnic minority students","volume":"25","author":"Wong","year":"2025","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1870616\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T04:53:05Z","timestamp":1785905585000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1870616\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"references-count":28,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fmed.2026.1870616"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1870616","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-858X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-858X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"article-number":"1870616"}}