The Medical ACT Allocation Model 

The detailed components of the Medical ACT Allocation Model were last reviewed between 2020-2022 by a short life working group (SLWG) coordinated by NES Finance team and including representation from Health Boards.    

The current model, which applies to students from all medical programmes, has a three-stage approach.  

• Stage 1 allocates the total funding by medical programme based on student numbers ​which are independently provided by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC); these are a major determinant of where Medical ACT funding is ultimately directed, as ultimately, “the money follows the student” into Health Boards.  
• Stage 2 then divides the total funding for each medical programme by Health Board, based on the contribution of each to the undergraduate clinical teaching on behalf of the medical programme. The greater teaching an NHS Board proportionately undertakes for a medical programme, the more funding it should receive. This stage is based on an annual Measurement of Teaching (MoT) exercise that provides data gathered by each of the Boards for submission to NES. The actual costs incurred for Travel & Subsistence, costs of GP teaching and any other pre-agreed costs are then top-sliced and allocated to the Board where the costs will be incurred in the next cycle.​  
• Stage 3 is where smoothing occurs; this process reduces any potentially destabilising significant peaks and troughs in total Board funding and is required to maintain stability​ of Board funding between years.