Looking to 2026: New assessments will cover 10 dental specialties
New assessments will cover 10 dental specialities
Dentists currently entering specialty training are following the revised UK General Dental Council (GDC) curricula and will benefit from a new approach to examinations provision. The new examinations are being developed following an agreement from the four Surgical Royal Colleges of the UK and in Ireland to work together on a joined-up approach to summative assessment.
The new examinations will be offered from autumn next year, when those who started starting specialty training last autumn will be first eligible to sit them. They are fully aligned with the launch of the GDC revised curricula for dental specialties and will support trainees to demonstrate their specialist knowledge, skills and capabilities during specialty training.
The examinations will examine against the standard required for The Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) and culminate in the award of a Fellowship with the relevant College. The examinations will be known as Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations. Previously, most dental specialties had multiple examination versions, administered by individual Royal Colleges, or a combination of colleges. The previous examination bodies have been dissolved, with the new structure overseeing the new examinations.
Alan Mighell, who chairs the Royal Colleges’ group working on the new examinations, said: “We are developing the world-class standard for summative assessment in the dental specialties. This is a credit to the collective expertise of all involved to ensure that future specialists are ready to deliver the best outcomes for patients.
“The partnership approach to assessment from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, will enable consistency for trainees across the UK and Ireland and will provide them with a clearer training pathway.”
The new assessments cover 10 dental specialties, with assessment of the remaining dental specialties staying with the current non-surgical Royal College in each case.
Working closely with the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) Chairs and others, the education specialists within the Surgical Royal Colleges have identified the assessment tools to be used in these summative examinations, aligned to the priorities of the Dental Curriculum Advisory Group (DCAG) and the Joint Meeting of Dental Faculties. The working group has been developing a blueprint for each specialty exam that will include the tools used to assess different areas of the curricula and the detailed format for the exams.
As the awards for the new examinations will be Fellowships, a model is being developed for review by the Dental Councils within each College to enable those on the specialist list who have passed one of the current specialty membership examinations to convert their qualification to Fellowship with their College.
Dentists who are not training with either a UK National Training Number pathway or through the Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry (i.e. international dentists undertaking university-based courses either in the UK or internationally), will be eligible to sit these new examinations subject to criteria to be published.
In February this year, Professor Sondos Albadri, an honorary consultant in Paediatric Dentistry and Vice Dean at Liverpool University, has been appointed as the first Chair of the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations Board. Professor Albadri will support the continued development of the new exams in the UK and internationally, ensuring they meet General Dental Council (GDC) principles and standards, and evolve to meet the changing needs of dental training and assessment.
“The next few years present an exciting opportunity to modernise dental specialty training,” said Professor Albadri. “I am grateful to be given the opportunity to support the development of an assessment strategy that is fair, inclusive, robust and agile. There is a lot of change on the horizon, however I am excited to harness the opportunities that come with change and will be working with the specialties and the trainees ensuring their voice is heard, and that their interest is at the heart of this change.”
Professor Albadri is Vice Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies at Liverpool University’s School of Dentistry. Her research focuses on improving the quality of clinical outcomes, care pathways, and improving patients’ outcomes and experience. She has a special interest in dental trauma and patients with complex health conditions. Clinically, she works at Liverpool University Dental Hospital within Liverpool and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she is Interim Co-Chair of the specialist managed clinical network of paediatric dentistry in the region.
At the university, she is also the lead for integrated clinical academic training which includes recruitment and career development. This role involves continuous collaborative work with a wide range of organisations including NIHR and Health Education England. She is a Past President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, and serves as the UK Councillor on the European Academy in Paediatric Dentistry and a member of their Educational Committee.
Among Professor Albadri’s first engagements will be to help appoint the specialty exam board chairs, with one chair being recruited for each of 10 specialties.
Christine Goodall, Dean and Vice President Dental Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow said: “On behalf of the four Colleges, I’m delighted to welcome Professor Albadri as Chair of the Dental Specialty Examinations Board. Professor Albadri has a wealth of experience – both clinically and in the research environment, as well as in training and education. We look forward to working with her to develop a clearer training pathway for dentists in the year ahead.”
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland announced they are working together to introduce an Intercollegiate approach to assessment in May last year. Currently, most dental specialties have multiple versions of the specialty exam, administered by individual royal colleges, or a combination of colleges. Having a single exam for each speciality will enable consistency for trainees across the UK and will provide a clearer training pathway for all specialties.
Specialities covered
- Endodontics
- Oral Medicine
- Oral Surgery
- Orthodontics
- Paediatric Dentistry
- Periodontics
- Prosthodontics
- Restorative Dentistry
- Special Care Dentistry
- Dental Public Health
Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Oral Microbiology are not subject to the new assessment strategy and arrangements remain with the current non-surgical Royal College in each case.