BDS Dentistry (pre-dental entry)

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

• Dentistry
• Public Health

AAA, including subject combinations (eg non-science subjects) that would be unsuitable for admission to the 5 year BDS. You must also meet the GCSE requirements. Combinations of very similar subjects, for example, Biology and Human Biology or Maths and Further Maths together, are not acceptable.

This course is open to those with only one of the required science subjects (Biology or Chemistry). However, if you have studied Biology and Chemistry at A-level, you would not be eligible for this foundation course. You would be eligible to apply for the 5 year BDS course instead.

If you have studied science subjects before you may still be eligible to apply and receive a BBB offer if you are in receipt of a UCAT Bursary in year of application and meet the contextual admissions criteria with a WP+ or WP++ flag on your application.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore 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 offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

AAB including subject combinations (eg non-science subjects) that would be unsuitable for admission to the 5 year BDS.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore 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 offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

Contextual offers are available for applicants who:

• live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and
• live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and
• have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years.

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

ABB including subject combinations (eg non-science subjects) that would be unsuitable for admission to the 5 year BDS.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore 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 offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

UK refugee/care-experienced offers are available for applicants who:

• have been looked after in care for more than three months; or
• have been granted refugee status by the UK government or have been issued a UK visa under one of the Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme).

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

36 points overall. 6 , 6, 6 in Higher Level subjects. We accept both Maths options as part of the Diploma. If Maths and English Language are not offered as part of the Diploma, they should be offered at GCSE or IGCSE at grade 6/B or above.

Higher level subjects should include subject combinations that would be unsuitable for admissions to the 5-year BDS.

Applicants studying the International Baccalaureate Career Related Programme (IBCP) should contact the admissions team prior to applying so that their academic profile can be considered.

For applicants with non-science A levels, we require at least seven GCSEs at grade 7 (A) or above.

For applicants whose status has been confirmed as WP+ or WP++ using the University's Contextual Data Eligibility tool, we will accept 6 GCSEs at grade 7 (A) or above.

Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including acceptable levels of Literacy and Numeracy, equivalent to at least grade 6 or B in GCSE/IGCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language. At least two science subjects are required at GCSE minimum grade 6 (B) if not taken to AS/A2-level. If Dual Award Science or Core and Additional Science are offered, the minimum required is 66 (BB).

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.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of  our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications  or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the admissions team in your academic School/Department for clarification.

We welcome applications from overseas students. Country-specific information can be found on the University website. However, this is for general information only, as specific entry requirements may be different for the Dentistry course.

Please contact us at ug.dentistry@manchester.ac.uk to check specific requirements for your country before you apply for the Dentistry course.

All applicants to the University (from the UK and Overseas) are required to show evidence of English Language proficiency. The minimum English Language requirement for this course is either:

GCSE/IGCSE English Language grade 6/B, or;

IELTS 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in any components, or;

An acceptable equivalent qualification.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of  our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications  or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.

If you need to improve your English language skills to meet the entry requirements for your academic course, the University Centre for Academic English (UCAE) summer pre-sessional courses can help. Check if your academic course offers the option of taking a pre-sessional course on the UCAE page .

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student requiring a visa to study in the UK must show evidence of a minimum level of English Language (common European Framework (CEFR B2 level) to be granted a Student Route visa (previously known as a Tier 4 visa) to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

In addition, our academic Schools/Departments may require applicants to demonstrate English proficiency above the B2 level. Further information about our English Language policy, including a list of some of the English Language qualifications we accept, can be found  here .

We require applicants to undertake some relevant work experience prior to application in order that they can gain some insight into what the role of a dentist 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.

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,250. Tuition fees for international students, including EU, will be £36,500 for year 0 and 1 of study. Clinical tuition fees (years 2-5) are charged at the future rate which is applicable when you enter Year 2. Clinical fees for students entering Year 2 in 2025 will be £58,000. These fees are subject to change with inflation each year.

For general information, please see the undergraduate finance pages.

When on the clinics you will need to wear a tunic (which is provided) - as well as black trousers or skirt and black leather duty shoes that are close fitting around the toes and heels.

There will be travel costs when attending community clinics in the Greater Manchester area from Year 4. There is no discounted parking on campus for students if you have a car.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We welcome applications from graduates or those in their final year of study towards an undergraduate degree. You should have achieved or be predicted a minimum of an upper second (2:1) honours degree and should have achieved a minimum of BBB at A-level (32 in IB) in your first sitting.

The Foundation Year is not appropriate for graduates with a science degree. Please see our FAQ page. Graduate applicants with Chemistry and Biology at A-level are also not considered for the Foundation Year course. Applicants who fulfil either of those criteria should apply to the 5-year course instead. Please note that we do not accept ordinary or ungraded degrees.

We do not accept A-level re-sits for the purpose of improving grades from graduates. UCAT, Maths at minimum Grade B (6) in GCSE and English Language requirements also apply.

Graduates and final year undergraduates must offer an academic reference on their UCAS form.

Applications are first screened according to whether or not they meet our standard academic threshold as given on this page.

Those applicants that do not meet the appropriate academic criteria will not progress to the next phase of the screening process, and will receive notification that their application has been unsuccessful through UCAS in due course.

See the application process page for information on how we consider your application.

We do not make offers without interview. Please see our interviews page for more information.

Applicants are required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in the year they wish to make their application. Please note that the result is valid one application cycle only. If applicants are reapplying, they must re-sit the UCAT.

Further information specific to The University of Manchester is detailed on our UCAT page.

Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve either Band 3 or 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT)element of the UCAT.

All offers of a place are subject to satisfactory health screening. The health screening is based upon the Higher Education Occupational Physicians/Practitioners (HEOPS) standards of medical fitness to train for dental students [PDF, 71KB].

A potential student may be concerned that their health or disability may affect their ability to fulfil the competency standards of the course. Any such applicants are encouraged to contact the Occupational Health Service and/or The Disability Advisory and Support Service at an early stage in order to explore the situation in depth and consider the feasibility of making reasonable adjustments. Hopefully the process will prove helpful to the student in deciding whether to pursue an application.

In Manchester, you will be introduced to the clinic in the first term. Therefore, you will have to produce satisfactory evidence on non-infectivity with respect to the blood-borne viruses HIV, Hepatitis B and C and Tuberculosis. In addition, you must pass a health screening in Student Occupational Health prior to entry to ensure you are fit to practice.

The health screening requires the completion of a detailed health questionnaire by the applicant and also an appointment with the University's Occupational Health Department. In order to be admitted and continue on the programme, students must be deemed as medically fit for both practice and theory by the Occupational Health Department.

General enquiries about health screening should be addressed to Student Occupational Health, Tel +44 (0)161 275 2858, Fax +44 (0)161 275 3137.

Please see also the Procedure for Admission to Courses Requiring Medical Fitness Assessment [Word 59KB].

You will be required, as part of the non-academic conditions of your offer, to provide a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. In the UK, this takes the form of an Enhanced Level search by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and will reveal any criminal convictions, spent or unspent, as well as any police cautions, warnings or reprimands.

Regulations and record systems in other countries vary. Overseas applicants are encouraged to contact our Admissions Team.

Anyone who considers it possible that a criminal record or other disclosure may reveal any offence must contact the Admissions Team before applying.

We welcome applications from students who wish to defer their entry to the following year, but we prefer this to be indicated at the point of application.

It may not be possible to defer entry once an offer has been made and we are unlikely to be able to consider any requests after the release of A-level results.

We do not have any specific requirements for how you use your gap year, but we would expect it to have been used constructively.

We welcome applications from those re-sitting their A-levels, though applicants may only re-sit one of either Year 12 or Year 13.

Where A-levels have been attempted in Year 13, applicants are expected to have obtained a minimum of grade B in each subject at the first sitting for the re-sit grades to be considered.

All re-sitting applicants are required to achieve Grades A*AA in the A-level subjects specified above.

If you have applied in previous years and your application has been unsuccessful on two consecutive occasions, future applications will not be considered.

We would require re-applicants to continue with their work experience in their year out and would also expect to see a material difference in their application from the previous year. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.

All re-applicants must retake UCAT and provide updated information that refers to the initial application and chronicles subsequent events.

Applicants applying with achieved qualifications must explain in their personal statement what they are doing during the gap year.

Due to the highly integrated structure of the degree course, we do not grant exemptions from subjects. Transfers from other institutions are not considered. If you feel that you have embarked on the wrong course elsewhere, and who wish to be considered for entry to study dentistry and The University of Manchester, you should first complete your current programme of study, or be in the final year before you apply to us.

We do not consider applications from students who have started a clinical programme elsewhere.

The year is divided into two semesters, which cover the basic scientific content required to understand your future dental course. You will study topics from biological molecules, cells and tissues through to the major organs of the body. Many of the themes covered in foundation year will be re-visited in greater depth in Years 1 and 2 of the five-year BDS course.

Both semesters are divided into a series of themes that take the form of enquiry-based learning cases. The cases are supported by lectures, practical classes and independent study.

At the end of each week, you will come together in discussion sessions to develop your skills in collaborative groups. You will study alongside students progressing to other healthcare degrees, giving you valuable insight into working in interdisciplinary teams.

To ensure you are equipped with the competencies needed for undergraduate study, you will have academic skills classes to develop key aspects of your writing and presentation skills

Entry to the five-year BDS course is automatic on satisfactory completion of the foundationyear.

See the five-year BDS page for details of course content after the foundation year.

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Office .

This Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree is accredited as a qualification registerable with the General Dental Council .