A standard national tariff for the funding of medical student placements in secondary care was introduced in England in April 2013 based on detailed costing data from teaching hospitals. In spite of original intentions there is currently no national tariff for undergraduate student placements in primary care, nor any data on the real costs of teaching in general practice. Currently, payments to teaching practices are locally agreed, vary widely, and are consistently lower than those made to secondary care placement providers. For the first time, this study provides evidence that the real cost of teaching undergraduate medical students in general practice is similar to that in secondary care and will inform a realistic and fair primary care education tariff. |