The ADC practical exam

Who can apply, and how a place is given

To apply in an application period, you need:

• an initial assessment that’s still valid after the exam date
• a written exam pass that’s still valid after the exam date (it lasts five years)
• no practical exam sat, or booked, in the period just before

Eligible candidates get an email when the period opens, with a link in ADC Connect. Two days after it closes, a date selection period opens, where you pick your preferred session. The ADC then confirms the sessions; it doesn’t promise your preferred dates, and you must be free for the whole exam window.

Some periods open in stages. For 2027 Period 1, stage 1 (14 to 18 October 2026) was for candidates whose initial assessment or written pass expired soonest, and stage 2 (19 to 23 October 2026) took the rest, first come, first served. Each period has a waiting list, and places that come up are usually offered at very short notice.

The technical skills day

You complete six tasks on standardised typodont models in manikin heads, mounted on simulation units. A task list at the start of the day gives the tooth numbers, surfaces and a practice tooth. Tasks can come from conservation, endodontics and fixed prosthodontics, for example:

• preparing a carious tooth
• restoring a prepared tooth with resin composite
• preparing or temporising a tooth for an indirect restoration
• an endodontic procedure

The amalgam task was removed from Period 2, 2026, and the ADC brought in new Platinum range simulation teeth at the same time. There’s a compulsory 45-minute lunch break, and you can take other breaks whenever you like. Working on a manikin in a position that would hurt a real patient gets recorded, and if you keep doing it you can be dismissed.