The BDS and how the five years run
Peninsula Dental School is part of the University of Plymouth. It teaches at Devonport and Derriford in Plymouth, and in Exeter and Truro, with 58 places including 2 for international students.
You work in the Simulated Dental Learning Environment from your first week and meet patients in clinic in term 2. Learning is in small, integrated study groups, and the early years include a social engagement project.
The five years, from Plymouth's course page
- Year 1 · Patients
Simulation, then clinic
Simulation from your first week, and patient contact in clinic from term 2.
Plymouth - Year 2
Two clinic days
Disease in more depth, patient care two days a week, and a social engagement project.
Plymouth - Year 3
Exeter clinic
Two days a week at the Exeter clinic, with transport provided, and a scoping review.
Plymouth and Exeter - Year 4
A year in Truro
Live in Truro for the year, with clinics three days a week.
Truro - Year 5
Primary care
Four days a week in primary dental care, preparing for practice.
BDS
Entry requirements and how to apply
A-level route
Grade A in Biology and in a second science: Chemistry, Physics, Maths or Psychology. The third A level can be any subject.
Widening access offer
A fixed offer of AAB, with A in Biology and a second science, if you meet at least three of ten indicators.
Cut-off for interview
The 2025 home cut-off; international was 2640. Plymouth publishes its thresholds back to 2018.
Contextual offers
Plymouth's widening access offer is AAB. See how it compares with the other dental schools.
Clinical training across the peninsula
Across the peninsula
Clinics in Plymouth, then Exeter two days a week in year 3, and Truro for all of year 4.
Simulation from week one
The Simulated Dental Learning Environment builds your clinical skills from the first week.
An enhanced DBS check, with the paperwork due by 30 June, and Hepatitis B immunisation before you treat patients. Vaccinations are free through Occupational Health, but missed appointments are charged.
Student life in the South West
Peninsula Dental Society
Revision sessions, volunteering and social events, including a Christmas dinner and a summer ball.
Plymouth: Dental SurgeryLonger journeys
Plymouth notes that placements in the largely rural South West can mean longer journeys.
Plymouth: additional costsFees and key dates
From 2028/29 Plymouth's fees rise with inflation each year.
Source: Plymouth: BDS Dental Surgery; Plymouth: entry requirements
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
- Patients in year 1. Clinic from term 2.
- No personal statement. Selection doesn't use it, or work experience.
- Published cut-offs. UCAT thresholds for every year since 2018.
- Three sites. Plymouth, then Exeter in year 3 and Truro in year 4.
- Travel. Budget for journeys across the South West.
- 58 places. Including 2 for international students.
- UCAT cut-off. 2690 for home applicants in 2025.
Who to believe, and in what order
DentiSpark is not the authority on any of this, and does not want to be. University of Plymouth'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