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Being a dentist

Hi, I'm studying Health& social care at college Level 1. Can I go to uni and applying for a dentist after health social care? And how many years do I have study health social care to get into uni? I don't have much information about being dentist I need some advice.
Original post by narinaziz2007
Hi, I'm studying Health& social care at college Level 1. Can I go to uni and applying for a dentist after health social care? And how many years do I have study health social care to get into uni? I don't have much information about being dentist I need some advice.

It will take 1 year at College to complete Level 1. A second year for Level 2 and two more years for Level 3.
Ive just looked at 6 Universities and none accept a BTEC in H&SC for Dentistry. One of them (Sheffield) does accept a BTEC Ext Diploma in Applied Science at D*DD including Distinctions in Chemistry and Biology units
Reply 2
Original post by bamtutor
It will take 1 year at College to complete Level 1. A second year for Level 2 and two more years for Level 3.
Ive just looked at 6 Universities and none accept a BTEC in H&SC for Dentistry. One of them (Sheffield) does accept a BTEC Ext Diploma in Applied Science at D*DD including Distinctions in Chemistry and Biology units


How many years exactly do i have to study at health social care until i get to uni if they accept BTEC ext diploma? And also where do you mean I should study biology and chemistry you mean in uni?
Original post by narinaziz2007
How many years exactly do i have to study at health social care until i get to uni if they accept BTEC ext diploma? And also where do you mean I should study biology and chemistry you mean in uni?

There are 16 unis in the country that offer degrees in dentistry.

Only a handful of them accept BTEC Level 3 as a qualification, but they still require you to have completed Biology and Chemistry related qualifications (those that you don't have). I would recommend doing A Level Biology and Chemistry with the practical assessments where possible.
If you can't do A Levels in Biology and Chemistry for whatever reason and you are doing your first year in BTEC Level 3, I would try to switch your BTEC in H&SC to BTEC in Applied Science; you would stand more chance of getting into a uni for dentistry, even though only a handful of them would accept the BTEC without further A Levels.
Original post by narinaziz2007
How many years exactly do i have to study at health social care until i get to uni if they accept BTEC ext diploma? And also where do you mean I should study biology and chemistry you mean in uni?

No I mean that they won't accept H and SC BTEC for Dentistry. You will need to do a Level 3 BTEC in Applied Science and get a Distinction in every nearly unit and exams. In the Applied science BTEC you will do Biology and Chemistry units and you MUST get a Distinction in those. The L3 is 2 years, but you need 5 GCSEs (normally at Grade 5/6) to get on it. As you are doing Level 1 I assume you don't have those. In which case as I said earlier, Level 1 is a year, then Level 2 another year, the 2 years for L3, so 4 years at college.
Reply 5
Original post by MindMax2000
There are 16 unis in the country that offer degrees in dentistry.
Only a handful of them accept BTEC Level 3 as a qualification, but they still require you to have completed Biology and Chemistry related qualifications (those that you don't have). I would recommend doing A Level Biology and Chemistry with the practical assessments where possible.
If you can't do A Levels in Biology and Chemistry for whatever reason and you are doing your first year in BTEC Level 3, I would try to switch your BTEC in H&SC to BTEC in Applied Science; you would stand more chance of getting into a uni for dentistry, even though only a handful of them would accept the BTEC without further A Levels.


So can I switch my BTEC in H&SC to BTEC in Applied science when I get to Level 3? I mean should I stay in H&SC and do level 1 and level 2 there and for level 3 I gotta switch it right?
Original post by narinaziz2007
So can I switch my BTEC in H&SC to BTEC in Applied science when I get to Level 3? I mean should I stay in H&SC and do level 1 and level 2 there and for level 3 I gotta switch it right?

I don't know enough about your circumstances. Normally, you won't need to do Level 2 in order to get onto Level 3 if you have the right qualifications at the right grades.

I would check with the college admissions staff.

If it's easier, you might be able to get onto a Level 3 course if you just resit your GCSE Maths and English Language, but do check the entry requirements of the A Levels in Biology and Chemistry/Level 3 BTEC in Applied Science before doing this.
Universities also might have policies regarding resits for GCSEs and BTEC/A Levels, so do check before doing any resits.

In any case, you would need something in Biology and Chemistry at level 3 (be it A Level or BTEC, with a strong preference for A Levels) before you can go into dentistry.

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