Gateway to Dentistry
Entry requirements
A level
BBC including B in Biology or Chemistry. Applicants with predicted or achieved grades of AAB or above, or with A in Chemistry, are not eligible for this course.
Requirements for principal subjects are as for A-level, where D1/ D2 is A*, D3 is A, M1/ M2 is B, M3 is C.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Applicants must also meet these GCSE profile requirements: standard literacy requirement (4 or C in GCSE English or equivalent) and Standard numeracy requirement (4 or C in GCSE Mathematics or equivalent). For more information: bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate /entry-requirements-qualifications/gcse/
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
29 points overall with 14 at Higher level, including 5 at Higher Level in Biology or Chemistry. Applicants with predicted or achieved grades of 33 points overall including 16 at Higher Level, or with 6 at Higher Level in Chemistry, are not eligible for this course.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC Extended Diploma Applied Science (RQF): Grades DDM or DMM, including five specified Biology or Chemistry units in any combination. Applicants with predicted or achieved grades of DDD or above cannot be considered for Gateway programmes but could be considered for the five-year standard entry course instead.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Advanced Higher: BB including Biology or Chemistry. Applicants with achieved or predicted Advanced Higher grades of AA, or with Chemistry at A grade, are not eligible for this course.
Scottish Higher
Standard Level: BBBBC. Applicants with achieved or predicted Advanced Higher grades of AA, or with Chemistry at A grade, are not eligible for this course.
Requirements are as for A-levels where you can substitute a non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate at that grade.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
During the Gateway year, students will learn alongside each other, benefiting from shared interprofessional insight and the unique community of Bristol's medical, dental and veterinary schools. Students will be taught by academic teachers who are scientists and clinicians.
The Gateway course builds on core basic sciences underpinning clinical subjects (chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, anatomy and physiology). It encourages reflection and places emphasis on personal and professional development; strengthens practical, statistics, research and library skills; and considers attributes and behaviours that enable successful transition to university study. Successful completion of the Gateway year allows automatic progression onto BDS Dentistry.
**Eligibility**
This course is open to applicants from specific schools and colleges in the UK only and/or to those who have spent three months or more in care. For further information, visit contextual offers.
International students may be eligible for the International Foundation Programme for Dentistry.
The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT, formerly UKCAT) is required for admission to this course. You may be eligible for a UCAT bursary to cover the cost of taking the test; please visit www.ucat.ac.uk for more information. The course admissions statement will provide full details and will be available online by September 2023.
**Health and Disclosure and Barring Service check**
Certain health conditions may be incompatible with careers in dentistry. Before starting your degree you will need to complete a health assessment questionnaire and pre-course screening for blood-borne viruses; find out more about pre-course occupational health information: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/safety/occupational-health/.
In accordance with General Dental Council guidelines on fitness to practice, all dental students are required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, in line with other health-related courses in the UK.
Please note that as part of your training you will come into contact with human and animal cadaveric material.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Bristol
Bristol Dental School
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Dentistry
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Dentistry
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
If you want a stable, well-paid career, then dentistry is an excellent choice. Starting salaries rival those for medicine, almost all graduates get jobs in dentistry on leaving their course and there are roles all around the country. It is a pretty select course, with only a little over a thousand graduates a year, but for that group, the rewards can be excellent.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Dentistry
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£39k
£50k
£53k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Course location and department:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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