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Official Dentistry Applicants Thread 2026

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Reply 40

Original post
by normaw
If you're applying to university for Dentistry for 2026 entry, this is the place to introduce yourself to fellow applicants, ask questions and share your experience of applying so far. :smile:
A few questions to start the conversation:
Which universities are you hoping to apply for?
A level subjects and predicted grades?
Work/shadowing experience?
Anything else?
Share as little or as much information as you are comfortable with. :yep:
Please don't share details of interview questions on the forum - it gives those who follow you an unfair advantage.
Sharing or requesting social media handles or group chats is not permitted under the TSR community guidelines.
:tsr:

HI I NEED HELP
UCAT 2150 B2
A*A*A* Predicted maths bio chem
99999888887 GCSES
My choices currently are KCL, QMUL, Cardiff, Manchester, pleaseeee lmk if these are appropriate choices for me. also, is my UCAT not strong enough for Bristol???? And are there any other unis that i could apply to??
Thanks

Reply 41

Do you think applying with 2190 B1 is risky for Birmingham, it was a high performing cohort this year so worried it might not be enough for interview.

Reply 42

Is it risky to apply for dentistry at Bristol with a UCAT of 2350 b1? Last year the cutoff was 3070 which is around 2300 this year. The average for the UCAT also has increased and more people have sat the UCAT this year. The reason I want to apply here is because my interview performance is weak and Bristol has a high post interview rate. Would it just be better to apply elsewhere? I'm thinking of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield as my other 3. I'm a gap year student

Reply 43

Original post
by hannaauii
HI I NEED HELP
UCAT 2150 B2
A*A*A* Predicted maths bio chem
99999888887 GCSES
My choices currently are KCL, QMUL, Cardiff, Manchester, pleaseeee lmk if these are appropriate choices for me. also, is my UCAT not strong enough for Bristol???? And are there any other unis that i could apply to??
Thanks
Manchester risky due to b2. I suggest Sheffield instead of cardiff

Reply 44

Original post
by dentist2024A
Do you think applying with 2190 B1 is risky for Birmingham, it was a high performing cohort this year so worried it might not be enough for interview.

as an aspirational absolutely. Whilst averages and deciles have gone up bear in mind in large part it is due to higher interest for international (I suspect less are interested in US now due to political
Situation there so more are looking at UK as viable options. The international highly inflate scores and remember dent apppicants perform much worse than med

Reply 45

Original post
by mdaisy m
Is it risky to apply for dentistry at Bristol with a UCAT of 2350 b1? Last year the cutoff was 3070 which is around 2300 this year. The average for the UCAT also has increased and more people have sat the UCAT this year. The reason I want to apply here is because my interview performance is weak and Bristol has a high post interview rate. Would it just be better to apply elsewhere? I'm thinking of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield as my other 3. I'm a gap year student
Yes absolutely do it. If worried abt interviews choose qmul kings and Glasgow asw

Reply 46

Original post
by Helpotis and
as an aspirational absolutely. Whilst averages and deciles have gone up bear in mind in large part it is due to higher interest for international (I suspect less are interested in US now due to political
Situation there so more are looking at UK as viable options. The international highly inflate scores and remember dent apppicants perform much worse than med
Any safe options ? Not aspirational ?

Reply 47

Original post
by hannaauii
HI I NEED HELP
UCAT 2150 B2
A*A*A* Predicted maths bio chem
99999888887 GCSES
My choices currently are KCL, QMUL, Cardiff, Manchester, pleaseeee lmk if these are appropriate choices for me. also, is my UCAT not strong enough for Bristol???? And are there any other unis that i could apply to??
Thanks


Hi
All the schools you mentioned are ok, but with KCL, the UCAT cutoff needed to be checked. You have amazing GCSE, which is 50% of your KCL application. If my son is in your position, I would advise him to apply. They have the biggest cohort intake, so it is worth giving it ago. But I suggest you seek advice from others.

Reply 48

Hi i am a resit applicant, i have gcses 8888888766 would you say these are strong gcses considering no 9s, im trying to decide 2 between leeds manchester and newcastle, do any of them look at 8s and 9s the same way? and could i have a chance at kcl w these grades or is it aspirational
(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 49

Original post
by normaw
If you're applying to university for Dentistry for 2026 entry, this is the place to introduce yourself to fellow applicants, ask questions and share your experience of applying so far. :smile:
A few questions to start the conversation:
Which universities are you hoping to apply for?
A level subjects and predicted grades?
Work/shadowing experience?
Anything else?
Share as little or as much information as you are comfortable with. :yep:
Please don't share details of interview questions on the forum - it gives those who follow you an unfair advantage.
Sharing or requesting social media handles or group chats is not permitted under the TSR community guidelines.
:tsr:

Hi can someone advise me on which unis to apply? I have achieved AAA for A levels and my UCAT is 2180 band 3. For GCSE i got 998888776. I also have POLAR4 quintile 1. I was thinking of birmingham, qmul and newcastle but im not sure of my fourth. Should I resit to apply KCL aswell?I would appreciate advice and if my current uni options are feasible or not.

Reply 50

hi i got 2090 band 1 in my ucat which is sadly 79% decile. I also got 999988887 in my gcses and A*A*A predicted. I'm thinking of applying to cardiff, leeds and Liverpool. I'm also thinking of applying to qmul as my postcode enables me to get a contextual offer. Do you think it would be unreasonable for me to apply to cardiff as they favour welsh students?

Reply 51

Original post
by normaw
Applying for Dental Hygiene in this round is a good compromise if you can't apply for dent due to your UCAT. If you get an offer, then after A level results day you can decide whether to start the course or take a gap year and apply for dent instead if you achieve your predicted grades. Just a note - dental hygiene (and therapy) courses are also very competitive.
Just on this, would it be prudent to start a year of dental hygiene and resit UCAT next year or would it be seen as a red flag by dental unis as it means dropping off from Hygiene to pursue Dentistry ?

Reply 52

Original post
by r07.patel
I am currently in my gap year and am planning to apply for dentistry this year.
My qualifications are:u:CAT - 2120 + band 2
GCSEs - 98998774 (including combined science 9-8) + D* in BTEC Sport
A Levels (achieved in Bio, Chem, Maths respectively) - A*AA
EPQ - A
I was wondering if an application to Cardiff University for their Dental Surgery BDS course is a good idea for me and not a waste of a UCAS spot. The main concern I had was regarding my GCSEs; having a BTEC and also a 4 in a language could hinder my application. A few weeks back I heard that as I have achieved A-levels this could play to my advantage and compensate for the 4 at GCSE. Please if anyone could share some info, thanks!

You will get 26 points for your GCSE's and 1 point per A level until you reach 28 max points. They only score your top 7 A levels which must include science ones. That is the first cut then if they are oversubscribed and have too many people at the max points they will use UCAT as a decider. My GCSE's added up to 26 points but have no extra points from A levels nor contextual nor being welsh so decided too risky an option for me. I think worth the risk for you though as your A levels in hand give you a bump on the points.
Original post
by Menon S123
Just on this, would it be prudent to start a year of dental hygiene and resit UCAT next year or would it be seen as a red flag by dental unis as it means dropping off from Hygiene to pursue Dentistry ?


Check the policies of the dental unis you would apply to - if it's not on their websites, email and ask.

Reply 54

Original post
by aditinama
hey could you tell me how many points id get with gcses 8888888766, achevied AAB and predicted A*A in the two subjects i'm resiting ?? tysm x

You would get the full 28 points so would get through the first cut. But then they use UCAT scores as a decider and welsh applicants have a lower cut off I believe. Also would have to check if Cradiff allow resits. Some Unis do and some dont but I havn't researched this. Best of luck.

Reply 55

I got 2100 UCAT band 1 applying to Kings, UCLAN, QMUL and Leeds

Reply 56

Original post
by surfergirls
You will get 26 points for your GCSE's and 1 point per A level until you reach 28 max points. They only score your top 7 A levels which must include science ones. That is the first cut then if they are oversubscribed and have too many people at the max points they will use UCAT as a decider. My GCSE's added up to 26 points but have no extra points from A levels nor contextual nor being welsh so decided too risky an option for me. I think worth the risk for you though as your A levels in hand give you a bump on the points.

sorry meant to say top 7 GCSE's. Would be madness to do 7 A levels!!!!

Reply 57

Hi guys, it seems like the Manchester dentistry UCAT cutoffs are causing a bit of confusion. Last year it seems like they accepted some candidates with band 3, hence the very high UCAT cut off. However now they have explicitly said that they are no longer accepting B3/B4 applicants; I am quite unsure to what the cut offs will be for this year or will the band 2 applicants fall under what was previously the band 3 threshold?

Reply 58

Original post
by Jai_2020
Hi guys, it seems like the Manchester dentistry UCAT cutoffs are causing a bit of confusion. Last year it seems like they accepted some candidates with band 3, hence the very high UCAT cut off. However now they have explicitly said that they are no longer accepting B3/B4 applicants; I am quite unsure to what the cut offs will be for this year or will the band 2 applicants fall under what was previously the band 3 threshold?

Yep, everything seems a bit unclear this year tbh. Manchester assuming high cut off - probably need to be in top decile or thereabouts around score of 2220 to be in with a reasonable chance. Apparently, reading up on it, if you are above their yearly decided threshold ranking you automatically get an interview just based on UCAT and if you meet minimum grade requirements. It is only if you are borderline that they then use a more holistic approach and your academics (GCSE's) might help you get an interview. At least thats how I read it. So with UCAT score of 2220 Band 1; I'm even a bit unsure of whether its a safe bet or not this year?!? My GCSE's, whilst good by any other standard, were not amazing. So its anyones guess really - just have to try and make a reasonably educated guess based on info we have I suppose. Feels a bit like a lottery after all the effort put in to UCAT work over the Summer.

Reply 59

Original post
by surfergirls
Yep, everything seems a bit unclear this year tbh. Manchester assuming high cut off - probably need to be in top decile or thereabouts around score of 2220 to be in with a reasonable chance. Apparently, reading up on it, if you are above their yearly decided threshold ranking you automatically get an interview just based on UCAT and if you meet minimum grade requirements. It is only if you are borderline that they then use a more holistic approach and your academics (GCSE's) might help you get an interview. At least thats how I read it. So with UCAT score of 2220 Band 1; I'm even a bit unsure of whether its a safe bet or not this year?!? My GCSE's, whilst good by any other standard, were not amazing. So its anyones guess really - just have to try and make a reasonably educated guess based on info we have I suppose. Feels a bit like a lottery after all the effort put in to UCAT work over the Summer.

Oh yeah, and also BAND 1 and 2.

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