Applying for dentistry courses at university can be daunting, given the many forms, tests and even interviews that applicants must complete.

Read on for advice on how best to tackle this process!

What should I study to apply to dentistry?

• You should study chemistry and biology at A-level.

• Your application may also benefit from studying mathematics or physics; however these are not required for many schools.

What if I don’t get the required grades or study the right subjects?

To study dentistry, you must demonstrate academic ability. However, if you don’t achieve the required grades, or you don’t study the desired subjects, there is the possibility of applying for a foundation course to dentistry.

What is the process of applying to dentistry?

• UCAS

• UCAT/BMAT?

• Interview

UCAS application

You must always apply via UCAS, as no dentistry schools accept direct applications in the UK.

Remember that the UCAS deadline for medicine and dentistry is always prior to the deadline for other subjects – October 15th every year!

Late applications will not be accepted.

The majority of the UCAS application involves submitting details about yourself and your education, including your grades and institutions you have studied at. It is imperative that these details are accurate. Not only is this important for conveying the truth about your abilities, but also for showing you pay attention to detail, which is key for studying dentistry!

Another important and daunting part of the UCAS application is the personal statement. Your chosen universities’ admissions department will read this to review you and your experience/abilities, to see if they think you’ll be a great fit for their university. Your personal statement should discuss your motivation and reasons for studying dentistry at university, as well as the aspects of the subject that particularly fascinate you. You can demonstrate these interests by discussing any extra reading you have done into this subject. Additionally, you should discuss work experience you have done that relates to the field of dentistry (for more information on this, read below).

Many people wrongly believe the personal statement should be used solely for demonstrating academic interests. However, try to use an 80;20 ration – 80% academic focus, and 20% non-academic. In the later section, you can discuss your hobbies and interests, such as sports, music, or other societies and clubs you partake in. Use these hobbies to demonstrate transferable skills that you have acquired, such as dedication, teamwork, or leadership skills. You can also demonstrate these attributes by discussing other voluntary experience, or even paid part-time experience that you have completed, as well as positions of responsibility within school such as prefect roles.

If you wish to have further help with writing your personal statement, get in touch with us today, we’d love to help!

Finally, your UCAS application will require an academic reference, most probably written by a teacher or mentor. They will be required to discuss not only your academic abilities, but also your personal qualities and how these can suit you to a career in dentistry.

NOTE: some universities ask you to fill out a separate form containing the contents of your personal statement. The content can be the same/very similar, but it is worth checking the individual application requirements of each university!

Admissions Tests

Your academic ability and suitability to becoming a healthcare professional/studying dentistry will be assessed by external admissions tests.

• UCAT:

  • Most dentistry schools require the UCAT when applying.

  • The UCAT focuses on testing qualities that are deemed important for people working in healthcare.

  • The UCAT offers bursaries for individuals that may need financial support for paying for the test, applications for this are open between May-September every year.

• BMAT:

  • Most dentistry schools in the UK do not require you to sit the BMAT, however, some do.

  • It is important to check the application requirements of your chosen universities.

  • This test differs from the UCAT in that it assesses an individual’s ability to study a difficult biomedical degree, such as medicine or dentistry.

  • It is a challenging test; it needs to be difficult to successfully discriminate between applicants of different abilities

Interview

If you are offered an interview, the admissions team will have already deemed you to have suitable academic potential to study medicine. Therefore, the purpose of the interview is to assess your wider potential. The process is likely to be formal but friendly, and interviewers may come from a university or clinical background. The aim of the interview is to see whether you fit the university’s nonacademic criteria. For the interviewer, it is definitely wise to do some practice.

Practice interviews can get you used to answering questions under a nerve-wracking environment and also allow you to develop your communicative skills. However, do not rehearse answers to specific questions, as this is likely to seem ingenuine in the interview and will likely hinder your performance. Your answers should be unique, authentic, and interesting. A particularly important question that you should consider before, but not rehearse, is ‘why would you like to study dentistry’? You may also be asked in more detail about work experience that you have completed, an what you gained from this.

How can I get work experience in dentistry?

You should seek voluntary experience in the healthcare field to demonstrate your commitment and interest to studying dentistry. You can reach out to hospices in search of voluntary work experience or contact dentist surgeries near you to see if you can shadow their members of staff to gain more relevant experience. Given the pandemic, there are now many virtual shadowing experiences and courses that you can attend too!

How do I prepare for dentistry school?

If you have received an offer to study dentistry, congratulations! At this point, ensure you check the school’s requirements for what to bring, e.g. if they request you to bring any special equipment or resources for your course. Also, check whether there is a pre-term reading list. If you are unsure, contact your course organiser to check if you’ve missed anything!