BSc Dental Hygiene and Therapy / Entry requirements

Year of entry: 2024

A-level

Our standard A-level offer is AAB to include Biology.

NVQ Level 3 Oral Health Care (Dental Nursing) is acceptable in lieu of one A-level; however, Biology and one other A-Level is still required at least at grade B.

You must also meet the GCSE requirements.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore there will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken.

Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offers you will receive.

Contextual offer

Typical Contextual A-level Offer

BBB (including Biology).

AS-level

We do not accept AS-levels in lieu of A-levels. AS-levels enable applicants to show evidence of a broad programme of study but they are not considered as part of our standard admissions process.

Unit grade information

The University of Manchester welcomes the provision of unit grade information which, like all other available information, will inform the consideration of applications.  Unit grades will not normally form part of offer conditions, except for Mathematics programmes.

GCSE

We require at least five GCSEs at grade C (4).

English Language, Mathematics and either two sciences, Dual Award Science or Core and Additional Science are required at a minimum grade C.

We permit GCSE resits. If you are resitting any GCSEs at the point of application, we require you to list it as a pending qualification on your UCAS form.

We do not currently accept short courses; however, Level 2 BTEC qualifications are acceptable (at distinction grade or above) in lieu of one GCSE.

If you are offering an international equivalent to GCSE and this is not listed on our international entry requirements page, please contact the School of Medical Sciences Admissions Office to check the suitability of the qualification.

Due to the phased introduction of GCSE reform in England, we will accept a mixture of GCSE grading scales. We can confirm our position in terms of equivalencies:

  • A* = 8
  • A = 7
  • B = 6
  • C = 4

International Baccalaureate

We require 34 points overall, including 6,5,5 in the higher level subjects (including Biology at higher Level). If Maths and English Language are not offered as part of the Diploma, they should be offered at GCSE or IGCSE at grade C (4) or above. We accept both Maths options as part of the Diploma.

Alternative entry requirements

Alternative entry requirements exist for this course. You may view these by selecting from the list below.

English language

In most cases, we expect applicants to satisfy our English Language requirement by offering English language at GCSE grade C (4) or above (or a score of 5 in the International Baccalaureate diploma).

Applicants from outside the UK (including non-native speakers) need to meet specific English language requirements to study at Manchester. We accept:

  • IGCSE English first language at grade C or second language at grade B;
  • International English Language Testing Service (IELTS): A minimum average score of 6.5 and with no less than 6.5 in any one component taken at the same sitting;
  • Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic: An overall score of 58 with no less than 58 in each of the communicative skills domains taken at the same sitting. If you require a student visa, however, the UKVI require a minimum overall Pearson PTE score of 59 with no less than 59 in each component for visa purposes;
  • Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE), or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE): An overall score of 176 with no less than 176 in each of the scoring domains taken at the same sitting;
  • a score of 5 at Standard or Higher level as part of the International Baccalaureate diploma.

You must declare your English qualification (including those which are pending) on the UCAS form.

Please contact us at ug.dentistry@manchester.ac.uk prior to application if you are unsure how to satisfy these language requirements.

At interview, if we have any concerns about your English language capability regardless of your origin, country of upbringing or existing qualifications, we may require you to take an additional English language test as a condition of any offer we make to you.

English language test validity

Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.

Relevant work experience

We require applicants to undertake some relevant work experience prior to application in order that they can gain some insight into what a career in dentistry involves.

Work experience may be paid or voluntary and should include some time spent in a dental setting but can also include examples from other healthcare and related environments. We do not have a requirement on the length of the work experience. We require applicants to demonstrate a commitment to their work experience placements.

As important as the detail of the work experience is the applicant's capacity to reflect on what they have gained from their experiences and the quality of that reflection will be reviewed as part of the selection process. A key element we are looking for is for applicants to be able to demonstrate some understanding of the qualities and attributes required to become a healthcare professional.

Applicants should be aware that we may request confirmation of their work experience.