Aim To report nurse educators’ perspectives of the appropriateness of pre-registration nursing education programmes in preparing nurses to practise in primary care. Method Data were collected through semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews with eight nurse educators, and were subject to thematic analysis. Findings Nurse educators believed that nursing education programmes did not adequately prepare newly qualified nurses to work in primary care because they provided limited experience in this setting. Conclusion Factors such as shortage of practice placements in primary care and lack of mentors to supervise and support students were identified as major barriers to student learning and subsequent preparedness to work in primary care.