Dentistry application: can I still apply to dental school as a first year uni student

I am writing a post for advice as I’m unsure if you can apply to other dental unis while being first year in uni. I’ve been rejected from all my dental school unis but have been able to get offers for biomed at Newcastle and Plymouth which both have a transfer to dentistry scheme. I’m planning on retaking my ucat just to try get a higher score (I got 1980 b3 for the 2026 cycle). If I take one of the offers am I still able to apply to ucas to other dental schools in my first year of uni or would i count as a graduate student? Is it worth trying the transfer at any of these unis or taking a gap year? I’m honestly so lost so any advice or experiences with these transfers would be great!

The answer to your question might be uni-specific. Many medicine and dentistry degrees will not consider you if you are already enrolled in a university degree, so it would be a good idea to email a couple of unis and see if they would accept your application as a 1st year biomed.
An even better idea though, would be to just take a gap year and reapply. Transfer schemes are super competitive. I'm spying that the Newcastle transfer scheme had ten applicants for dentistry last year, for which they only accepted 2 (so a 20% success rate). You're just better off taking a gap year and reapplying, you're more likely to be successful that way (and save yourself an extra year of student loans). Your UCAT wasn't all that bad, and people generally do see big improvements the second time they sit the UCAT, and with your final A-level grades, you'd be in a strong position to make an even better application this time around.
Good luck