The BDS and how the five years run
Cardiff is the only dental school in Wales. The School of Dentistry is at Heath Park, on the University Hospital of Wales site, with the University Dental Hospital on the same campus. There are about 74 places in year 1, four or five of them for overseas students.
Teaching includes a £2.2 million clinical simulation suite with mouth scanners and 3D printing. You can take assignments, exams and the interview in Welsh, and Coleg Cymraeg scholarships are worth up to £3,000.
The five years, from Cardiff's course page
- Year 1
Core science
Dental anatomy, physiology and oral disease, with first clinical skills in simulation.
Simulation suite - Year 2 · Patients
First patients
Your first patient under close supervision, then your own list of patients.
Dental Hospital - Year 3
Building skills
Professionalism, communication and clinical skills, through lectures, seminars and simulation.
School of Dentistry - Year 4
Placements
Time on placement in primary care, in and around Cardiff and across Wales.
Across Wales - Year 5
Final year
Simulation suite work alongside placements, for real-world experience.
BDS
Entry requirements and how to apply
A-level route
AAA including Biology and Chemistry. The UCAT must be taken between July and October of the year you apply.
Welsh applicants
Cardiff treats Welsh-domiciled applicants as a contextual group, and the Welsh Government sets the number of places. The offer is AAA.
Multiple mini-interviews
Short, timed stations you rotate around in turn. Details are sent to those invited.
Contextual offers
Cardiff uses contextual data in selection. See how that compares with the other dental schools.
Clinical training and placements
Simulation suite
A £2.2 million clinical simulation suite with mouth scanners and 3D printing, used from year 1 to year 5.
Placements across Wales
From year 4 you spend time in primary care, in and around Cardiff and across Wales.
A DBS check and health checks, including Hepatitis B immunisation, blood-borne virus screening and a tetanus vaccination in the last 10 years.
Student life in Cardiff
CDSS
The Cardiff Dental Students' Society runs a winter ball, a ski trip and charity events, and pairs first years with dental parents.
Cardiff: DentistryOne campus
The school and the University Dental Hospital share the Heath Park campus.
Cardiff: Dental SurgeryTeeth in the community
Through CDSS, students teach oral hygiene to young people and run Dental Aid for Cardiff's homeless population.
Students' Union: CDSSFees and key dates
You don't need any specific equipment.
Source: Cardiff: Dental Surgery BDS; Cardiff: admissions information for dentistry
Key dates
Funding and support
No funding specific to this school is listed here. What you can get depends on where you live and where you study.
Strengths and things to plan for
- No equipment to buy. Cardiff says you don't need any.
- Study in Welsh. Assignments, exams and the interview.
- Placements across Wales. Primary care experience from year 4.
- Contextual data. Used in selection; the offer is AAA.
- A levels at first sitting. Resits aren't accepted.
- UCAT timing. Taken July to October of the year you apply.
- Overseas fees. £30,700 in year 1, then £47,450 a year.
Who to believe, and in what order
DentiSpark is not the authority on any of this, and does not want to be. Cardiff University's own pages are the authority on what it will ask of you; where anything here disagrees with them, the school is right and we are not. Entry requirements, deadlines and course codes change from one cycle to the next.
The regulator
The General Dental Council decides which degrees lead to registration as a dentist in the UK. Its list of approved providers is the only place to confirm where a programme stands.
GDC approved providers