UCAS Dentistry Application Guide 2024
Considering a career in dentistry? You will need to apply to study Dentistry and you can do this via UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Read on for all the information you need to apply for 2024 entry.
What is the UCAS Application for Dentistry?
If you are applying to study dentistry at a college or university in the UK, you need to do this through UCAS. They manage all UK applications for higher education. The good thing about applying through UCAS is that they will send your application to all the institutions you have applied to so you don’t need to do it!
What Is Included in the UCAS Dentistry Application?
There are a number of things you must consider to help make your UCAS Dentistry application stand out:
- Work Experience
- Wider Reading, including Hot Topics
- Admissions Tests (UCAT or BMAT)
- Dentistry Personal Statement
- Dentistry Interview
Important UCAS Dates for 2024 Entry
Dentistry applications are required to be submitted earlier than an application to study other courses.
The UCAS Dentistry Deadline for 2024 entry is 15 October 2023 at 18:00. For up-to-date information on dates, please refer to the UCAS website.
What does it Cost to Study Dentistry in the UK?
If you are a resident in England or Wales, medical courses can cost up to £9,250 per year.
If you are a Scottish resident, you can study in Scotland for free. Costs for students studying in Northern Ireland will vary and are also dependent on where you live.
However, if you are an international student wishing to study in the UK, costs can be much higher; between £20000 to £45000 a year.
Financial Aid to Study Medicine
If you are a UK or EU resident, you can apply for a loan to cover the costs of your course. This can be applied for via the government’s student finance website. You can also check to see if you are eligible to apply for a loan to support you in financing your cost of living. In addition to this, check with the universities you are applying to as some of them also offer their own financial aid for students.
UCAS Application Cost
A registration fee is applicable when applying to study dentistry through UCAS. The cost for this is £20 if you are applying to a single university course or £25 for multiple courses. Check with your school as they may pay this fee for you.
How many dental courses can I apply to?
When applying for courses through UCAS, you can apply a maximum of 5 courses.
However, only 4 of these can be dentistry.
You can apply for a fifth non-dentistry course. With dentistry being very competitive, it is highly recommended to have a fallback plan just in case.
How hard is it to get into dentistry school?
As we alluded to before, places on dentistry courses are very sought after and therefore, dentistry is very competitive.
It is vital that you stand out from the crowd and the first step is through your UCAS dentistry application. This is your first chance to make a good impression. Read our step-by-step guide below for more information.
The UCAS Dentistry Application: A Step-by-Step Approach
1. School Exams
When you have decided to pursue a career in dentistry, it is important to choose the right exams to study. Many universities have entry requirements when it comes to exams needed and many will also specify exams that are also favourable.
The next step is to score highly in those exams, particularly Biology and Chemistry.
2. Dental School Selection
As the decision of which exams to take will be based on requirements of different schools, you will have no doubt already started to think about this even before step 1.
When selecting dentistry schools for application, it is important to look at the type of course and teaching methods and think about whether it is a good fit for you. Location may also be an important factor. Attending Open Days and requesting prospectuses will help you narrow down your selection. Check out our dental school comparison tool for more information.
3. Work Experience
Work experience is an important part of the dental school application. Not only does it help to confirm that you want to study towards a career in dentistry, but it will also show institutions that you are serious about your choice and have considered and experienced different aspects of the dental profession.
It is also important to note that if you are successful in securing an interview at one or more dental schools, part of your interview will focus on the work experience you have undertaken. Read more in our work experience guide, which gives information on the different areas you could consider when arranging work experience placements.
4. Medical Admissions Tests – UCAT or BMAT
All UK dental schools require students to sit a medical admissions test. This is either the UCAT or the BMAT. The exams cover similar topics but are structured differently. Our UCAT and BMAT guides will give you more information.
The UCAT is more widely used by dental schools, however it is important to check which test is required by your chosen medical schools. It may be that you have to sit the UCAT for one school and the BMAT for a different school (possibly another consideration when selecting medical schools!)
If you are reading this ahead of applying for the 2025/26 admissions cycle (applications in 2024), it is also worth reading our Changes to the BMAT 2024 article. This does not affect the admissions cycle in 2023 for application to academic year 2024/2025.
Whichever admissions test you are required to sit, both require substantial preparation and study. Our 1-1 UCAT tutors or 1-1 BMAT tutors can support you in preparing for these exams through a personalised study plan.
5. UCAS Personal Statement
As part of your UCAS medicine application, you will need to provide a dentistry personal statement to support your application.
The schools that you apply to will use this as part of the interview selection process. The personal statement limit is only 4000 characters long and so it is important to structure your personal statement in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd.
For more information on how to structure your personal statement and what to write, see our dentistry personal statement guides. In addition, we also offer our personal statement 1-1 tutoring service where our expert tutors will offer advice, support and feedback when writing your personal statement.
6. UCAS Application Submission
When you have gathered all the required information, you will submit your dentistry applications to UCAS. Remember that the deadline for dentistry applications is before the deadline for other courses. Your application will not be accepted after this deadline.
7. Dental School Interviews
Once you have submitted your UCAS dentistry application, you will need to wait to hear from dental schools regarding interviews. It is important to check the dental school website as to the timeline for contacting students regarding an interview and how they will be communicating this to them. Some schools send emails, some vis post and some through the UCAS portal.
You can expect to hear about interviews from November, with interviews taking place between December and March.
After this, you will need to prepare for your dentistry interview. Research whether the interview will be a panel interview or an MMI (mini medical interviews), where there will be several stations to visit and answer questions on. Just as UCAT and BMAT preparation is important, preparation for your dentistry interview is equally important. This is your last chance to make a good impression and stand out from the competition. Our dentistry interview 1-1 tuition and preparation courses can support you in your preparation and give you the confidence to succeed.
8. Dental School Offers
After the interviews comes more waiting! Schools will usually contact students within a month with a decision and the timeline will be published on their website.
Celebrations will ensue and you will be on your way to becoming a dental professional!
Due to the competitive nature of places at dental schools, most schools will ask for 3As at A-Level. This will probably include Biology and Chemistry. Each school will have different requirements so it is recommended that you check on their website. Universities may also look at GCSE results and these requirements will also be listed on their website. It is likely that English, Maths and Sciences will be required.
Don’t worry! There are options available to you. You can choose to retake certain exams to achieve a higher grade and reapply next year. You could also think about other dental professions such as nursing, hygienist, technician or therapist.
Many admissions tutors conducting your interview will ask you questions on “hot topics” within dentistry. It is important to have knowledge about these topics before your interview. Along with reputable news sites, the NHS and BDA (British Dental Association) have news articles that you can read. The British Dental Journal is also a good source for dental hot topics in 2023.
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