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KCL Dentistry 2024 Entry

Welcome to the KCL (King's College London) Dentistry 2024 Entry discussion thread.

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The “Which dental school should I apply to?” Thread: The Official "Which Dental School Should I Apply To?" Thread - The Student Room

TSR Dentistry Wiki: Dentistry - The Student Room

Dentistry Undergraduate Entry Requirements: Dentistry Entry Requirements | The Student Room

Dentistry Graduate Entry Requirements: Graduate entry requirements for dentistry | The Student Room

Pre-dentistry/ Gateway Entry Requirements: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/uni...dental-courses



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I got 9988888888 at gcse. I didn't get many 9's, so should I apply to kings
Hi! What kind of volunteering and work experience are people doing for dentistry? Any ideas would be useful, thanks:smile:
Reply 3
My gcses are 9999999988
Obviously I understand that KCL weigh gcses quite heavily so I'm wondering what UCAT should I aim to get (aiming for as high as possible) in order to guarantee or at least have a solid chance of an interview

Also, do KCL place much importance on the SJT band.
Original post by Ionomer
Congratulations on your 9s, that will definitely come in handy when applying to King's. I think for KCL specifically, and again, this is from personal experience and my personal views, that for a competitive/solid shot at getting an interview invite at KCL you would need above a 2800 (Obviously aim as high as possible, if you're above 2600 then you're probably still kind of OK but I wouldn't bank on it). If you look at past years, and KCL has published their stats for interviews for dentistry on their website, I think you'll find a mean threshold of 2700+ for an invite to interview. (Despite there being candidates offered interviews at 2230 UCAT scores, I would really take that with a pinch of salt as these are people who likely have extreme contextual status/some other random reason) SJT band is also taken into consideration. King's looks at your application holistically, so that means that every part matters. I would also think about how well you might perform at interview. King's has a roughly 35% to 40% post-interview acceptance rate (which is lower than many other universities), so that's something you will have to keep in mind too.

*There is no guarantee at interviews, but I will say that if you get above 3100 then yes, you're probably guaranteed an interview at King's if you have good A level predicted and a decent personal statement with WE.


Hi,

I have pretty average GCSE scores, some 9’s some 8’s and 7’s as well as 2 L2D* in my BTECs (I’m not sure if these are considered when weighting the average GCSE score.) Excluding the UCAT which I understand I should score highly in and my A level predicted grades (~A*A*A) what other areas could I excel in that King’s would appreciate?

Thanks, Sufyan
Reply 5
Original post by Sufyan.L
Hi,

I have pretty average GCSE scores, some 9’s some 8’s and 7’s as well as 2 L2D* in my BTECs (I’m not sure if these are considered when weighting the average GCSE score.) Excluding the UCAT which I understand I should score highly in and my A level predicted grades (~A*A*A) what other areas could I excel in that King’s would appreciate?

Thanks, Sufyan

Haahahaha please don't take the UCAT as a given. One of the most hardworking people I know got a 2600s score, and that was with ample practice (not here to scare you lol but it is a harsh truth), so don't take assume for the best, the strategy for me (which has worked), is always assume the worst.

Anyways, your GCSEs sound fine, I'm not sure about the BTEC conversion so I can't speak to that, otherwise your A level predicted is also fine. Obviously, missing an A* (which again, is something they do consider), but that doesn't matter too much unless your cohort is insanely strong. The rest that they look for is work experience, ideally 2 weeks +, extracurriculars, ie charity work, any lab work at school, any kind of leadership/teamwork role, whether that be sports, music, or something else, maybe read more books (to be honest this doesn't help with your application but it will help you in the future in terms of dental knowledge), research into dentistry (mine was an EPQ, you could do something different). I think it's worth saying that they look for depth and dedication, doing a crap ton of random things, like volunteering for an afternoon but with multiple charities won't cut it. Most of my extracurriculars have been built up since the beginning of Lower sixth, and things that I'd done for over a year so I think that's something you should keep in mind.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Ionomer
Haahahaha please don't take the UCAT as a given. One of the most hardworking people I know got a 2600s score, and that was with ample practice (not here to scare you lol but it is a harsh truth), so don't take assume for the best, the strategy for me (which has worked), is always assume the worst.

Anyways, your GCSEs sound fine, I'm not sure about the BTEC conversion so I can't speak to that, otherwise your A level predicted is also fine. Obviously, missing an A* (which again, is something they do consider), but that doesn't matter too much unless your cohort is insanely strong. The rest that they look for is work experience, ideally 2 weeks +, extracurriculars, ie charity work, any lab work at school, any kind of leadership/teamwork role, whether that be sports, music, or something else, maybe read more books (to be honest this doesn't help with your application but it will help you in the future in terms of dental knowledge), research into dentistry (mine was an EPQ, you could do something different). I think it's worth saying that they look for depth and dedication, doing a crap ton of random things, like volunteering for an afternoon but with multiple charities won't cut it. Most of my extracurriculars have been built up since the beginning of Lower sixth, and things that I'd done for over a year so I think that's something you should keep in mind.


Hi, thanks for replying. Just to clarify what I said about the UCAT, I meant I know I need to score highly in it not that I know I will 😭 (I am absolutely terrified but I’ve just started revising). How can I maximise my UCAT score?
Reply 7
Original post by Sufyan.L
Hi, thanks for replying. Just to clarify what I said about the UCAT, I meant I know I need to score highly in it not that I know I will 😭 (I am absolutely terrified but I’ve just started revising). How can I maximise my UCAT score?


tbf my approach was a very practical one. Find 2 sections ur good at and 2 ur bad at.
For some reason I could not do VR to save my life found it incredibly difficult because of the time constraints. So if the layout hasnt changed there are 11 extracts i used to skip through until i found a short or modern passage and read it carefully and try to get them all right. Then with the little time remaining guess the rest. I would aim for 600 but ended up getting 590 first time and 570 second time
For DM I wasnt the best but i wasnt the worst i would take a score around 650-750 and for dm the revision is just to rinse questions and focus on key words in the q. I ended up with 650 which was kinda underwhelming but I'll take it. So DM and VR were my 2 bad sections.
QR I found very eaaaaasy because im generally good at maths. Again just rinse questions and practice timing. I was aiming for 900 but i ended up with 850 again I cant complain.
AR I hated but again lmfao bang questions and i aimed for 700+ and ended up with 730 so I was happy. Oh yeh also write every pattern you get wrong. I was told this and I thought that this is stupid but it really helped me. My score went from 650 in first attempt to 730.
And the general goal was to get 2800+ and I ended up with 2800 on the dot so I was chilled.
Hi, I was just wondering if these stats are good enough for kcl, or is my ucat bringing me down ?
GCSES - 999998877
A level predicted - A* A* A*
UCAT - 2730 B2

Appreciate any form of response :smile:
I got 998888777 for gcse, would these be good enough with good alevels and ucat score?
Original post by stuckupstew
Hi, I was just wondering if these stats are good enough for kcl, or is my ucat bringing me down ?
GCSES - 999998877
A level predicted - A* A* A*
UCAT - 2730 B2

Appreciate any form of response :smile:


ur stats are really good all around, and u have an average of 682 (?), i think you would probably be okay with ur amazing alevels and gcses. usually people get 700 plus, BUT ur other assets do make u competitive applicant
I am really confused on where I should apply this year due to my UCAT score. Can any of you give me some advice?
Stats:
GCSE:9988888888
A level predicted: A*A*A
UCAT: 2420, Band 1
I have 2690 B1, A*AA predicted (might be able to up this to A*A*A when i go back next week), 999888888777, NVQ level 2 in pharmacy services (equivalent of 5 GCSE's at A-C) should I apply or is my UCAT too weak?
Original post by dormir07
ur stats are really good all around, and u have an average of 682 (?), i think you would probably be okay with ur amazing alevels and gcses. usually people get 700 plus, BUT ur other assets do make u competitive applicant


Thank you so much for this response and advice 👍 Appreciate it.
Do you recommend other unis I should apply to ?
With 2520 band 2 score will it need be a good idea to apply to King's?
Hi all,
Im a current KCL dental student and I feel like it's my duty to tell you please don't just pick kings because of the prestige. Take a look at the student satisfaction and it should tell you everything you need to know before you make a decision you will regret. :smile:
Reply 16
Original post by username2455
Hi all,
Im a current KCL dental student and I feel like it's my duty to tell you please don't just pick kings because of the prestige. Take a look at the student satisfaction and it should tell you everything you need to know before you make a decision you will regret. :smile:

What would you say r some of the worst aspects, rigorous studying? Uni doesn't care about you individually? Etc.
Original post by username2455
Hi all,
Im a current KCL dental student and I feel like it's my duty to tell you please don't just pick kings because of the prestige. Take a look at the student satisfaction and it should tell you everything you need to know before you make a decision you will regret. :smile:


Yeah isn’t it like 40%? I want Kings as the teaching in guys campus and St Thomas’ hospital will let me practice skills that other dental schools with fewer resources may not be able to access. Could I PM you about KCL?
Original post by hadi_
What would you say r some of the worst aspects, rigorous studying? Uni doesn't care about you individually? Etc.


They kick you out if you fail resits so they don’t let you repeat the year. They also have zero organisation and assessments are ridiculously difficult (they assess our reasoning skills but deliver the content very modular and separated so we have to join the dots ourselves but we struggle a lot) . They don’t take any of our points into consideration and tell us to grow up. We have to pass clinical exams as well within a limited number of attempts but they don’t give us enough clinical practice time because there’s too many of us and there aren’t enough patients that fit the criteria of these exams they want us to do. And if you don’t do them, they literally just deregister you in debt, and with no quals. I have peers at other unis studying dentistry and it’s nothing like this.
Original post by 09548ru
Yeah isn’t it like 40%? I want Kings as the teaching in guys campus and St Thomas’ hospital will let me practice skills that other dental schools with fewer resources may not be able to access. Could I PM you about KCL?


This is so wrong! Kcl have too many students anyway so they exhaust their resources far quicker. In terms of practicing skills at KCL vs other unis, you will not gain any valuable skills exclusively here apart from maybe some haptics (which is truly a gimmick) and the skill of having thick skin lol. Working in guys doesn’t necessarily mean a wider range of patients and clinics. And to be very honest, if it did, it’s not worth nor does it outweigh the negatives. (IMO being honest)
Yep PM me
(edited 1 year ago)

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