How much does it cost to train a doctor in the United Kingdom?

January 2013

Note: This paper is intended as background information for the media. It is not intended as a
comprehensive BMA policy paper.

What should be considered when calculating the cost of medical training?

There are difficulties in estimating the cost of training a medical doctor in the UK. Whilst training for many
graduate professions centres upon obtaining an appropriate degree qualification, the medical profession
requires considerable initial training as a medical undergraduate and is later followed by extensive post-
medical school training. After completing the two year Foundation programme medical professionals will
spend 5-7 years on specialist training to become a consultant while the GP training scheme will take
three years. The cost of specialist training will vary, depending on the specialty. For all areas of the
medical profession, further costs may be incurred by continuing professional training throughout a
medical career.

Is it possible to calculate medical training costs at various career stages?

Commissioned by the Department of Health (DH), the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU)
was established to collate the best available evidence about unit costs within the UK health and social
care sector. Estimates of the cost of training NHS doctors (doctors practising within hospitals and
general practice) were published in the 2012 report, and can be seen in the below table. There is a
different cost for each type of doctor due to the different type of training undertaken and the length of
time the training takes to complete. Their findings are published annually in the report: Unit Costs of
Health and Social Care
Cost of training of doctors employed within the NHS (extracted from Unit Costs of Health and Social
Care 2012, PSSRU, University of Kent)

Pre-registration Post-graduate Totals

training
Tuition Living Clinical Tuition and Total Expected
(£) expenses/lost placement (£) replacement investment (£) annual cost
production costs (£) at 3.5% (£)
costs (£)
Foundation 57,433 60,301 151,792 NA 269,527 20,189
Officer 1
Foundation 57,433 60,301 151,792 24,637 294,164 22,458
Officer 2
Registrar 57,433 60,301 151,792 73,924 343,451 26,996
Group
Associate 57,433 60,301 151,792 113,951 383,477 30,682
Specialist
GP 57,433 60,301 151,792 228,962 498,489 41,272
Consultants 57,433 60,301 151,792 275,182 564,112 45,528

The table displays costs which are, for the most part, borne by the wider NHS. However, there are some
costs, such as tuition and accommodation which are borne by the individual, for example during
undergraduate study. Inevitably, there may be some costs to the individual that are not included in these
calculations; caution is therefore advised when reporting these figures. Further detail should be sought
from, PSSRU, University of Kent.