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We compile these profiles from each university's own published admissions pages and review them monthly. Entry requirements do change mid-cycle, and universities sometimes publish updates without announcing them.
Use this page to get oriented quickly, build your shortlist, and work out which questions to ask — then confirm the specifics that your application depends on (grades, admissions test, fees, eligibility) directly with the university before you apply. If you spot something that looks out of date, tell us and we will check it.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Entry year covered: 2027
Considering Dundee Dentistry? Below is a complete breakdown of entry requirements, admissions criteria, and interview details for the 2027 application cycle.
The University of Dundee School of Dentistry is one of Scotland's premier dental schools, known for its excellent clinical training and innovative teaching methods. Located in the Dundee Dental Hospital, students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities and early patient contact in a supportive learning environment.
Dundee's dental school has a strong reputation for producing highly skilled graduates who are well-prepared for clinical practice. The school offers a modern curriculum that integrates scientific knowledge with clinical skills from the early stages of the programme, providing students with comprehensive training across all aspects of dentistry.
Considering University of Dundee? Future Doc's Predictable Offer Protocol™ coordinates every element of your application as one interconnected system, from UCAT preparation to university selection to interview readiness. 93% of our students receive at least one offer. Find out how it works.
| Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| A-Level Grades | A*AA including Biology and Chemistry (Dundee's published requirement for UK A-level applicants) |
| Required Subjects | Biology and Chemistry essential |
| Timing | All to be achieved in one sitting, i.e. in the same year. General Studies is not accepted. |
| GCSEs | English and Mathematics at Grade B/6 or above. Dundee adds that "for your application to be competitive you will need to have achieved A* in the majority of your GCSE subjects". |
| Contextual A-level grades | Not published. Dundee publishes its widening access requirement only in Scottish Highers. An A-level applicant cannot read a reduced grade off these pages — contact the admissions team. |
| Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Highers (by end of S5) — standard | AAAAB, to include Chemistry and Biology, achieved in S5 in one sitting |
| Highers (by end of S5) — widening access | AAABB, with grade A in either Higher Chemistry or Biology. The other three Highers are your own choice and that choice does not affect the assessment. |
| S6 / Advanced Higher — standard | BBB at Advanced Higher / Higher, to include Biology or Chemistry at Advanced Higher |
| S6 / Advanced Higher — widening access | BB at Advanced Higher / Higher, to include Biology or Chemistry at Advanced Higher |
| National 5 | English and Mathematics at grade B. Application of Mathematics is not accepted in place of Mathematics. |
Candidates who have completed S6 without meeting the sixth-year requirements are unlikely to be considered.
Dundee has the following minimum GCSE requirements:
All applicants to Dundee Dentistry must sit the UCAT in the same year they apply. The UCAT score is used alongside academic achievement to determine which applicants are invited to interview.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Admissions Test | UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) |
| Cut-off Score | None. Dundee's entry requirements page states plainly: "There is no minimum cut-off score." |
| How UCAT is Used | Combined with academic performance for interview selection |
"Dundee is a fantastic dental school with strong clinical training and a supportive environment. However, they have a strict no-resits policy, so you need to achieve AAA at first sitting. Scottish applicants should note the specific Highers and Advanced Higher requirements, which differ from A-Level routes. Make sure you prepare thoroughly for both the UCAT and MMI."
— Dr. Ash, Future Doc
Note on UCAT scores: The UCAT format changed in July 2025 with the removal of Abstract Reasoning, reducing the maximum score from 3,600 to 2,700. Cut-off scores from previous years may not directly apply to the current format. The competitiveness levels described above are based on relative performance within the applicant pool.
Dundee uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format. For 2026 entry, interviews will be held in-person for UK applicants, with online MMIs available for international applicants.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) |
| Number of Stations | 7 stations — "there will be 7 stations, assessing different qualities we expect candidates to have" |
| Delivery | In-person (UK) / Online (International) |
| Personal Statement | Not used in selection for interview, but may be used at interview |
Preparing for your University of Dundee interview? Future Doc's Think Like a Doctor™ module includes university-specific practice, high-pressure simulations, and an intensive In-Person Interview Day. Our near-100% interview-to-offer conversion rate reflects months of preparation across the full application, not just last-minute coaching. Learn more.
Dundee expects applicants to have explored dentistry as a career and to demonstrate understanding of the profession. While specific work experience is not a strict requirement, evidence of commitment to dentistry is expected.
No
Dundee does not accept resits for their Dentistry programme. All required grades must be achieved at the first sitting.
Yes
Re-applicants are welcome to apply again. You should demonstrate how your application has improved since your previous attempt.
Accepted
International students can apply to the BDS programme. International applicants will have online MMIs rather than in-person interviews. In particular, international fees apply and places may be limited.
A contextual offer is an adjustment a university makes for applicants whose circumstances have made their education harder than the grades alone suggest. Universities use them because they recognise that two students with the same predicted grades have not always had the same run at them. They are a formal, published part of the admissions process — not a favour, and not something you have to argue for.
What the adjustment actually is varies by school, and it matters more than most applicants realise. Depending on where you apply, qualifying can mean: a lower grade offer; being ranked against other widening participation applicants rather than the whole field; a guaranteed or prioritised interview; a lower admissions test threshold or extra shortlisting points; relaxed GCSE or subject requirements; or access to a separate gateway or foundation year route.
Dundee runs the Scottish framework, so the indicators are Scottish ones — SIMD, not POLAR4 or English IMD — and the reduced grades are published in Highers.
If you meet any of those, Dundee will assess you against its widening access entry requirements instead of the standard ones, and — because Dentistry interviews — you will normally be interviewed if you are on course to meet those widening access grades.
Ticking the box on UCAS is not enough. Dundee states that indicating a circumstance on the UCAS form "alone is not sufficient" — you must either upload evidence to the applicant portal or have your referee describe the circumstances in your reference. For October-deadline courses such as Dentistry, that evidence must reach Dundee no later than one week after the UCAS equal consideration date. Miss it and you lose the route for that cycle.
| How it helps | What that means for you |
|---|---|
| Lower Highers requirement | AAABB at Higher instead of AAAAB, with grade A needed in either Higher Chemistry or Biology. The other three Highers are your choice. |
| Lower S6 requirement | BB at Advanced Higher / Higher instead of BBB, still including Biology or Chemistry at Advanced Higher. That is one fewer sixth-year subject to carry. |
| You will normally be interviewed | Dundee's policy: "For interviewing courses, applicants with a priority contextual factor will normally be interviewed if they are on course to meet our widening access entry requirements, including in any essential subjects." This is the single biggest benefit, and Dundee's own data shows it working — for 2023/24 entry, 39 of 48 Category 1 contextual applicants were invited to interview, against 257 of 654 non-contextual applicants. |
| Care-experienced applicants are guaranteed an offer | In line with the Universities Scotland commitment, Dundee guarantees care-experienced applicants an offer — but read the wording carefully: "a place on the specific course applied to, or where this is not possible due to high demand, an offer will be made for a suitable alternative course." Dentistry is high demand. This is a guaranteed offer at the University, not a guaranteed BDS place. |
| Access Summer School | Eligible Home Scottish applicants who receive an offer are also offered a place on a pre-entry Access Summer School. Note that Dundee's exclusion list for the Summer School names Nursing, Medicine, Gateway to Medicine, Oral Health Sciences, Graduate Apprenticeships and Articulation courses — Dentistry BDS is not on that list, unlike Medicine. Confirm with Dundee before relying on it. |
| No UCAT cut-off to clear | Dundee operates no minimum UCAT score for Dentistry, for anyone. There is therefore no contextual UCAT discount — but equally no score that automatically removes you. |
For a side-by-side comparison, see every UK medical and dental school's widening participation scheme.
Dundee is in Scotland, so the English fee cap does not apply here in the way it does south of the border. There are three distinct rates, and which one you pay depends on where you are domiciled, not where you study. All figures below are Dundee's own published rates for the BDS cohort entering September 2027.
| Fee Status | Annual Tuition |
|---|---|
| Scottish students (SAAS-funded) | £1,820 per year of study, subject to confirmation by the Scottish Government. Scottish-domiciled students can apply to SAAS to have this paid on their behalf. |
| Rest of UK (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) and Republic of Ireland | £10,050 per year of study, subject to confirmation by the UK Government. RUK students can borrow the full cost from the Student Loans Company; Irish students apply to SAAS for a loan covering the full tuition cost. |
| International — year 1 (non-clinical) | £42,150 in the 2027/28 academic year, made up of the course tuition fee plus a £10,000 ACT Levy charged by the Scottish Government to cover teaching costs in NHS Scotland. The levy is payable after the start of the course and is subject to change. |
| International — years 2 to 5 (clinical) | No less than £54,250 per year. Dundee states year 1 is cheaper because it is a non-clinical year. International fees then rise annually by the higher of 5% or CPI. |
Deposit: international applicants must pay a deposit; Dundee's payment-plan tool uses £5,000 as the worked example, with the remaining balance payable across seven interest-free monthly instalments.
Dundee publishes historic admissions data for the BDS. Dentistry is a controlled subject: the number of places each year is set by the Scottish Funding Council, not by the university. Dundee cautions against using these tables to predict future cycles, and notes that UCAT figures from 2024 and earlier are out of 3,600 and so are not directly comparable with the current 2,700 scale.
| Group | Applications | Invited to interview | Offers | Matriculations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All applicants | 783 | 334 | 116 | 58 |
| Home Scottish | 204 | 149 | 71 | 36 |
| Home Rest of UK / Irish | 483 | 127 | 17 | 11 |
| Overseas | 96 | 58 | 28 | 11 |
| Contextual category 1 | 48 | 39 | 12 | 8 |
| Contextual category 2 | 81 | 38 | 20 | 9 |
| Non-contextual | 654 | 257 | 84 | 41 |
Read that table twice if you are a rest-of-UK applicant. In 2023/24, 483 RUK and Irish applicants produced 17 offers and 11 matriculations; 204 Home Scottish applicants produced 71 offers and 36 matriculations. Dundee is far harder to get into from England than the headline numbers suggest.
| Route | UCAS Code | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Dentistry BDS | A200 | 5 years |
| Graduate entry to BDS | A200 (same code; 2:1 in a relevant life science as the entry route) | 5 years |
Dundee does not run a separate gateway or foundation year into Dentistry. Graduates of the Dundee BSc in Oral Health Sciences are considered for the BDS, with a maximum of 2 places available, on MMI performance alongside other applicants.
The BDS programme at Dundee uses an integrated curriculum that combines scientific learning with clinical experience from early in the course:
Core biomedical sciences integrated with early clinical skills. Students learn anatomy, physiology, and basic dental sciences while beginning to develop clinical skills in simulation laboratories.
Increased patient contact and clinical experience. Students treat patients under supervision at the Dundee Dental Hospital, developing skills across all areas of dentistry.
Extensive clinical practice preparing students for independent practice. Students manage their own patient lists and complete comprehensive treatments.
Applying to dental school requires more than meeting the minimum entry requirements. Here are practical steps to strengthen your application:
For an overview of all UK dental schools and how they compare, see the UK Dental Schools hub page.
Dundee does not publish a specific UCAT cut-off score. However, as a competitive dental school, a strong UCAT score will improve your chances of receiving an interview invitation. Focus on achieving the best score possible across all sections.
Dundee uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format, with 7 stations "assessing different qualities we expect candidates to have". UK applicants attend in-person MMIs, while international applicants can complete their interviews online.
No, Dundee does not accept resits for their Dentistry programme. You must achieve the required grades (AAA including Biology and Chemistry) in your first sitting.
You need AAAAB at Highers by the end of S5, including Biology and Chemistry, obtained at first sitting. In S6, you must take 3 Advanced Highers/Highers including Advanced Higher Biology or Chemistry at grade B.
Yes, graduates with a minimum 2:1 Honours Degree, preferably in a Life Sciences subject, can apply. This should be the first degree obtained.
Focus on three areas: achieve strong academics (meeting the AAA requirement at first sitting), prepare thoroughly for the UCAT to score competitively, and gain meaningful work experience that you can reflect on at interview. Most applicants treat these as separate tasks, which is why the national success rate is just 15%. Future Doc's Predictable Offer Protocol coordinates every element as one interconnected system, which is why 93% of their students receive at least one offer.
Most applicants treat the dental school application as a series of separate hurdles: the UCAT, personal statement, work experience, university selection, and interviews. They try to solve each one independently. This creates a fragmented approach where the pieces never add up.
Future Doc works differently. Through the Predictable Offer Protocol, a dedicated coach who knows your complete profile coordinates every element of your application as one interconnected system. Every decision is made with the full picture in mind.
The result: 93% of our students receive at least one offer. If they don't, they come back next year for free.
Find Out How It Works
Last updated: February 2026. Information verified against University of Dundee admissions pages and Dental Schools Council guidance.
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