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Resources / Course Guides / Dentistry
Parent Course Guide
Dentistry compresses medicine’s security into five years with even earlier clinical work — students treat patients under supervision from remarkably early in the course, and employment on graduation is effectively universal.
The degree moves from science to the clinic fast:
Oral biology, anatomy and materials, with “phantom head” clinical-skills labs almost immediately.
Students treat NHS patients under supervision across restorative, paediatric, oral surgery and orthodontic rotations — the dental hospital becomes the timetable.
a salaried year (≈£36,000–£38,000) in practice, allocated nationally — then full NHS or private practice.
The highest contact hours of any degree in this collection — clinical sessions are compulsory, monitored and assessed on real patients.
Clinics, labs & lectures — 30+ hours weekly — a full professional timetable
Patient quotas — completed clinical cases are a graduation requirement
Study — 10–15 hours weekly around the clinical load
Manual skill practice — the hidden extra — dexterity is trained like an instrument
As in medicine, the placement is the degree:
dental hospitals and outreach community clinics are built into years 3–5 — arranged entirely by the school.
a placement of the student’s choosing, often abroad.
an optional extra BSc year at several schools for the academically ambitious.
Virtually every graduate enters paid foundation training; thereafter NHS practice, private practice and specialty training (orthodontics, oral surgery) all pay strongly — established practitioners commonly earn £80,000–£150,000+. Dentistry is largely insulated from the corporate milk round — its security is the attraction. Read our parent’s guide to the Milk Round →
Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL and Warwick do not teach dentistry — the leading schools sit elsewhere in the ten and just beyond. UCAT required throughout.
| University | Course & variant | Duration | Typical offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| KCL | BDS (consistently world top-3) | 5 years | A*AA–AAA + UCAT + interview |
| Manchester | BDS | 5 years | AAA + UCAT |
| Bristol | BDS | 5 years | AAA + UCAT |
| Edinburgh | (no BDS — via Glasgow/Dundee in Scotland) | — | — |
| Liverpool | BDS | 5 years | AAA + UCAT |
| Newcastle | BDS | 5 years | AAA + UCAT |
| Leeds | BChD | 5 years | AAA + UCAT |
| Queen Mary (Barts) | BDS | 5 years | A*AA + UCAT |
Dentistry offers medicine’s certainty with faster earnings and, for many, better hours — but fewer than twenty schools teach it and every one interviews. The UCAT, the manual-dexterity evidence and the interview craft are all preparable skills; Kamini’s clinical-interview coaching covers dentistry as thoroughly as medicine.
We help families choose the course variant that fits the child — then build the application that wins the place: subject strategy, personal statement, admissions tests and interview preparation, led by the academics themselves.
Fees shown are the government-regulated home undergraduate cap for 2026/27 (£9,790; rising to £10,050 in 2027/28). International fees vary by university and are typically £28,000–£45,000 per year, and up to £65,000+ for clinical courses. Entry offers, contact hours and placement statistics are typical published figures and vary by institution and year — we verify current details for your child’s exact shortlist during consultancy.
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UCAT, work experience, personal statements and interviews — our complete free guide to the medicine and dentistry application process.
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