This month the Royal Australasian College of Physicians released a detailed 80-page independent report into the running of one of its make-or-break exams.

The report had been triggered by an investigation into 40 complaints made by paediatric trainees in New Zealand regarding the Paediatric Divisional Clinical Examination held back in 2021.

The complaints included an anonymous letter by 30 registrars that listed allegations of pre-existing relationships between candidates and examiners, claims that success in the exam more generally was a partly a lucky dip, and allegations of racism.

More than 90% of examiners were Caucasian, the letter said. It claimed that data over a five-year period showed that the overall chance of a non-Caucasian candidate passing on the first attempt was 40% compared with 93% for Caucasian candidates.