The BDS and how the five years run
The Institute of Dentistry is in a five-storey building on Turner Street, opened in 2014 and attached to the Royal London Dental Hospital, and the BDS is delivered with Barts Health NHS Trust. It has 72 phantom heads, cone beam CT and haptic simulators used from the first year.
Queen Mary's hospitals lie in the City and the East End, which it says exposes students to a wide diversity of patients. Outreach clinics include Barkantine on the Isle of Dogs, the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre in Stratford and Kenworthy Road in Homerton.
The five years, from Queen Mary's course structure
- Year 1 · Patients
Foundations
Oral biology, cells, organs and body systems, with clinical skills and patient observation.
First patient care - Year 2
Health and disease
Clinical practice, human health and disease, and population oral health.
Royal London - Year 3
Clinical practice
Much of your time with patients, at the Royal London and outreach clinics.
Outreach clinics - Year 4
Wider cases
A greater range of cases, including hospital-based treatment.
Hospital - Year 5
Final year
Clinical practice and student-selected components.
BDS
Entry requirements and how to apply
A-level route
A*AA in one sitting, with Biology or Chemistry and a second science. Both Biology and Chemistry are needed at GCSE.
Contextual offer
Queen Mary's contextual offers are typically one grade below the standard offer.
Panel interview
Interviews take place online in January and February.
Contextual offers
Queen Mary's contextual offers are typically one grade lower. See how that compares with the other dental schools.
Clinical training and outreach
Outreach in East London
Clinics at Barkantine on the Isle of Dogs, the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre in Stratford and Kenworthy Road in Homerton.
The Turner Street building
72 phantom heads, cone beam CT, facial scanning, and a screen at every chair to discuss images with patients.
An enhanced DBS check, which you pay for, with the update service at £16 a year. Start the required vaccinations once you have a formal offer.
Student life at Queen Mary
DentSoc
Running since 1911, the dental society looks after the academic, social and welfare side of student life, with mentoring, talks and social events.
Queen Mary: societiesWhitechapel
The Institute of Dentistry is attached to the Royal London Dental Hospital on Turner Street.
Queen Mary: DentistryQueen Mary Bursary
£1,700 a year for household incomes under £20,000, or £1,000 a year between £20,000 and £35,000.
Queen Mary: DentistryFees and key dates
Queen Mary will set its 2027/28 fees later.
Source: Queen Mary: tuition fees 2026/27; Queen Mary: selection criteria
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
- Diverse patients. Hospitals in the City and the East End.
- Modern building. 72 phantom heads and cone beam CT at Turner Street.
- A long-running society. DentSoc has run since 1911.
- One sitting. A*AA, with Biology or Chemistry and a second science.
- UCAT. Fourth decile or above, SJT bands 1 to 3.
- Online interview. In January and February.
- International fee. £53,950 for year 1 in 2026/27.
Who to believe, and in what order
DentiSpark is not the authority on any of this, and does not want to be. Queen Mary University of London'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.
Check these before you apply:
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