eGDCGDC publishes Review of Education 2024-2025
We have today published our Review of Education for the academic year 2024-2025.
The report sets out the quality assurance and education policy activity carried out by our Education Quality Assurance (EQA) team between September 2024 and August 2025.
One of the standout figures from the review is the significant growth in new programme approvals. We granted provisional approval to 15 new programmes during the year, compared to just one in 2023-2024.
Every year, around 8,500 students take up places in the UK to train to become dental professionals. We set three standards and 21 requirements to all UK dental education and training programmes leading to registration with us as a dentist or dental care professional (DCP).
During the academic year, our EQA team monitored 34 programmes in total: 11 Dental Surgery (BDS/ BChD/ BDSi/ LDS), 10 Dental Hygiene and Therapy (DHT), one Orthodontic Therapy, one Clinical Dental Technology (CDT), seven Dental Technology (DT) and four Dental Nursing programmes.
We approved two new dental schools, with one of those awarded Dental Authority Status in 2025.
The EQA team inspected 18 programmes across 12 providers, comprising 10 risk-based inspections, two new programme inspections and six re-inspections. All inspections took place in person.
The review identified 11 programmes requiring risk-based inspections in the 2025-2026 academic year. Seven of these are the result of time elapsed since previous inspections, a factor we have responded to by developing a new pilot for time-elapsed inspections next academic year.
Manjula Das, Head of Education and Quality Assurance at the GDC, said: "Our quality assurance work has never been more important. The increase in new programme approvals is significant; it speaks to a sector that is actively trying to meet the demands on the dental workforce and could improve future access to dental care for patients in some of the UK’s high-need areas.
“Everything we do in this space comes back to ensuring that those who graduate are genuinely ready to practise, and that patients are in safe hands."
The review covered a busy period of policy and standards development. Following a 12-week public consultation, we published revised Standards for Education in September 2025, drawing on significant engagement with stakeholders, including providers.
The new standards, which come into effect for our quality assurance activity in the 2026/27 academic year, ensure that providers prepare students for their careers in dentistry and that patients can be confident they will receive the highest standard of care.
The review includes our work with education providers on the continued transition to the Safe Practitioner Framework and the publication of the new Guidance for Providers wishing to set up a Dental School in the UK.
Read the Review of Education 2024-2025 here.