King's College London

Either:

• A minimum 2:1 (upper second class honours) undergraduate bachelor degree (or international equivalent) in a Biosciences subject

or 

• A 2:2 (lower second class honours) undergraduate bachelor degree (or international equivalent) with a postgraduate degree with at least a Merit overall grade (or international equivalent) in a Biosciences subject

 

Please note that we expect Biosciences degrees to have a substantial amount of modules in at least one subject from Biology/Chemistry, and also in at least one subject from Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Mathematics/Psychology. All degrees will be assessed for eligibility upon submission of application.

 

University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

All applicants are required to sit the UCAT (previously known as UKCAT), prior to applying to this programme, and the UCAT must be taken the same year you apply in order to be valid.

 We are unable to consider mitigating circumstances related to the UCAT, however, you may be eligible for special arrangements via the UCAT Access Arrangements policy.

Please refer to the UCAT website for all information, including details on registration, test dates and access arrangements, and the website also provides details of the UCAT Test Incident policy.

 King’s does not have a threshold UCAT score in any particular year, as it is dependent upon the range of scores received each cohort. The overall UCAT score averaged across the four subtests is given more consideration than the individual subtest scores, and the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) is also taken into account when shortlisting.

 

Meeting deadlines

In order to enrol onto our programmes, successful offer holders must be able to evidence that they can meet our requirements by the beginning of August in year of entry. Any applicants who feel that they could be eligible for the programme but who will not be able to provide evidence of meeting our requirements by August should instead apply in a later application cycle when they are able to do this. Please note, this programme commences earlier than other undergraduate degree programmes, in the middle of August. 

 

English language requirements

Please note that nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries (as defined by UKVI) who have successfully completed high school in the respective country, are not required to complete an English language test. For information on our English requirements and whether you need to complete an English language test, please see our English Language requirements page.

Selection process

Applications are ranked based on UCAT score. We then review the rest of the application including achieved/predicted grades, personal statement and reference. Further consideration for eligible mitigating circumstances are reviewed to finalise interview eligibility.

The interview period generally runs from December to March, and we aim to send out invites via King's Apply with at least two weeks notice of an interview date. Spaces are limited, therefore, we will consider reschedule requests on a case-by-case basis, however, please note that we may be unable to accommodate all requests.

We generally release a small number of offers throughout the admissions cycle. However, the majority of applicants who are invited to interview will be placed on hold until we have conducted all interviews. All decisions will be released by the UCAS decision deadline in May.

In the most recent admissions cycle for which we have complete data, we interviewed around 60 applicants and made around 20 offers on the programme. We received just over 300 applications.

Further information

Age restrictions

King’s is only able to accept applicants who will be 18 years of age on 1st January on the first year of the Dentistry programmes. This is due to a minimum age requirement for placements. Applicants who will not be 18 by the 1st January of the first year of the degree, should submit an application the following year.

Biosciences subject requirement

To meet the subject requirements, the degree subject must be in Biosciences, with at least two thirds of modules completed within the degree to be in the area of Biosciences. Unfortunately, we are not able to review transcripts prior to you making an application, and if you feel that your degree fits our entry criteria, then we would encourage you to make an application. When you apply, we would ask that you list all modules completed or yet to be completed as part of your degree on your UCAS application. In addition to this, you would be welcome to send us a transcript via the King’s Apply portal, after you have submitted your application and received access to King's Apply. As part of the assessment process, we will review whether we consider the content of your degree to meet our minimum Biosciences requirement. 

Contextual consideration

As this programme is a graduate/professional entry programme, we do not make contextual offers for this programme, and contextual consideration is not taken into account as part of the assessment process.

Applicants can apply to both A205 (Dentistry BDS) and this programme via the UCAS application system, if they wish to maximise their chances of studying at King's. However, each application is assessed independently and you should ensure that you check the entry requirements and eligibility clearly for both programmes.

Criminal conviction disclosure

Due to the nature of this programme, UCAS requires all applicants to declare on their UCAS application if they have any spent or unspent convictions, cautions or reprimands. All offers of a place, and continued enrolment, are made subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) check. 

Deferrals

Deferral requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and are not guaranteed for this programme.

We are unable to defer overseas fee paying applicants for this programme, however, we are able to make an exception for those who defer due to military/national service. For Home-fee paying applicants, applications can be submitted for deferred entry by choosing the appropriate year of entry on the UCAS application.

If your circumstances change and, therefore, you need to request a deferral after an offer has been made, then due to the small number of spaces, we are generally unable to permit these for this programme. Therefore, you should ensure where possible you apply for deferred entry, or you wait to apply in the following year. We understand that a request to defer after offer may be due to extreme unforeseen extenuating circumstances, for example, health reasons, and we will consider each deferral request on a case-by-case basis. However, we reserve the right to decline any post-offer deferral request. Requests should be submitted via a message on King’s Apply with an explanation of the reason for making the request.

Please note, second deferral requests will only be considered where the request is due to extreme unforeseen extenuating circumstances, for example, health reasons. We are unable to permit deferral requests that go beyond two years and you would need to apply again.

Fifth choice

A maximum of four choices on the UCAS form may be made for courses which lead to a professional qualification in dentistry. You may add any programme as your fifth choice, however, some programmes will require a personal statement relevant to the programme. The following programmes will consider students with a dentistry focused personal statement without the need for a new statement: Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Global Health & Social Medicine, Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, Pharmacology & Molecular Genetics, Physics, Physiology or Neuroscience.

Interviews

Interviews are an essential part of the assessment process, and our interviewers are assessing communication skills, exploring general social and ethical issues, normally health related, and assessing the interviewee’s general suitability for the programme and as a health professional, as well as how the interviewee will contribute to the university as a whole.

Interviews are conducted remotely with a panel of two interviewers. In previous years, interviews have taken the form of Multi Mini Interviews (MMIs) in person, with six interviewers.

We operate a “fit-to-sit” policy for interviews, therefore, we are unable to take into account mitigating circumstances for the interview performance. If there are any issues within the interview which you consider affected your performance, you should ensure these are raised with the Admissions team.

Occupational Health clearance

Due to the nature of this programme, all offer holders will be required to complete the Occupational Health Clearance process. Once your application is firmly accepted, the application will be set-up for the Occupational Health Clearance checks. Information is usually sent out by the end of May/early June. Occupational Health Clearance is a requirement for enrolment onto our Dentistry programmes.

Personal Statement

Your personal statement is one of the many factors in the overall assessment of your application. We are looking particularly for evidence of appropriate commitment to, and realistic appreciation of, the academic, physical and emotional demands of a dentistry degree programme and career. We would normally expect that you will have undertaken some work experience in a caring environment and/or observation in a clinical setting. If this is not possible, we look for evidence that you have worked in a setting where you can interact with the general public, e.g. in a pharmacy, check-out or restaurant.

Communication skills and the ability to work successfully in a team are of great importance. We look for applicants who have participated as fully as possible in school or college life, making the most of the opportunities available to them and also demonstrated some experience of society beyond their immediate environment.

Your interests, achievements and contribution to your community are taken into account in addition to academic ability. We aim to ensure that all of our students can cope with the heavy academic workload of the programme and display those professional qualities, skills and attitudes that help to make competent and caring dentistry professional.

We would expect your application to be strongly supported by your referee both in terms of academic achievements/potential and in terms of your character and suitability for Dentistry.

Transfers

Home Transfers

Dental Schools do not accept transfers of students from other schools. This is because the requirements for graduation defined by the GDC are not taught and assessed in a similar order. Government capped places would also be disrupted by student transfers.

Schools may consider transfers for students in unforeseen exceptional circumstances with approval of both the sending and receiving programmes. In most cases the student would need to re-start from year one for the reasons described previously.

DSC encourages prospective students to consider the intensity of oral healthcare courses and their potential geographical distance from their support networks, when applying for dental school.

International transfers

Students from a dental school outside the UK are unable to transfer into a programme in a UK dental school. This is because international programmes follow their local regulatory requirements which are likely to differ from those in the UK.