Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to reduce waiting times for dentists to take qualifying dental exams.

The General Dental Council (GDC) is responsible for setting requirements for entry to the dentists register and administers the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), which assesses the knowledge and skills of dentists holding qualifications not otherwise recognised for registration. The Royal College of Surgeons operates the Licence in Dental Surgery, which is an alternative examination for such dentists.

The GDC tripled the capacity of sittings for part 1 of the ORE from August 2023 through all of 2024, and is running an additional sitting of part 2 of the ORE in 2024. Together, these steps have created more than 1,300 additional places across the two parts. The GDC has opened tendering for provision of parts 1 and 2 of the ORE for the next five years, looking to improve the flexibility and availability of the ORE. Department officials continue to meet regularly with the GDC to discuss this important issue.