Dentistry: Admissions

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) in what month of the academic year students who are applying to read dentistry at university are required to submit their University and College Admissions Service applications; and what the average time was to inform such students of the outcome of their application in the latest period for which figures are available; (133284)

(2) what the maximum number of universities is to which students applying to read dentistry may apply; and whether that figure differs from other university courses;

(3) what impact the requirement for students applying to read dentistry at university to make a dental-specific University and College Admission Service application has on their prospects of being accepted on other university courses should they not be accepted on a dentistry course.

The deadline for applications to dentistry is 15 October. Institutions are advised to contact UCAS by 31 March with their decisions, and the rejected by default date is 9 May.

Applicants may make four course choices for dentistry. Medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and veterinary science applications are all restricted to four choices with a deadline of 15 October. All other subjects have an advisory deadline of 15 January with up to six choices available. There are also separate arrangements for Oxford and Cambridge applications.

In their original application the applicant makes six choices in total, only four of which can be in dentistry. The final two choices can be in any subject. Should all of the applicant's choices be unsuccessful, opportunities to apply for courses remain through UCAS Extra and through the clearing system in August.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications there were to read dentistry at university in (a) the 2004-05, (b) the 2005-06 and (c) the 2006-07 academic years; and how many applications were successful in each year. (133287)

[holding answer 25 April 2007]: The figures are shown in the table.

*Applicants and accepted applicants to full-time courses in re-clinical dentistry*
	Applicants	Accepted applicants
2004-05	2,118	989
2005-06	2,621	1,187
2006-07	2,577	1,114
Source: Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS).

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) extra-curricular and (b) work experience activities are prerequisites for students who wish to apply for dentistry at university. (133288)

[holding answer 25 April 2007]: The criteria used to assess applicants are a matter for individual universities.

The guidance in the UCAS publication on “Progression to Medicine and Dentistry” advises that

“Without doubt, admissions tutors for both medicine and dentistry look for strong academic ability, just to prove your ability to cope with straight science, plus clear evidence of a commitment to medicine or dentistry as a career (which can usually be demonstrated via work experience placements).”

In one of the case studies in this publication, work experience in a local dental practice is cited.

Volume 459: debated on Thursday 26 April 2007