Annual renewal period opens for dental care professionals

09 June, 2025

We have today (9 June) opened our annual renewal period for dental care professionals (DCPs).

This crucial process ensures that DCPs remain on the UK register and continue to provide essential dental care to patients.

To complete their annual renewal, DCPs must complete three essential steps by the respective deadlines:

Pay the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) of £96 by 31 July - DCPs can pay online via eGDC or by Direct Debit.
Make an indemnity declaration by 31 July – confirming they have the appropriate indemnity or insurance cover in place by the time they start practising.
Submit a CPD statement by 28 August.. The CPD year runs from 1 August to 31 July.

Following some changes introduced in March 2025, we have simplified several aspects of the CPD scheme to reduce the administrative burden for dental care professionals. Key changes include:

Simplified documentation requirements, with GDC registration numbers no longer mandatory on CPD certificates
Electronic confirmations now accepted for CPD mapping documents
More flexible approaches to quality assurance verification, allowing digital confirmations alongside traditional signatures
Clearer guidance on grace periods and restoration processes.

DCPs in the final year of their five-year CPD cycle who need additional time can apply for a grace period via their eGDC account. For DCPs who registered with us within the last 12 months, they begin their first CPD cycle on 1 August 2025. 

Around 480 DCPs failed to meet the minimum 10-hour CPD requirement over two years in September 2024. Whilst this represents a decrease from the 2023 figures, meeting CPD requirements remains essential for maintaining registration.

Anthony McNally, Head of Customer Services at the GDC, said: "We've listened to feedback from the dental professions and made significant improvements to our CPD processes, whilst maintaining professional standards. We encourage all DCPs to complete the working patterns survey, which provides crucial data to help the sector understand workforce challenges and plan for the future."

For the second year running, we encourage DCPs to complete a voluntary working patterns survey as part of their renewal process. The five-minute survey gathers data on where DCPs work, the type of care they provide, and their weekly working hours.

To date, 43,692 dental care professionals (58% of the DCP register) have completed the survey, providing valuable workforce intelligence. This builds on strong participation from dentists; 66% (30,066) completed the survey over its two-year operation.

The renewal period runs until 31 July for ARF payments and indemnity declarations, with CPD statements due by 28 August.

For any queries, contact the GDC's customer services team on 020 7167 6000 or [email protected].