Manchester dental school: BDS entry requirements

University of Manchester Dental School, Manchester. 1 dentistry programme for 2027 entry, plus 1 hygiene/therapy programme. Entry requirements, admissions test, interview format and resit policy below, as published by the Dental Schools Council.

UCAS code	A206
Course length	5 years
Typical A level offer	AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology.
Admissions test	UCAT - Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve Band 3 or 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) element of the UCAT.
Interview	Multiple mini interviews

Entry requirements — 2027 entry

BDS Dentistry (A206) — 5 years

Standard Entry Dentistry

A levels / Scottish Highers	AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology. However, our offer will not include combinations of very similar subjects, for example, Biology and Human Biology or Maths and Further Maths together. AAAA at Highers by the end of Secondary 5 and at least AA at Advanced Highers by the end of Secondary 6. See website for details.
GCSEs / Scottish Nationals	At least seven GCSEs at grade 7/A or above. GCSE/IGCSE English Language, Mathematics and at least two science subjects, at a minimum of grade 6 (B). GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/ IGCSE English Language. If Dual Award Science or Core and Additional Science are offered, the minimum required is 66/BB. We do not currently accept short courses; however, Level 2 BTEC qualifications are acceptable (at distinction grade or above) in lieu of one GCSE.
International Baccalaureate	36 points with at least 666 at HL. Major subjects must include Chemistry and Biology. If Maths and English Language are not offered as part of the Diploma, they should be offered at GCSE or IGCSE at grade B (6) or above We accept both Maths options as part of the Diploma.
Access to HE Diploma / BTEC	Accepted courses: • National Extended Diploma provided it is in Applied Science, with grades DDD, in combination with one A-level at grade. • National Diploma provided it is in Applied Science, with grades DD in combination with grade A in two A-Level subjects, one of which must be a science subject (Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics) OR the National Diploma in any subject with grades DD, provided it is in combination with Biology and Chemistry A-Levels at grades AA. • We accept the National Foundation Diploma in any subject at grade D, provided it is in combination with Biology and Chemistry A-Levels at grades AA. • We accept the National Extended Certificate in any subject at grade D, provided it is in combination with Biology and Chemistry A-Levels at grades AA. • We do not consider the National Certificate for entry to this course.
Degree (graduate applicants)	2:1 honours degree and minimum of BBB at A-level (32 in IB) in your first sitting. Applicants with a relevant science degree are exempted from our subject specification at A-Level, but you must still meet the BBB academic standard. Relevant subjects include most Biomedical and Life Sciences disciplines or other approved courses.
Admissions test	UCAT - Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve Band 3 or 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) element of the UCAT.
Personal statement	We do not directly assess your personal statement but reserve the right to review it at any stage in the Admissions process.
Interview method	Multiple mini interviews
Work experience	Please refer to our page on Work Experience.
Resit policy	We permit GCSE resits. If you are resitting any GCSEs at the point of application, we require you to list it as a pending qualification on your UCAS form. Please note, if you have scored lower in your resit(s) this will be the result we use to assess your application. A Level resits are permitted though applicants may only re-sit one of either Year 12 or Year 13. Where A-levels have been attempted in Year 13, applicants are expected to have obtained a minimum of grade B in each subject at the first sitting for the re-sit grades to be considered. All re-sitting applicants are required to achieve Grades AAA in the A-level subjects specified above, and the A is expected to be achieved in the final examinations in either of the two required sciences. Please note that we will use your resit grade as your final grade to consider your application.
Widening participation	Contextual offers are available for applicants who: • live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and • live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and • have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years. A typical contextual offer: AAB including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology See website for details.

How Manchester uses the UCAT

UCAT - Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve Band 3 or 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) element of the UCAT.

The UCAT Consortium does not publish a central table of how each school scores the test, and this site does not publish unsourced cut-off scores. Check the admissions pages linked below for the current threshold or ranking method. Preliminary UCAT mean scores and deciles are published each September; since 2025 the test has no Abstract Reasoning section, so the maximum is 2700, not 3600.

Dental hygiene and therapy at Manchester

Manchester also runs 1 dental care professional programme. These train hygienists and therapists, not dentists, and do not lead to the BDS. See every GDC-approved therapy and hygiene course in the UK, with approval status.

Dental Hygiene and Therapy BSc (B840) · 3 years — A Level: AAB to include Biology.

DFT schemes nearest Manchester

Dental Foundation Training is the year every UK graduate does next. These are the 5 DFT schemes closest to the school, with their post counts — allocation is national and by ranked preference, so proximity is context, not entitlement.

Scheme	Base	Posts	Distance
Central Scheme	Manchester	21	2 km
2 Year Joint DFT & DCT Scheme	Manchester (NW-wide)	18	5 km
Greater Manchester South Scheme	Stockport	21	8 km
Greater Manchester North Scheme	Bolton	21	18 km
Lancashire and South Cumbria Scheme	Preston	20	45 km

🗺 See this school and its DFT schemes on the map

Manchester dentistry: common questions

What A level grades does Manchester need for dentistry?

AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology.

What GCSEs does Manchester require for dentistry?

At least seven GCSEs at grade 7/A or above.

Does Manchester use the UCAT?

Yes — the UCAT. Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve Band 3 or 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) element of the UCAT.

Is the Manchester dentistry interview an MMI or a panel?

Multiple mini interviews — as recorded by the Dental Schools Council for 2027 entry.

Does Manchester accept A level resits for dentistry?

We permit GCSE resits — as recorded by the Dental Schools Council for 2027 entry.

Which DFT scheme is nearest Manchester?

Central Scheme, based in Manchester, about 2 km away with 21 posts. DFT allocation is national and by ranked preference, so proximity is context, not entitlement.

Sources

Entry requirements above are as published by the Dental Schools Council, Entry requirements for UK and Ireland dental schools — 2027 entry, collated directly from admissions staff and checked on 8 Sep 2026. Requirements change every cycle — confirm on the school's own page before applying.

Admissions pages for Manchester:

Part of all UK dental schools · recruitment timelines · what training pays