ORE latest information

We announced on Thursday 2 December 2022 that we will be running a single sitting of the ORE Part 2 in January 2022. This is scheduled to take place from Thursday 27 January until Sunday 30 January 2022.

Places on the exam were reserved primarily for candidates booked onto the cancelled April 2020 exam, and then candidates who were approaching the five-year time limit for passing Part 2 of the exam. 

On Friday 17 December 2021 at 14:30 we will re-open the booking for the Part 2 exam in January 2022 for candidates who are currently eligible. The booking for this exam will be closed upon reaching full capacity. All bookings must be made through eGDC​.

Please note that there are currently only 38 spaces available. However, this may increase before the booking re-opens, and we will endeavour to update the ORE latest information webpage if necessary.

Please check that you have log-in details for your eGDC account and that you can log in before this date.

We would like to highlight to candidates that the January Part 2 candidate list will be submitted to the examination provider as soon as the booking closes. There will be no opportunity to request a refund under the ORE refund policy, therefore we strongly recommend only candidates who are certain that they can attend the exam attempt to book a place. As a direct result, cheque bookings will not be available for this re-opening. All candidates must make payment through eGDC only.

Further detailed information relating to the booking process has been sent to all eligible candidates by email.

Safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response in 2020 made it necessary to suspend Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) last year. As part of that suspension, the scheduled Part 1 and Part 2 exams in April 2020 were cancelled.

We have now reached an agreement with our exam provider to run one sitting of the Part 2 exam in January 2022. This sitting will be offered to those candidates who remain booked onto the cancelled April 2020 Part 2 exam in the first instance (subject to the provisions of the ORE legislation). Places will then be offered to candidates who are approaching the statutory five-year deadline between first attempting the Part 1 exam and passing the Part 2 exam. For this reason, it is highly likely that places on this exam will not become available to other candidates on the Part 2 Candidate List.

All candidates who may become eligible for this exam will be contacted over the coming weeks. Please do not contact the GDC to seek a place or confirm whether you will be offered a place on the January 2022 exam.

We are currently working through all options to prepare a 2022 schedule of both Part 1 and Part 2 of the exam and will provide an update on this work as soon as possible.

Safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response in 2020 made it necessary to suspend Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) last year.

It has always been our aim to resume the ORE as soon as it is safe and viable to do so, and we had hoped to be able to run an exam in September this year. However, in consultation with our exam providers, it is now clear that this will not be possible.

While broad COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in England, infection prevention and control measures for all healthcare settings remain. Due to the clinical nature of the Part 2 ORE exam, it is hosted in a hospital and the continuing social distancing requirements mean that our exam provider is unable to run the exam at a viable capacity.

Anyone who was booked onto the cancelled April 2020 exams may wish to request a refund and return to the candidate list in the interim.

We know that there are some candidates who have either now exceeded the five-year time limit between Part 1 and Part 2, or shortly will, and we will be in contact with them once the future ORE schedule is confirmed.

We continue to work with our exam providers towards the full resumption of the ORE and will provide further information as soon as it becomes available.

The safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response made it necessary to suspend Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) last year.

With the continued easing of restrictions, work is underway to resume the ORE and we are close to agreeing dates in September 2021 with our exam providers for one sitting of each part of the exam.

These exam places will be prioritised for candidates who were booked on to the cancelled April 2020 exams and who have retained their booking, which means there will be extremely limited places, if any, released for new bookings.

We will be writing to April 2020 candidates shortly once the arrangements have been finalised, and subsequently to all candidates on the waiting list should any September 2021 places become available.

We continue to work with our exam providers towards the full resumption of the ORE and we look forward to publishing the schedule once it has been agreed.

Finally, we know that there are some candidates who have either now exceeded the five-year time limit between Part 1 and Part 2, or shortly will, and we will be in contact with them once the future ORE schedule is confirmed.

As a result of the safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response, it was necessary to suspend Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) earlier this year. Our aim is to resume the ORE as soon as it is safe and viable to do so.

The law requires the GDC to appoint a dental authority to run the ORE on its behalf. Through ongoing work and discussions with our exam providers, it is now clear that due to the continuing COVID-19 restrictions, it will not be practicable to run any sittings of the exams in 2020.

Candidates who booked a place on the cancelled April exams may wish to request a refund and return to the candidate list in the interim.

We also know that there are some candidates who have either now exceeded the five-year time limit between Part 1 and Part 2, or shortly will. We will be in contact once the future ORE schedule is confirmed.

In the meantime, regular discussions with our exam providers continue, and we will provide further information as soon as it is available.

Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) were suspended earlier this year due to safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response. We understand the impact that this decision has had on dentists whose ambition it is to practise in the UK, and our aim is to resume the ORE as soon as it is safe and viable to do so.

Ongoing work and discussions with our exam providers tell us that, due to the nature of the ORE and the continuing COVID-19 restrictions, it is still not possible to run the ORE at this time and we will be unable to run the exams that were provisionally set for August and September.

We understand that this will not be welcome news for those waiting to sit the exams and we share their frustration. For candidates who booked a place on the cancelled April exam, we also understand they may wish to request a refund and return to the candidate list, and we want to be clear that this option remains open.

We also know that there are some candidates who have either now exceeded the five-year time limit between Part 1 and Part 2, or shortly will, and we appreciate that this will be a further cause for uncertainty and concern. For those affected, please note that we will be in contact individually once the future ORE exam schedule is confirmed.

On Thursday 12 March 2020 at 14:30 we will re-open the booking for the ORE Part 1 April 2020 examination (to be held from 14 – 17 April 2020). The booking for this examination will be closed upon reaching full capacity. All bookings must be made through eGDC​.

Please note that there is currently only 1 space available. However, we will update our website with the final number of available places before the booking opens.

Please check that you have log-in details for your eGDC account and that you can log in before this date.

We would like to highlight to candidates that the April Part 1 candidate list will be submitted to the examination provider as soon as the booking closes. There will be no opportunity to request a refund under the ORE refund policy, therefore we strongly recommend only candidates who are certain that they can attend the examination login and attempt to book a place. As a direct result cheque bookings will not be available for this re-opening. All candidates must make payment through eGDC only.

Important information in relation to booking examinations through eGDC

Please note that eGDC has multiple log-in prevention. This means that if you are logged into your eGDC account on more than one device or more than one browser window you will receive a warning message stating that 'we have detected that your log-in is in use on another device so you have been automatically logged out'.

In regard to the examination booking screen:

• You will be able to see the current time in the United Kingdom
• 8 hours before an examination you are eligible to book is scheduled to open, the examination will appear in the 'bookings tab' and display the following message 'unavailable - opening at 14:30'
• You will need to click refresh at 14:30 when the examination opens
• You will be automatically logged out of eGDC if you have been logged in for more than 15 minutes 
• When an examination you were eligible to book has filled, the booking screen will display 'closed - examination full' for 2 hours after.

The following booking rules apply:

• If you click 'book exam and pay' with no intention of sitting the examination or making payment, you will be prevented from booking the next available examination.
• Do not log into eGDC at this time if you do not wish to sit the examination. ​

Payment for an examination position is required at the time of booking (no later than 1 hours after making the booking). If you do not have the funds to make payment at the time, do not attempt to book a place. Please note that we anticipate a high demand for this booking, in line with the normal booking procedure places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis from 14:30, and we would ask candidates who are not able to make payment within the hour not to attempt to book a place. 

Please ensure that you read our withdrawal and refund policies before booking a place on to the examination.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Examinations Team.

On Thursday 27 February 2020 at 14:30 we will re-open the booking for the ORE Part 2 April 2020 examination (to be held from 2 – 5 April 2020). The booking for this examination will be closed upon reaching full capacity. All bookings must be made through eGDC​.

Please note that there are currently only 9 spaces available.

Please check that you have log-in details for your eGDC account and that you can log in before this date.

We would like to highlight to candidates that the April Part 2 candidate list will be submitted to the examination provider as soon as the booking closes. There will be no opportunity to request a refund under the ORE refund policy, therefore we strongly recommend only candidates who are certain that they can attend the examination login and attempt to book a place. As a direct result cheque bookings will not be available for this re-opening. All candidates must make payment through eGDC only.

Important information in relation to booking examinations through eGDC

Please note that eGDC has multiple log-in prevention. This means that if you are logged into your eGDC account on more than one device or more than one browser window you will receive a warning message stating that 'we have detected that your log-in is in use on another device so you have been automatically logged out'.

In regard to the examination booking screen:

You will be able to see the current time in the United Kingdom.

8 hours before an examination you are eligible to book is scheduled to open, the examination will appear in the 'bookings tab' and display the following message 'unavailable - opening at 14:30'

You will need to click refresh at 14:30 when the examination opens

You will be automatically logged out of eGDC if you have been logged in for more than 15 minutes 

When an examination you were eligible to book has filled, the booking screen will display 'closed - examination full' for 2 hours after.

The following booking rules apply:

If you click 'book exam and pay' with no intention of sitting the examination or making payment, you will be prevented from booking the next available examination.

Do not log into eGDC at this time if you do not wish to sit the examination. ​

Payment for an examination position is required at the time of booking (no later than 1 hours after making the booking). If you do not have the funds to make payment at the time, do not attempt to book a place. Please note that we anticipate a high demand for this booking, in line with the normal booking procedure places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis from 14:30, and we would ask candidates who are not able to make payment within the hour not to attempt to book a place. 

Please ensure that you read our withdrawal and refund policies before booking a place on to the examination.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Examinations Team.

On Thursday 21 November 2019 at 14:30 we will open the booking for the ORE Part 2 January 2020 examination (to be held from 23-26 January 2020). The booking for this examination will be closed upon reaching full capacity. All bookings must be made through eGDC​.

Cheque bookings are only available to candidates being sponsored by an organisation working with refugees or a charity. Please call the Examinations Team prior to Thursday 21 November 2019 to check the booking procedure if this applies to you on +44(0)20 7167 6050.

If you are a priority candidate you will have already received a separate email with instructions on how to secure your place on this exam.  

Payment for an examination position is required at the time of booking (no later than 1 hour after making the booking). If a candidate does not have the funds to make payment at the time, please do not attempt to book a place. Please note that we anticipate a high demand for this booking, in line with the normal booking procedure places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis from 14:30, and we would ask candidates who are not able to make payment within the hour not to attempt to book a place. 

All candidates are advised to read our withdrawal and refund policies before booking a place on to the examination.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Examinations Team here or call +44(0)20 7167 6050.

• You will be able to see the current time in the United Kingdom.
• Eight hours before an examination you are eligible to book is scheduled to open, the examination will appear in the 'bookings tab' and display the following message 'unavailable - opening at 14:30'
• You will need to click refresh at 14:30 when the examination opens
• You will be automatically logged out of eGDC if you have been logged in for more than 15 minutes 
• When an examination you were eligible to book has filled, the booking screen will display 'closed - examination full' for two hours after.

• If you click 'book exam and pay' with no intention of sitting the examination or making payment, you will be prevented from booking the next available examination.
• Do not log into eGDC at this time if you do not wish to sit the examination.