Education reforms support inclusion and diversity

Equality, diversity and inclusion are central to everything we do as both a regulator and an employer. Our new strategy embeds our commitment to change within our organisational strategic objectives and builds on improvements delivered by our two-year Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, where systemic progress has been made through reforms to our education standards framework.  

Central to our 2024-2025 Strategy were activities supporting the creation of a more diverse and inclusive dental profession for the benefit of all patients. Making this a reality meant working with providers to ensure graduates were appropriately prepared, and making sure students who needed help, were being identified and supported.   

We committed to developing learning outcomes for all dental professions to strengthen learning in equality, diversity and inclusion. Developed in consultation with providers and dental professionals, the updated Safe Practitioner framework came into effect in August 2025. It means future graduates will have the skills needed to deliver appropriate care to everyone while fostering working environments that value diversity.

Our work sought to minimise barriers being experienced by those who wanted to study dentistry. We proposed updates to the Standards for Education, which would require dental education and training providers to demonstrate fair, transparent and inclusive admissions processes to help drive improvements in this area.

We also recognised that students from marginalised groups often experienced barriers during their studies to a greater extent than others, and these often affected results. To facilitate improvements, we proposed a new standard that required education and training providers to identify any such barriers and to act to minimise them. 

These proposed changes to the Standards for Education received overwhelming support when issued for consultation last year. Our education and quality assurance team is now working with education and training providers to ensure they are ready for the changes and are prepared to demonstrate these processes are in place.

The new Standards for Education have now been published ahead of the transition. They are designed to work with the Safe Practitioner framework, and will form the basis of our education quality assurance activities from September 2026.

GDC Head of Education and Quality Assurance, Manjula Das, explains why change was needed and the difference it could make: 

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion has driven lasting changes to our standards for dental education and training that will support efforts for a more inclusive dental profession for years to come. A profession that promotes diversity and is well-equipped to provide appropriate, safe and effective care to everyone.