Program Overview

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Dental Therapy & Hygiene BSc

Key information

Course type: Single honours Delivery mode: In person Study mode: Full time Required A-level: BBB Full entry requirements, including contextual requirements Duration: Three years Application status: Closed Start date: September 2025 Application deadline: 29 January 2025

Course essentials

The BSc (Hons) Dental Therapy & Hygiene course will train students to be safe beginner clinicians, prepared for registration with the GDC and employability as a dental therapist. The programme is studied over three years full-time. It offers a spiralled modular curriculum using a variety of inspiring evidence-based teaching and assessment methods.

Base campuses

• Guy’s Campus: The Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, and the Institute of Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience are based at the riverside Guy's Campus, next to the Shard.
• Denmark Hill Campus: Home to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.
• St Thomas’ Campus: Located near Waterloo Campus and home of continuing medical and dental teaching, as well as a museum dedicated to Florence Nightingale.

Additional locations

• Clinical placements can also be based at: West Norwood Health & Leisure Centre and King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill; Westmoor, Brocklebank, Akerman, Lister, Queen Mary Hospital and Jubilee

Course accreditation

• Reviewed, inspected and accredited by the UK General Dental Council (GDC)

Regulating bodies

• King's is regulated by the Office for Students

Entry requirements

Subject requirements

• Required subjects: A-level (or equivalent) grade B in Biology or Chemistry, in addition to grade B in one of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

A-Levels

• Required grades: BBB
• Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels.
• Must include grade B in Biology or Chemistry, in addition to grade B in one of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

• 32 points overall or an aggregate score of 15 from three Higher Levels.
• Must include grade 5 in Higher Level Chemistry or Biology, in addition to grade 5 in Higher Level in one of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology.

GCSE/IGCSE Requirements

• Five required at grade 5/C including Mathematics and English Language.

Alternative accepted qualifications

• Access to HE Diploma
• BTEC Nationals/CTECs
• Cambridge Pre-U
• European Baccalaureate
• Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

International applicants

• Equivalent International qualifications

English language requirements

• English language band: D
• Please note that nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries (as defined by UKVI) who have successfully completed high school in the respective country, are not required to complete an English language test.

Selection process

• We review the whole of the application including achieved/predicted grades, GCSE/IGCSE performance (where applicable), personal statement and reference.
• Further contextual consideration and eligible mitigating circumstances are reviewed to finalise interview eligibility.

Further information

• Age restrictions: King’s is only able to accept applicants who will be 18 years of age on 1st January on the first year of the Dental Therapy programme.
• Contextual consideration: We do not make contextual offers for this programme, and all applicants will be required to meet the standard entry requirements.
• Criminal conviction disclosure: Due to the nature of this programme, UCAS requires all applicants to declare on their UCAS application if they have any spent or unspent convictions, cautions or reprimands.
• Deferrals: Applications can be submitted for deferred entry by choosing the appropriate year of entry on the UCAS application.
• Foundation courses: Applicants studying Foundation Year programmes in the UK are welcome to apply for this programme.
• Foundation Degrees, Certificate in Higher Education, Diploma in Higher Education: Applicants studying/who have studied either a Foundation Degree, or a Cert HE, or Dip HE are welcome to apply for this programme, as long as the subject requirements are met.
• Graduates: Graduates who have achieved/are predicted to achieve any Bachelor degree at UK 2:1/upper second class honours level can apply to this programme, provided they have achieved/are predicted to achieve a minimum grade B in A-Level (or equivalent) Biology or Chemistry, and grade B in A-Level (or equivalent) in one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology.
• Incomplete degree study: We are unable to consider partial degree study as part of the assessment and applicants must have fully completed a qualification for it to be considered towards the entry requirements.
• Interviews: Interviews are an essential part of the assessment process, and our interviewers are assessing communication skills, exploring general social and ethical issues, normally health related, and assessing the interviewee’s general suitability for the programme and as a health professional, as well as how the interviewee will contribute to the university as a whole.
• Occupational Health clearance: Due to the nature of this programme, all offer holders will be required to complete the Occupational Health Clearance process.
• Personal Statement: Your personal statement is one of the many factors in the overall assessment of your application.
• Resits: We are able to consider applicants who are resitting their Level 3 qualifications for the first time (i.e. completing A-levels within 3 years).
• Transfers: Transfers into this programme are not permitted.

Teaching & structure

Teaching methods - what to expect

• We will use a delivery method that will ensure students have a rich, exciting experience from the start.
• Face to face teaching will be complemented and supported with innovative technology so that students also experience elements of digital learning and assessment.

Year one

• Establishes the foundations on which clinical practice lie, namely biomedical sciences and developing clinical skills in a simulated setting.
• This is paralleled by development of personal and professional skills, such as communication strategies and their role in social responsibility.

Year two

• Builds on this skill-set, enabling students to apply it in the real-world within our excellent network of clinical placements and introduces them to the dental specialties where they will garner appreciation of local and global context.

Year three

• Consolidates learning and fosters competence in technical and leadership skills, whilst developing research skills.
• Innovation and entrepreneurship is encouraged through self-selected, independent project-based learning in education, business development or research methods.

Assessment

• Course Work
• Written/Practical Examinations

Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations. Forms of assessment may typically include written (short answer) examination, online (MCQ) examination, poster presentation, structured clinical reasoning examination, clinical competence assessments, and special projects and reports which must be successfully completed to progress through the course.

Structure

The programme is divided into modules. You will normally take modules totaling 360 credits over 3 years.

• Year one comprises modules (all required modules) totaling 120 credits
• Year two comprises modules (all required modules) totaling 120 credits
• Year three comprises modules (all required modules) totaling 120 credits

Required modules

You are required to take the following modules in year one totaling 120 credits:

• Biomedicine in Relation to Dentistry 1 (30 credits)
• Biomedicine in Relation to Dentistry 2 (30 credits)
• Clinical Humanities & Wellbeing (15 credits)
• Dentistry in Society (15 credits)
• Simulated Clinical Practice I (15 credits)
• Student Selected Component I (15 credits)

Careers

Employability

The BSc (Hons) Dental Therapy & Hygiene programme embeds employability throughout teaching, learning and assessment which is critical to developing graduates that are ready to enter the healthcare workforce.

Graduates have a breadth of career opportunities, from the more explicit, such as clinical service or academia, for example, in research and education in higher education institutions; through to the less well trodden. These might include working in public health for government organisations, e.g., Public Health England and local authorities; regulation and quality assurance, e.g. working for the General Dental Council; or the third sector, e.g. the Oral Health Foundation; as well as private enterprise.

Fees & Funding

Tuition Fees

Full time tuition fees UK:

The UK tuition fee for the academic year is currently £9,535 per year. This is based on the UK Government's cap.

Additional Costs

In addition to your tuition costs, you can also expect to pay for:

• Accommodation and subsistence expenses
• Books if you choose to buy your own copies
• Clothing for optional course related events and competitions
• Library fees and fines
• Personal photocopies
• Printing course handouts
• Society membership fees
• Stationery
• Graduation costs
• Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses.

The following gives you an indication of additional costs associated with your course. These costs are not included in your tuition fees.

• DBS check - paid just prior to course entry: approximate cost £50.00
• DBS ongoing subscription: approximate cost £13.00/year after first check
• Travel between campuses (to Denmark Hill from Guy’s): approximate cost up to £200.00 in each year (typically years 2 & 3 of the course)
• Initial funding of placement travel (can be claimed back): approximate cost £98.00 (e.g. to West Norwood)
• GDC registration (in year of graduation): refer to GDC website for prevailing rates

Funding

To find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans, and other financial help available at King's please visit the Fees and Funding section.