Dental Therapy BSc Honours

Clearing - How to apply

What is Clearing?

Each year, universities may have spaces left on their courses after the application window has closed in June.

UCAS Clearing is your opportunity to snap up one of these places, even if you didn't apply to the university prior to the June deadline.

It also gives you a second chance to go to university if you didn't get the grades you needed for your firm and insurance offers.

How do I get in touch?

Our Clearing entry requirements may differ from those advertised; contacting our friendly advisers is the best way to find out if you’re eligible for a place.

You can get in touch through live chat or our hotlines. Call us on 0800 073 5050, or if you’re an international student calling from outside the UK, call: +44 191 222 5000.

Not available in Clearing

This course is not available in Clearing 2024.

This means there are no spaces available for Clearing 2024. If you can't find vacancies in your original course or subject area, try exploring other subjects in a related field.

Search our courses in Clearing

Course overview

Our students are helping transform the oral health of local communities. You'll help patients avoid and manage oral disease by promoting good oral health and providing treatments. This degree will provide you with the practical, theoretical and professional skills required for this role.

At Newcastle our work has worldwide impact and you'll be taught by some of the top academics and internationally renowned experts in their field.

This degree begins with a foundation in biomedical sciences, providing a basis for clinical work as the course progresses. You'll study advanced topics such as human disease, managing medical emergencies, and health promotion.

Download information about this course as a PDF

Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions  
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions

In first year you will study a range of subjects which provide a foundation for clinical work in later stages.

Topics include: aetiology; physiology; pathology and presentation of oral disease; dental, oral, and craniofacial anatomy; behavioural science and communication; basic pharmacology; and dental materials science. 

You'll also cover study skills, evidence-based practice, critical appraisal of research, infection transmission and control, professionalism and ethics, health and safety, and medico-legal considerations. You'll begin to learn clinical skills during term 3, in a simulated clinical environment using manikins. 

Please note that there are no optional modules for this course.

You'll begin to develop your clinical practice, which begins with an intensive clinical introductory course and continues with clinical attachments to a variety of clinics within the Newcastle Dental Hospital.

During the clinical attachments, you'll learn specific skills relating to patient assessment, such as clinical examination and history taking. 

Running alongside the clinical attachments is lecture-based teaching in:

• human diseases and the management of medical emergencies
• pharmacology
• aspects of dental health education
• health promotion and disease prevention education
• diet and nutrition
• clinical investigations
• treatment plan delivery
• professional standards and expectations

You'll experience more varied clinical attachments, extending your experience and enhancing your clinical practice. 

You'll attend restorative and paediatric diagnostic clinics and develop enhanced skills, for example, in:

• diagnostic skills
• radiography
• management of patient anxiety
• extraction of the primary dentition

Information about these graphs

We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They are based on the modules chosen by our students in 2023-24.

Teaching time is made up of:

• scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present.
• structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision

Electives

An optional elective period at the end of Stage 2 gives you the opportunity to organise a few weeks studying outside Newcastle. In recent years this has taken students all over the world.

Find out more about elective opportunities

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

Teaching is by a combination of:

• lectures and seminars
• laboratory demonstrations (including closed-circuit TV)
• practical laboratory work
• clinical demonstrations

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Assessments

• 

  Assignments – written or fieldwork

• 

  Case studies

• 

  Coursework

• 

  Essays

• 

  Examinations – practical or online

• 

  Group work

• 

  Interviews

• 

  Portfolio submission

• 

  Practical sessions

• 

  Presentations

• 

  Projects

• 

  Reflective report/journal

• 

  Reports

• 

  Seminar tasks/exercises

Skills and experience

Practical skills

Clinical work forms a large part of your study programme, helping you develop professional skills for your future career.

In your first year, you'll begin clinical training. From your second year, you'll be treating patients at Newcastle Dental Hospital and other clinics, under the supervision of our expert dental team.

Facilities and environment

Facilities

Based within Newcastle Dental Hospital, The School of Dental Sciences at Newcastle is one of the most modern and best equipped in the country. By training in one of the largest integrated teaching and hospital complexes in the country you'll gain a true insight into your future profession.

Our School is part of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, which is also home to Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Psychology and Pharmacy, encouraging inter-professional collaboration.

Clinical training facilities

You'll access cutting-edge clinical training facilities, comprising of a:

• conservation clinic
• cell and molecular biosciences laboratory
• children's clinic
• clinical skills unit
• Fell Cluster
• dental learning resource unit

Research laboratories

Within the School there are a range of research laboratories, undertaking work in:

• oral biology
• anthropology
• dental materials science

We also have a dedicated clinical research facility. We can offer clinical training and research opportunities of the highest international standard.

Find out about our laboratories and research facility at the School of Dental Sciences.

We also foster strong collaboration with research institutes in the Medical School and University.

Take a virtual tour of our dental teaching and learning facilities.

Support

Your future

Successful graduates from our Dental Therapy degree – subject to registration with the GDC – are eligible to begin working as a dental therapist.

Areas where graduates have found employment include: general dental practice; industry; community dental services; hospital dental services; and the armed forces.

Being a dental therapist is a rewarding career that helps people take care of their oral health and avoid disease.

Duties include:

• evaluating the dental and medical history of patients and planning their care
• providing preventative oral care
• non-surgical management of periodontal (gum) disease
• managing plaque-related diseases
• extracting deciduous teeth and restoration of teeth
• taking impressions and radiographs
• the application to teeth and gums of certain medicaments such as fluoride and fissure sealants
• teaching of oral hygiene methods
• providing advice on diet and smoking cessation
• scaling and polishing

Please note: to practise in the UK, dental therapists are required to maintain registration with the General Dental Council. There is a registration fee and annual retention fee for this registration.

Make a difference

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Careers support

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Additional information

Transfer to our Dental Surgery degree

Any student registered on this degree may be eligible to apply to transfer to the first year of our Dental Surgery BDS degree at the end of their first year.

This scheme is highly competitive with a limited number of places available each year. To apply you must achieve a Merit in all assessments and have an A level in Chemistry (or equivalent qualification).

You will be interviewed as part of the application process and must have a valid UCAT test score.

Find out about admissions testing for UK health professions. 

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2025 entry (per year)

The 2025 home fees have not yet been confirmed (see ‘Home Fee Students’ information below).

Qualification: BSc Honours
Home students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) Not set
International students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) 46000

Home Fee Students

Home students starting in 2024 entry
£9,250 is the maximum fee that we are currently permitted to charge for home fee-paying students. This is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Home students starting in 2025 entry
The 2025 home fees have not yet been confirmed. In November 2024 the government increased the maximum fee level to £9,535 for 2025/26. We expect to confirm our Undergraduate Home fees for 2025/26 in December 2024.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

International Fee Students

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our undergraduate scholarship page for more information.

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages