01. Why this page exists
Each dental school runs its own scheme, under a different name, with different eligibility rules, on a different page. Nobody had put them in one place. What we could confirm is below; where we could not, we say so.
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The Dental Schools Council has publicly reported on ‘cold spot’ regions of the UK with very low rates of dental school applications, and has called for better coordination of widening participation support across universities. Underneath that headline, there are at least 15 UK dental schools plus Ireland's, each running its own separate scheme, under a different name, with different eligibility rules, on a different page — nobody had put them in one place before. This page is our attempt to do that honestly: what we could confirm is published clearly below, and where we couldn't confirm something specific to dentistry, we say so rather than guessing.
02. The terms you'll see
Vocabulary differs by nation. These are the measures dental schools use to decide who is eligible.
03. Before you rely on it
Treat everything here as a starting point for a conversation with the school's own admissions team, not a final answer.
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Eligibility criteria change year to year, and individual university pages are sometimes inconsistent even with themselves. The Dental Schools Council publishes updated entry requirements for every UK and Ireland dental school each year, and is the best single source to cross-check anything on this page.
04. School by school
Grouped by what the scheme does for dentistry. Open a school for the detail and its source. Criteria shift year to year, so open the source link before relying on any of it.
Newcastle UniversityTwo grades, to ABBPARTNERS
Two grades, to ABB, plus a lower UCAT threshold for interview. Dentistry and medicine are named exceptions to the three-grade figure.
Newcastle University: the lower PARTNERS offerUniversity of SheffieldOne grade, to AABAccess+ and Access to Dentistry
One grade, to AAB including Chemistry and Biology, through Access+ and Access to Dentistry.
Dental Schools Council: entry requirements for 2027, p.39Queen's University BelfastUp to one gradePathway Opportunity Programme
A guaranteed interview and an offer up to one grade below. You must be ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland and studying full time at a school there, with neither parent having been to university, five GCSEs at C/4 or above including English Language, and at least one further marker such as free school meals, a disadvantaged postcode, caring or care experience.
Queen's University Belfast: Pathway Opportunity ProgrammeUniversity of BirminghamAAB, or ABB via PathwaysContextual offer; Pathways to Birmingham
Two routes, both including Chemistry and Biology: a contextual offer of AAB, for free school meals in the last six years or time in care, and ABB through Pathways to Birmingham. The Dental Schools Council records one grade below for students on a recognised widening participation course. Separately, Routes to the Professions - Year 12, no gap year, a partner school in the wider West Midlands - guarantees a dentistry interview.
University of Birmingham: Dental Surgery BDSUniversity of LeedsABB, or one gradeAccess to Leeds; Low Participation Neighbourhoods
ABB through Access to Leeds, and it relaxes the requirement for an A in both sciences rather than simply dropping grades. A separate Low Participation Neighbourhoods route gives one grade with no application.
University of Leeds: Dental Surgery BChDUniversity of BristolTwo grades, to ABBContextual offers
A full two grades, to ABB with A in Chemistry, or 32 IB points. Eligibility includes an aspiring state school, an IMD quintile 1 or 2 postcode, time in care, or free school meals.
University of Bristol: BDS Dentistry 2027University of LiverpoolTwo grades, to ABBContextual admissions
A full two grades, to ABB, plus additional consideration when being selected for interview. Broadly an IMD decile 1 or 2 home postcode, or any time spent in local authority care.
Dental Schools Council: entry requirements for 2027, p.27University of ManchesterOne grade (AAB), or twoContextual offers
One grade, to AAB. Two grades, to ABB, for care-experienced applicants and those with refugee status or a Ukraine scheme visa. You must be under 21 on 1 September and have attended a UK school performing below the national average.
University of Manchester: BDS Dentistry 2027University of PlymouthFixed offer of AABWidening access offer
A fixed offer of AAB including grade A in Biology and a second science, for applicants meeting at least three of the ten indicators.
University of Plymouth: BDS Dental Surgery entry requirementsUniversity of DundeeHighers AAABBContextual admissions
A separate grade profile inside the same course: Highers AAABB rather than AAAAB, at the first sitting in S5, then two Advanced Highers or Highers in S6 including Advanced Higher Biology or Chemistry at B. Evidence must reach Dundee no later than one week after the 15 October UCAS deadline.
University of Dundee: Dentistry entry requirementsUniversity of GlasgowHighers AAABBAdjusted offers, with Reach
AAABB plus one Advanced Higher in Biology or Chemistry at B, rather than AAAAB plus BB, and you must complete Glasgow's Reach programme. Eligibility is by SIMD 20 or 40 postcode, care experience, being estranged, being a carer, or asylum seeker or refugee status. The Dental Schools Council's summary describes the scheme as for applicants living in Scotland, so check Glasgow's own page.
University of Glasgow: DentistryQueen Mary University of LondonOne gradeContextualised admissions
One grade. Queen Mary's own contextual admissions page and the Dental Schools Council both give this for the BDS. If you complete Queen Mary's Bridge the Gap programme, the offer can be AAA with a guaranteed interview, provided you meet the minimum GCSEs, are predicted at least AAA, and are within or above the UCAT 4th decile with SJT Band 1 to 3. Care leavers can receive AAB.
Queen Mary University of London: Contextual Admissions, 2027 entryUniversity of PortsmouthUp to two grades, to ABBContextual criteria
Up to a two-grade reduction, to ABB, for applicants meeting the university's contextual criteria, plus additional consideration at interview. The Dental Schools Council publishes this for the BDS; Portsmouth's own course page does not carry the figure, so check both.
Dental Schools Council: entry requirements for 2027, p.33Cardiff UniversityStandard offerContextual admissions
The offer stays at AAA. A contextual applicant gets additional weight when interviews are allocated.
Cardiff University: contextual admissionsKing's College LondonAAB, on a separate courseEnhanced Support Dentistry Programme (separate course)
None on the five-year BDS. Contextual data affects who is invited to interview, not the grades. The reduced-grade route is a separate course, the Enhanced Support Dentistry Programme, open only to applicants in non-selective state education within a London borough since the age of 11.
King's College London: Enhanced Support Dentistry Programme entry requirementsTrinity College DublinCAO points, Irish schemesHEAR and DARE (CAO)
HEAR requires residence in the Republic of Ireland. DARE, for applicants whose disability has affected their education, sets no residence test that we could find, and its guidance says applicants can present A levels, so a disabled UK applicant should ask. Of the 32 places, 3 were reserved for DARE in 2025; the latest HEAR figure published is 2 places, from 2022.
Trinity College Dublin: DARE places by course, 2025University College CorkCAO points, Irish schemesHEAR and DARE (CAO)
HEAR requires residence in the Republic of Ireland, so it is closed to UK applicants. DARE, for applicants under 23 whose disability has affected their education, sets no residence test, so a disabled UK applicant should ask UCC directly.
University College Cork: HEAR and DARE admissions policyUniversity of East AngliaStandard offerContextual admissions
The offer for BDS Dental Surgery stays at AAA: UEA's grade-reducing schemes list the course as an exception, and its guaranteed-interview scheme covers medicine.
University of East Anglia: contextual admissions, 2027 entry05. Where to ask directly
Both are graduate entry, and neither publishes a widening participation route for dentistry. That does not mean nothing is available: contact admissions directly.
06. A free national route
The Medical and Dental Summer Schools, funded by NHS England, the Medical Schools Council and the Dental Schools Council: over 500 free places, and not tied to any one dental school.
Drawn from each school’s own published criteria, plus the Dental Schools Council guide for 2027 entry, checked on 26 September 2026. Source: Dental Schools Council: 2027 entry requirements. Written and checked by Dr Julius K. Babayemi, GDC number 76198.