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Dental Surgery

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,A

including Chemistry and Biology + pass in the practical element of any science A Levels taken

Access to HE Diploma

D:39,M:6,P:0

Award of Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, with 45 credits at Level 3, including 39 at Distinction (all in Chemistry and Biology units), and 6 at Merit

GCSE/National 4/National 5

6 GCSEs at grade 7/A including English, Maths and Science

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

36

with 6 in Higher Level Chemistry and Biology

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H2,H2,H2

including Chemistry and Biology

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DD

in Applied Science + A at A Level in either Chemistry or Biology (BTEC units must cover sufficient Chemistry or Biology, dependant on the A Level subject taken)

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*DD

in Applied Science including Distinctions in Chemistry and Biology units

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A

in Chemistry and Biology + AAABB in Scottish Highers

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

A

+ AA in Chemistry and Biology at A Level

UCAS Tariff

112-144

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

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About this course


Course option

5years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Clinical dentistry

Pre-clinical dentistry

Our Dental Surgery BDS programme is designed for you to get practical, hands-on experience as early as possible. This includes sessions in our state-of-the-art simulation suite, where you can practise dentistry in a virtual reality environment, and use "phantom heads" in our clinical skills learning environment.

What you’ll study
Our five-year course is divided into nine integrated themes:

The Human Body
The Oral Cavity in Health and Disease
Growth, Development, Ageing and Nutrition
Basic Oral and Dental Care
Intermediate Oral and Dental Care
Integrated Human Disease
Integrated Clinical Practice
Oral Disease
Outreach and Elective
In the first two years, you’ll examine the human body as an entire organism and learn about basic oral care at all stages of life. From the third year, you’ll learn how to identify the symptoms of systemic disease and widen your clinical skills.

Placements and practice
As you become more experienced, you'll spend some time away from the Dental School. You may treat patients in our Dental Practice Unit, visit a district general hospital, or complete an elective period to explore an area of dentistry that interests you.

You'll undertake clinical training in NHS hospitals so you must follow local NHS policies, including guidelines on behaviour and dress and the need to be 'bare below the elbow'.

Outreach programme
You'll complete clinical outreach work placements in your fourth and fifth years. These placements give you the chance to treat an extended range of patients in Sheffield and the surrounding area.

Most of the placements are in general dental practice with a few in community dental clinics so they provide you with real work environments to sharpen your skills.

Collaborative learning
We believe in training the whole dental team together. You’ll work alongside Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy students, giving you an experience of working as part of a dental team in a way that prepares you for the reality of practising dentistry once you’ve graduated

The General Dental Council quality assures and approves qualifications for registration, for the following registrant groups: Dentists; dental hygienists; dental therapists; dental nurses; clinical dental technicians; dental technicians; and orthodontic therapists.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
International
£46,190
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Sheffield

Department:

Clinical Dentistry

Read full university profile

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.

90%
Clinical dentistry
90%
Pre-clinical dentistry

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

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
97%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

86%
Library resources
95%
IT resources
95%
Course specific equipment and facilities
60%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
31%
Male students
69%
Female students

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

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.

£31,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
low
Employed or in further education
100%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

100%
Health professionals

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

£39k

£50k

£50k

£52k

£52k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Newcastle University | Newcastle upon Tyne
Dentistry
BDS 5 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 144-165
Same University
University of Sheffield | Sheffield
Medicine
BDS 5 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112-144
Lower entry requirements
University of Bristol | Bristol
Gateway to Dentistry
BDS 6 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96-129

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here