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A student whose offer of a place to study medicine at Imperial College London was withdrawn after the college learned of his criminal conviction has been offered an interview at Manchester University after he appealed against Manchester's previous decision to reject him.
Majid Ahmed has been trying to secure a place to study medicine for almost two years, since he first applied to four university medical schools in September 2006, but he believes that his attempts have been hampered by his conviction for burglary.
He was rejected by Imperial College last summer when the college discovered his conviction; and a second attempt to get into medical school this year, by reapplying to three schools, and adding a fourth to the list, has so far failed. His interview at Manchester will take place some time in the next two weeks.
Mr Ahmed was 16 when he pleaded guilty to "burglary of a dwelling" in December 2005, having been found trespassing in a deserted house with two older friends, aged 21 and 23. He was ordered to carry out eight hours of community service, which he did cleaning benches and making bird boxes.
In an interview with the BMJ Mr Ahmed explained...