Sir, Recent years have seen a decline in applications for core surgical training.1 In February 2019, the Cambridge University Surgical Society investigated factors deterring clinical students from pursuing a surgical career with an online questionnaire. After basic demographic information, free-text comments were invited to a single question, ‘What changes would make a surgical career more attractive to you?’ Respondents were aware that results would be relayed to the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).