United Kingdom · Registration exam
If the General Dental Council (GDC) doesn’t recognise your dental degree for UK registration, you pass the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) first. Part 1 is two computer-based papers, and you need both before you can sit Part 2, a clinical exam that includes an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Pass the whole ORE dental exam and you can apply to join the GDC register, which lets you practise dentistry in the UK.
Key facts
How it works
Topics
These topics come from the blueprints in the ORE examination specification. The study page explains the specification and the GDC’s Preparing for Practice.
The sciences behind dentistry, and the diseases that matter for treating patients.
Diagnosing and managing the diseases a general dentist treats.
The rules and standards a dentist works to in the UK.
A circuit of short stations that test clinical skills.
Operative work on plastic teeth in a phantom head, under exam conditions.
A simulated consultation with an actor, from history to a treatment plan.
Handling an adult or child who becomes acutely unwell in the dental surgery.
Test day
Study options
The official documents for the ORE are the GDC’s learning outcomes, the exam specification, and the component guidance from the UCL consortium. The study page sets out what each one gives you, and what isn’t published.
| Option | Price | Free to use | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official | |||
Preparing for Practice, from the GDCThe GDC’s learning outcomes for registration, for the whole dental teamRead the outcomes for dentists. The GDC links it from its ORE preparation and results page. | Free PDF | The whole document | |
ORE Part 1 guidance, from the UCL consortiumThe examination specification and a familiarisation exercise for the Part 1 exam systemThe consortium strongly recommends doing the familiarisation exercise before the exam. It may load slowly when a high number of candidates are using it. | Free | Both, on the guidance page | |
ORE Part 2 guidance, from the UCL consortiumGuidance PDFs for each component: the manikin, the objective structured clinical examination, treatment planning and medical emergenciesThe page asks you to watch the video before the treatment planning exercise. | Free | Every PDF, and the treatment planning video | |
ORE results reports, from the GDCResults reports for sittings back to 2018The GDC posts the spread of results for each sitting once candidates have their marks. The August 2026 Part 1 report also gives each paper’s pass mark. | Free | Every report listed | |
Prices and ratings checked November 2026.
FAQ
The GDC publishes pass rates after each sitting. In 2025, Part 1 averaged 73% in April and 75% in August, and Part 2 ranged from 66% in April to 76% in September and November. At the August 2026 Part 1 sitting, 81.2% of candidates passed both papers. Getting a place can be difficult, the GDC says. In November 2026 the GDC’s About the ORE page said demand was extremely high and that all places had been taken within 30 minutes of a booking window opening that year.
Four at each part. If you fail Part 1 or Part 2 four times, you can’t sit the ORE again. If medical emergencies is the only Part 2 component you fail, you can retake just that test at a later sitting. Pass it and you’ve passed Part 2; fail it and you retake the whole of Part 2, if you’re eligible to sit it again.
No. Part 1 is computer-based but held in person, and Part 2 is a clinical exam in person. What happens online is applying, booking and paying, through your GDC online account.
Not normally. The GDC may refund an exam fee if you withdraw before your name goes to the examination board, about five weeks ahead, and it can fill your place. Otherwise it considers refunds only in exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness or the death of a close family member, with evidence. Not getting a UK visa doesn’t count, and the application processing fee isn’t refundable.
The GDC emails your result with how to apply for registration, and there’s no time limit for applying. For a dentist who has passed both parts, the registration application fee is £117.23. Then you pay a registration fee that depends on the month you join: in 2027 it falls from £720 in January to £60 in December, and joining in November or December adds the £720 annual retention fee. The GDC also checks that you have the necessary knowledge of English.
The GDC names two. The Licence in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England is a three-part exam that also leads to registration. Or you may be able to join the University of Lancashire’s international route into its Bachelor of Dental Surgery after the third year, which gives you a UK degree. A membership diploma, such as Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, doesn’t exempt you from the ORE. Some degrees from Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa, granted within set dates, are recognised and don’t need it.
The GDC’s first contract year with UCL Consultants runs from 31 May 2026 to 30 May 2027, with 2,400 Part 1 places and 944 Part 2 places. The GDC plans to raise Part 2 to 1,500 places a year by the contract’s third year. In May 2026 it also said a candidate portal with a revised booking system was being built and should be in place for exams scheduled in 2027. The GDC emails candidates before each booking window opens, so check your email for how to book.
Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.