The current dental school applicant: an overview of the admission process for UK dental schools and the sociodemographic status of applicants

Aims To determine the current processes used to assess dental school admissions in the UK as well as compare the applicants' demography. Methods All 16 dental schools in the UK were invited to complete a questionnaire analysing the admissions protocols between 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. These data were combined with the admission process information available online. Retrospective data from the University Clinical Aptitude Test including the sociodemographic status of dental applicants were collected. For the six dental schools that did not reply, data presented were collected from information available to the public. Results The majority of applicants were women (63.2% in 2019-2020), white (27.9%) and are sixth form attendees or attend a further education college (40.6%). Of those who apply to study dentistry, 15.5% are graduates who hold a first degree. For each undergraduate dental place available, there were 12.6 applicants and 9.4 applicants to each post-qualified dental undergraduate place. Conclusion Further advancements are required to widen participation and broaden the sociodemographic status of dental applicants. This area would benefit from a long-term prospective study about recruitment methods and its correlation with performance at dental school. COVID-19 is impacting the application process, the full extent of which is yet to be determined.