First cohort of graduates for entry programme at King’s
Print version
The Dental Institute is very proud to graduate one of the first cohorts of students in the United Kingdom who undertook a bespoke four year programme in dentistry. The conventional time to study dentistry is five years. By taking students who have already completed a high-level (2.1 or higher) degree in bioscience, they are exempted the first year of the King’s College London Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree programme.With an initial introductory course covering the aspects of dentistry included in the first year of the five year dental programme, the graduate entry students join the five year cohort in Year Two and proceed with them throughout the dental programme. All students gain the same BDS degree, subsequent to satisfactory completion of all the relevant requirements.
Professor Nairn Wilson, Dean of the Dental Institute comments: ‘The importance of the graduate entry BDS programme to widening participation at King’s College London Dental Institute is significant. It gives entry to a cohort of students who bring strengths such as maturity and a great determination to study dentistry. The path they have taken to achieve a place at a premier dental school has often been a difficult one.’
The graduate entry route has proved very popular, with 300 applicants applying for the 30 places in 2008/9. Through a rigorous process, including the UKCAT, it has been possible to select students from unconventional backgrounds, but with proven academic ability and indications of outstanding aptitude for dentistry.
Professor Wilson said: ‘It is important to report that 100 per cent of the graduate entry students who sat the examination passed, many with merits and distinctions in the Final Examination.’
The celebrations of the achievements of the Dental Institute’s first cohort of graduate entry students included a graduation ceremony at Southwark Cathedral on July 2nd at which PhDs, master’s degrees and Diplomas in Dental Hygiene and Therapy were awarded in addition to the BDS degrees.
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Notes to Editors
For further information please contact:
Kate Moore, Public Relations Officer (Health Schools)
Public Relations Department
Email: kate.moore@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 4334
The King’s College London Dental Institute
The King’s College London Dental Institute is the largest dental academic centre in the UK. We train a quarter of all dentists in the UK and with our innovative approach to online learning provide professional training to dentists from 40 countries world-wide. Our excellence in teaching and research is reflected by top ratings in the last QAA and RAE reviews. Our dynamic multidisciplinary approach to both teaching and research is demonstrated in pioneering work ranging from craniofacial biology through to clinical service provision and innovations in dental education.
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.
King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
Posted on 17 July 2009
Professor Nairn Wilson, Dean of the Dental Institute comments: ‘The importance of the graduate entry BDS programme to widening participation at King’s College London Dental Institute is significant. It gives entry to a cohort of students who bring strengths such as maturity and a great determination to study dentistry. The path they have taken to achieve a place at a premier dental school has often been a difficult one.’
The graduate entry route has proved very popular, with 300 applicants applying for the 30 places in 2008/9. Through a rigorous process, including the UKCAT, it has been possible to select students from unconventional backgrounds, but with proven academic ability and indications of outstanding aptitude for dentistry.
Professor Wilson said: ‘It is important to report that 100 per cent of the graduate entry students who sat the examination passed, many with merits and distinctions in the Final Examination.’
The celebrations of the achievements of the Dental Institute’s first cohort of graduate entry students included a graduation ceremony at Southwark Cathedral on July 2nd at which PhDs, master’s degrees and Diplomas in Dental Hygiene and Therapy were awarded in addition to the BDS degrees.
- Ends -
Notes to Editors
For further information please contact:
Kate Moore, Public Relations Officer (Health Schools)
Public Relations Department
Email: kate.moore@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 4334
The King’s College London Dental Institute
The King’s College London Dental Institute is the largest dental academic centre in the UK. We train a quarter of all dentists in the UK and with our innovative approach to online learning provide professional training to dentists from 40 countries world-wide. Our excellence in teaching and research is reflected by top ratings in the last QAA and RAE reviews. Our dynamic multidisciplinary approach to both teaching and research is demonstrated in pioneering work ranging from craniofacial biology through to clinical service provision and innovations in dental education.
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.
King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
Posted on 17 July 2009