Dentistry Entry Requirements UK: Every Dental School for 2027 Entry

Twelve of the sixteen school-leaver courses ask for AAA. Dundee asks UK applicants for A*AA, as do King's College London and Queen Mary (Barts), and Plymouth publishes a range from A*AA down to AAB with an AAB widening-access route. Beyond the grade, the subject rule is where the real differences lie, and it is recorded exactly as each school words it in the required-subjects column.

Dental school A-level offers at a glance, 2027 entry

• Glasgow: AAA including Biology and Chemistry, one sitting
• Dundee: A*AA including Biology and Chemistry (UK applicants)
• Queen's Belfast: AAA including Biology and Chemistry
• Liverpool: AAA including Biology and Chemistry, one sitting
• Bristol: AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Maths
• Sheffield: AAA including Chemistry and Biology
• Manchester: AAA including Chemistry and Biology
• King's: A*AA including Biology or Chemistry plus a second science
• Leeds: AAA including Biology and Chemistry
• Birmingham: AAA including Chemistry and Biology, one sitting
• Cardiff: AAA including Biology and Chemistry
• Newcastle: AAA including Chemistry and Biology
• Plymouth: A*AA to AAB including Biology and a second science
• Queen Mary (Barts): A*AA including Biology or Chemistry plus a second science, one sitting
• Lancashire: Graduate entry: 2:1 in a biomedical discipline plus three A-levels at C
• Aberdeen: Graduate entry: First or 2:1 in a medical or health science
• UEA: AAA including Biology or Chemistry
• Portsmouth: AAA including Biology and a second science

• Chemistry and Biology, both required: Glasgow, Dundee, Queen's Belfast, Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and Newcastle all require both, most at grade A, with Human Biology accepted in place of Biology at several of them but never alongside it.
• One named science plus a second science: Bristol wants Chemistry plus one of Biology, Physics, Maths or Further Maths. Plymouth and Portsmouth want Biology plus one of Chemistry, Physics, Maths or Psychology. King's and Queen Mary want Biology or Chemistry plus a further science, and at King's the second may also be Psychology.
• Only one of Biology or Chemistry: UEA, new for 2027, requires just one of Biology, Human Biology or Chemistry plus two further A-levels, the loosest subject rule of any dental school.
• The third subject, and the subjects that do not count: The third A-level is a free choice at most schools, but General Studies and Critical Thinking are excluded at nearly all of them, Cardiff adds Citizenship Studies, and Manchester, Bristol and King's refuse overlapping pairs such as Biology with Human Biology, Maths with Further Maths or Biology with Zoology. The EPQ is not considered at King's, Cardiff or Birmingham, though Sheffield publishes an AAB alternative offer that counts a dentistry-related EPQ.
• One sitting, two years: Glasgow, Dundee, Liverpool, Birmingham and Queen Mary all require A-levels achieved in one sitting, and UEA and Queen's Belfast expect them over two consecutive years. A third year of sixth form, for any reason, needs checking against each school's policy before you apply.
• Pass the practical: Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, King's and UEA state that science A-levels with a separate practical endorsement must be passed. Portsmouth calls it desirable. Nobody is going to warn you about this in Year 13 if your school does not run the practicals.

If you are still choosing your A-levels, our guide to which A-levels you need for dentistry works through the choice subject by subject, including what to take as the third A-level and what happens if you drop Biology.

All 18 UK dental schools require the UCAT, sat in the year of application, and no UK dental school uses any other admissions test. The Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning, each scaled 300 to 900, plus the Situational Judgement Test, reported as Band 1 (highest) to Band 4 (lowest), so the total runs from 900 to 2700. Results reach universities in early November, and the 2027 entry test window ran from 13 July to 24 September 2026. Beyond that, the schools diverge sharply, and the UCAT column records each position in the school's own words.

• Hard floors: 4 schools publish a rule that removes you before interview. Queen Mary rejects any total below the fourth decile or an SJT Band 4. Sheffield requires an average or above cognitive score and SJT Band 1 or 2 at its first screening. Manchester does not consider SJT Band 3 or 4, and Liverpool says Band 4 would not be competitive enough.
• Rank for interview, no cut-off: Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Lancashire and the new UEA all rank applicants on UCAT score and interview down the list until the slots run out, so the effective cut-off is whatever the year's cohort produces. Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham publish what that was in past years, but several of those figures are on the earlier four-subtest scale above 2700 and cannot be compared with a current score.
• Weighted or scored: Bristol scores applicants who meet the academic minimum with a 100% weighting on the UCAT, excluding the SJT, and published a 2026-entry interview threshold of 2340 for home applicants. Queen's Belfast converts the total to 0 to 9 points by decile inside a 45-point score. Aberdeen weights 60% academic and 40% UCAT, and UEA weights the UCAT and the interview equally when it makes offers.
• Tie-break only: Cardiff uses the UCAT only where more applicants share the same academic score than it has interview places, and again to separate equal interview scores. King's, Dundee and Portsmouth say explicitly that there is no threshold and the score is read alongside GCSEs, academics and, at Portsmouth, the personal statement.
• SJT explicitly ignored: Glasgow, Birmingham and Bristol state that the Situational Judgement Test band plays no part in their decision, and Dundee does not use it for initial shortlisting. At Queen's Belfast and Aberdeen it is used only to separate borderline candidates.

The practical consequence is that the same UCAT score can be a comfortable interview at one school and a rejection at another, which is why the four schools you choose should be picked after the result comes out, not before. Our guide to how universities use the UCAT covers the cut-off patterns in more depth, and the UCAT score calculator converts a practice score to the current 2700 scale. If the test is still ahead of you, our UCAT tutoring is built around the dental and medical cut-offs you are aiming at.

Dental schools have moved in different directions on work experience, and the published positions now run from a stated requirement to not considered at all. Manchester requires some relevant work experience before application, expects some of it to be in person, and may ask for confirmation. Newcastle would like to see a minimum of ten days, Birmingham encourages a minimum of three days in an NHS or mixed practice, and Bristol suggests a minimum of two weeks while stating it is not a requirement.

At the other end, Glasgow states that no work shadowing is required for 2027 entry, Queen's Belfast and Cardiff say it is not a requirement, and Plymouth does not consider work experience or the personal statement when it selects for interview. Dundee, Leeds, Lancashire, UEA and Portsmouth say nothing about it on the pages we read, which the table records as a gap rather than a position.

• Plan against the most demanding school on your list: If Manchester or Newcastle is one of your four, build the placements to their standard and the rest are covered. A school with no stated minimum is not a school with no expectation: King's, Queen Mary, Liverpool and Sheffield all describe what they expect to see even though none sets a number.
• Shadowing is hard to get, and the schools know it: Glasgow, Birmingham, Newcastle and King's all state that dental shadowing can be difficult to obtain and that voluntary or customer-facing work, care settings, conversations with dental professionals and online courses are acceptable ways to show insight. Say explicitly in your statement how you gained that insight if your in-person experience is thin.
• Reflection beats hours: Where the statement is read at all, and at interview everywhere, the question is what you understood: the mix of NHS and private work, the business of a practice, the patient who is frightened, the dentist's hands. Keep a short reflective note per placement day; it is the raw material for both the statement and the interview.

Our dentistry work experience guide covers how to approach practices, what to do if nobody replies, and how to write the reflection up for the dentistry personal statement.

No UK dental school makes an offer without an interview, and at most of them the offer is made on interview performance alone once you are in the room. 10 of the 18 schools use a multiple mini interview: Dundee, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Plymouth, Lancashire, Aberdeen and UEA. 5 use a panel: Sheffield, King's, Newcastle, Queen Mary (Barts) and Portsmouth. Bristol runs a structured online interview with four assessors, and Glasgow and Queen's Belfast do not name the format on their own pages.

Whether you travel matters too. Sheffield, Birmingham and Aberdeen interview in person only, Manchester, Dundee and Cardiff interview home applicants in person with a remote option for overseas applicants, and UEA interviews on campus. King's, Queen Mary, Bristol, Newcastle and Leeds interview online. Birmingham runs its entire MMI in February half-term week with no alternative dates.

Every school's interview window is in our UK dental school interview dates table, and our 230 dental school interview questions cover the ethics, manual dexterity and NHS dentistry topics these formats test. For 1-to-1 practice with a dentist, see our dentistry interview coaching.

Dental schools vary on resits more than on almost anything else, and the published positions run the full width of the scale: not considered at all, considered only from applicants who applied to that school the first time, accepted at a higher offer, capped at one attempt, or accepted on stated terms. Six schools do not consider A-level resits in the normal way, and two publish no admissions resit policy on the pages we read.

Every school's published position is below, in its own wording. Where a school states nothing, ask the admissions team directly before you use one of your four choices on it, because a school that will not consider resat grades turns a choice into a blank.

• University of Glasgow: All grades must be achieved at one sitting, which applies to all qualifications from all countries and exam bodies, and applications based on retaken examinations cannot be considered. Reapplicants are considered, must retake the UCAT, and are not guaranteed an interview. Deferred entry is not considered. Source
• University of Dundee: A-levels must be achieved in the same sitting and the main Highers requirement in S5 in one sitting; the IB offer is with no retakes. Academic study must have been completed within the three years before the course starts. No reapplication policy is stated. Source
• Queen's University Belfast: Repeat candidates are considered only if they applied to Queen's at the first attempt, held any offer as their conditional firm choice, and achieved AAB or at most one grade below the previous year's standard at the first sitting; the repeat offer is AAA. Only two attempts at A-level and two UCAS applications for dentistry are permitted, and the UCAT must be retaken. Source
• University of Liverpool: A-level resits are not accepted, and applicants who have retaken either Year 12 or Year 13 are not considered. Reapplications from candidates unsuccessful after an interview for A200 are not considered. Source
• University of Bristol: Applicants who resit their qualifications are considered. Applicants with achieved grades below the published requirement in A-level Chemistry, GCSE Mathematics or GCSE English are not considered unless resitting it. Previous interview performance is not held against reapplicants, and deferred applications are treated the same as others. Source
• University of Sheffield: Where A-levels have previously been attempted, applicants are normally expected to have obtained at least grade B in each subject at the first sitting. Access courses are not accepted as a way to resit A-levels, and reapplicants must resit the UCAT. Source
• University of Manchester: Resitting applicants are welcome but may resit only one of Year 12 or Year 13, and all resitting applicants must achieve A*AA. Two consecutive unsuccessful applications bar further consecutive applications, and all reapplicants must retake the UCAT. Source
• King's College London: Applicants resitting Level 3 qualifications for the first time, completing A-levels within three years, are considered. A second resit, completing within four years, is usually considered only with mitigating circumstances. Source
• University of Leeds: The School of Dentistry accepts one resit attempt, with evidence of all resit predicted and achieved grades. Gap-year applications are welcome and deferral by one year is normally possible. Applications after the 15 October deadline are not accepted and the school does not use UCAS Extra. Source
• University of Birmingham: A-level resits are not considered and GCSE resits are not considered. Anyone previously rejected by Birmingham School of Dentistry after interview is not considered again. Source
• Cardiff University: Applicants resitting A-levels are not considered, except that an applicant with predicted grades who receives and firms a conditional offer after interview may resit, with the offer honoured for one year only. GCSE and AS resits are acceptable. You can reapply provided you meet the minimum requirements for the year you apply. Source
• Newcastle University: Resit qualifications are accepted only from candidates who have previously applied to Newcastle Dental School, over a maximum of two exam sittings and at one grade above the usual offer, so A*AA rather than AAA. Candidates who began a dental degree elsewhere and failed to progress are not considered. Deferred entry by one year is considered if requested at application. Source
• University of Plymouth (Peninsula): Applicants applying with predicted grades must achieve at least ABB at the first sitting. Where ABB is not achieved first time, applicants must resit the required qualifications and apply once suitable grades are achieved, and a suitable profile must be reached at the first resit attempt. Source
• Queen Mary University of London (Barts): A-levels must be achieved in one sitting over no more than two years; applicants taking longer or with an interruption are considered only with prior approval from the extenuating circumstances panel before applying. Unsuccessful candidates may reapply the following year. Source
• University of Lancashire (UCLan): No admissions resit or reapplication policy is stated on the pages we read. Source
• University of Aberdeen: Qualifications must have been sat within the last six years and the UCAT retaken for each application. No other resit or reapplication rule is stated. Source
• University of East Anglia (UEA): Resits are considered only if ABB or AAC was achieved at the first sitting, and resit applicants must achieve at least one A* in the subjects resat. Resitting more than once is not considered. Applicants are considered for two consecutive years only, must retake the UCAT, and deferred entry is not permitted. Source
• University of Portsmouth: Resit A-level grades are considered, with the final result over a two-year course the grade used. Applications are considered once per cycle, with no reconsideration in Extra or Clearing; previously unsuccessful applicants to other universities are considered, and deferral is case by case. Source

If you are reapplying, the question every interviewer will ask is what is different this time, and the answer is rarely just better grades. It is a higher UCAT, more time inside a practice, a clearer sense of which part of dentistry you are aiming at, and a statement that reads like someone who has been on the clinical side of the chair. Our reapplying for dentistry guide covers how to use the year deliberately.