Glasgow Dentistry Entry Requirements for 2027 Entry

The University of Glasgow's Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS, UCAS code A200) is a five-year dentistry degree that, for 2027 entry, asks for AAA at A-level with Biology and Chemistry at A, AAAAB Highers plus BB Advanced Highers, or 36 points in the IB, and then ranks eligible applicants on the UCAT, interviewing around 200. For 2025 entry Glasgow received 623 applications and made 132 offers, and the odds differed sharply by fee status.

How Fee Status Splits Glasgow Dentistry Into Three Competitions

Glasgow publishes its BDS admissions figures and its UCAT interview thresholds separately for Home, rest-of-UK (RUK) and international applicants, and the three groups do not fare alike. Dentistry is, in the dental school's words, "a controlled entry subject in Scotland": the Scottish Funding Council publishes intake targets each year, and Glasgow agrees the number of offers it issues "to meet the intake targets set by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council". Glasgow works out each applicant's fee status from the UCAS application and confirms it after submission.

The table below is Glasgow's own 2025-entry data, with the offer rate worked out from its figures.

Source: University of Glasgow, BDS Admissions Data and UCAT cut-off scores including 2025 entry (PDF), read October 2026. Percentages are our arithmetic from Glasgow's figures, rounded to the nearest whole number.

The gap opened at both stages of the 2025 cycle. Glasgow interviewed 105 of its 271 Home applicants (39%) but 72 of its 267 RUK applicants (27%), and 29 of 85 international applicants (34%). Of those interviewed, 77 of 105 Home applicants received offers (73%), against 33 of 72 RUK applicants (46%) and 22 of 29 international applicants (76%).

The 2025 figures were not the pattern a year earlier. For 2024 entry the offer rates per application were 76 of 242 Home applicants (31%), 42 of 147 RUK applicants (29%) and 22 of 85 international applicants (26%), or 140 of 474 overall (30%). Between those two cycles RUK applications rose from 147 to 267, an increase of 120 or 82%, while RUK offers fell from 42 to 33.

Glasgow's dental school FAQ gives one published figure for rest-of-UK places: "For entry in September 2025, our target intake for applicants from the Rest of the UK (ie England, Wales and Northern Ireland) was 13." Its admissions table records 17 RUK students matriculating in 2025 entry. Both figures are reproduced here as Glasgow published them.

Three definitions decide which row an applicant sits in. Glasgow treats as RUK "UK citizens who have been resident in the UK (outside Scotland) for at least three years before the start of their programme of study". An Irish citizen whose home is in the Republic of Ireland will "probably be classified as Rest of UK (RUK) for fee purposes". EU applicants have been counted with international applicants since 2021, which is why the table's international row includes them.

UCAT Rank Decides Who Glasgow Interviews for Dentistry

Glasgow's selection runs in a fixed order. First, every application is "screened in line with our published entry requirements (this includes the Personal Statement and reference)", and anyone who does not or cannot meet those criteria is given no further consideration. Second, the remaining applicants are ordered by UCAT score. The Person Specification for September 2027 entry says: "Applicants will be ranked on the basis of their UCAT score and around 200 will be selected for interview." It adds that the cut-off "varies from year to year, and will normally be above the national average", and that Glasgow does not disclose the score it uses in the year of application.

The consequence is spelled out on the dental school's UCAT page: if the score "is deemed to be too low then you will not be selected for interview, regardless of your qualifications". Grades above the minimum do not compensate for a low score; once eligibility is settled, the UCAT total does the sorting. Glasgow's June 2026 open-day slides put it more bluntly still: an applicant not asked to interview was not asked "because your UCAT score was below the cut off".

One part of the UCAT plays no role at all. Glasgow states that it does "not take into consideration the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) banding in our decision making", so the ranking rests on the cognitive total. On the adjusted route for eligible Scottish applicants, a score up to 10% below the standard threshold can be considered for interview; that route is set out in its own section below.

The personal statement still matters at two points: in the first screen, and again after interviews, when Glasgow subjects all applications to "a secondary screening of the Personal Statement and Reference to confirm all aspects meet requirements". From 2026 the UCAS personal statement answers three set questions (why this subject or course, how qualifications and studies have prepared you, and what else you have done outside education), and Glasgow's June 2026 slides say these "will be assessed as part of the admissions process".

On preparation, Glasgow's own advice is to use the free official practice materials on UCAT's website. UCAT's bursary scheme for the 2026 test has now closed, and UCAT says details of the 2027 UCAT Bursary will be on its website around March 2027. Eligible UK candidates may be able to apply for a bursary that covers the full test fee; for Scottish candidates, UCAT names receipt of Educational Maintenance Allowance or a full-rate SAAS Young or Independent Students' Bursary among the qualifying criteria.

Which UCAT Scores Glasgow Interviewed, 2016 to 2025 Entry

Glasgow's dental school publishes a PDF of its own thresholds. It gives the lowest UCAT score considered for interview under standard entry, for each fee status, for every entry year from 2016 to 2025.

Source: University of Glasgow, UCAT: lowest score considered for interview, standard entry (PDF), read October 2026. *Glasgow notes that for 2017 the Decision Analysis subtest score was discounted by UCAT.

For 2025 entry the RUK threshold sat 110 points above the Home threshold (2770 against 2660). The same PDF shows that the UCAT scores of all interviewed standard-entry applicants that year ran from 2660 to 3440.

Every figure in that table was set before UCAT withdrew Abstract Reasoning from the test in 2025; the UCAT that 2025-entry applicants sat in 2024 still reported an Abstract Reasoning score. Since the change, UCAT's test format page, read in October 2026, gives a total of 900 to 2700 across Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning, and UCAT's own statistics page says 2025 scores "are not directly comparable with those from before 2025". Glasgow's June 2026 slides make the same point: comparing scores with cut-offs from before the change "will not be equitable". This page does not convert between the two scales, and none of the thresholds above should be read against a score from the 2025 or 2026 test.

What can be done is to read each threshold against the test it was set on. Glasgow requires the UCAT in the year of application, and UCAS applications close on 15 October of the year before entry, so 2025-entry applicants sat the UCAT in 2024. UCAT's 2024 statistics cover 37,913 tests with a mean total of 2523, and the 2025-entry thresholds fall in that year's table as follows.

Source: UCAT Consortium, Test Statistics 2024, and Glasgow's cut-off PDF, both read October 2026. The comparison is ours.

On its own test, then, the 2025 Home threshold lay between the 60th and 70th percentile scores, the international threshold between the 70th and 80th, and the RUK threshold just short of the 80th percentile score of 2780.

Applicants for 2027 entry sat the three-subtest UCAT in 2026. UCAT's 2026 test statistics, valid to 24 September 2026 and based on 42,359 tests, give a mean total of 1918 and total-score deciles of 1920 (5th), 1980 (6th), 2050 (7th), 2140 (8th) and 2250 (9th). Those deciles show where a 2026 score sits among 2026 candidates. They do not show Glasgow's 2027 threshold, which Glasgow does not release during the cycle and which, its UCAT page says, past published scores have "no bearing" on. For how other dental schools treat a lower score, see our guide to dentistry options with a low UCAT score.

The Grade Screen: AAA, Six GCSEs at Grade 7 and No Resits

Grades at Glasgow are a gate rather than a score: an applicant either meets the published requirements and moves on to UCAT ranking, or does not. The headline offers for 2027 entry are below; Scottish Highers, which carry an extra S5 condition, follow in the next section.

Source: University of Glasgow, BDS Entry Requirements: For Entry in 2027, read October 2026.

Three rules remove applicants who meet those grades on paper. The first is timing: "All grades must be achieved at one sitting (one year). This applies to all qualifications, from all countries and exam bodies." The second is resits: Glasgow's FAQ says it is "unable to consider applications based on retaken examinations". The third is age: "We are unable to consider qualifications that are over 6 years old", with an Access course suggested as the route for anyone whose grades are older.

The GCSE condition is a real filter for A-level applicants, because it asks for six grade 7s. Our guide to how each dental school treats GCSEs compares Glasgow's rule with the other UK courses. Year 12 and S5 students who want a UCAT tutor for the 2027 test, for 2028 entry, can book a free consultation to plan the preparation.

Highers Applicants: AAAAB by the End of S5, Then Two Advanced Highers

For Scottish school pupils the requirement comes in two stages. The standard offer is AAAAB at Higher plus BB at Advanced Higher by the end of S6, and AAAAB at the end of S5 is the minimum for consideration. Glasgow's 2027 Person Specification explains why S5 carries so much weight: "To meet the academic criteria for interview, we will look at S5 results and expect applicants to have attained AAAAB. This must include Biology and Chemistry at Grade A as a minimum."

The subject conditions are specific. Higher Biology and Chemistry must be at grade A, alongside "Higher Maths or Physics and National 5 English at grade B". In S6 an applicant studies three subjects, including Advanced Higher Biology and Chemistry, and the Person Specification says both "must be at grade B". Timing is fixed as well: "School leavers must apply from S6. Applications from S5 will not be considered."

In practice that means the S5 results an applicant already holds decide whether they meet the academic criteria for interview, and the two Advanced Highers in S6 become the conditions of any offer.

Who Qualifies for the Adjusted Route, and the 10% UCAT Allowance

Glasgow runs "a system of contextualised admissions for applicants living in Scotland", and for dentistry it changes both the grades and the UCAT bar. Applicants may be eligible if they live in an SIMD decile 1-4 postcode (SIMD 20/40), are care experienced, are estranged from family and living without family support, are an unpaid carer, are seeking asylum in the UK or have refugee status.

Glasgow's adjusted-entry booklet for 2027 entry sets out the dentistry terms. There is no entry from S5. The S5 minimum is AABB, which must include Higher Chemistry and Biology or Human Biology "at Grades A/B or B/A", and the end-of-S6 requirement is AAABB plus a B in Advanced Higher Biology or Chemistry. If Higher Biology or Chemistry is at grade B, "then Advanced Higher is also required at grade B". Applicants also need Higher Maths or Physics, National 5 English at B, and successful completion of the Reach programme.

The UCAT condition is the most consequential change: "Applicants who have attained the above grades and have a UCAT score which is no more than 10% below the standard threshold will be considered for interview." Because Glasgow does not release the standard threshold during the cycle, the adjusted figure is not known in advance either.

The limits are firm. "A grade concession will never be offered for a Chemistry or Biology qualification", reaching the adjusted grades "will allow the applicant to be considered for interview and does not guarantee admission to BDS", and "any adjustments will apply only once at the time of first application".

Reach Scotland is a national programme, established with support from the Scottish Funding Council and facilitated by five universities, each covering a different region of Scotland. Glasgow runs it for the West of Scotland, where it supports access to dentistry, law, medicine and veterinary medicine and works with all state secondary schools in the region. Pupils take part across S4 to S6: an introduction in S4, the bulk of the assessed work in S5 including a campus week in mid-June, and application support in S6. Successful completion earns 10 credit points at SCQF Level 7, assessed through a written assignment (50%), a contribution to group discussion (25%) and participation supplemented by a reflective essay (25%). A school's Reach contact teacher approves participation, so the pastoral care teacher is the place to start.

Glasgow's general widening-participation pages add two qualifications. Pupils at independent schools cannot join the pre-entry programmes, though "if you meet any of the eligibility criteria, you could be eligible for an adjusted offer", and Glasgow "may also accept successful completion of a comparable pre-entry programme" at another university. Because the dentistry terms name Reach, applicants in either position should confirm with the admissions team how that applies to them.

What Happens to a 2027 Application Between September 2026 and 31 March 2027

The UCAS deadline for 2027 entry was Thursday 15 October 2026, and Glasgow bases its decisions "on the information provided on the UCAS form by the closing date of 15 October". The admissions information document says "the selection process runs from October to March", and the stages fall as follows.

Source: University of Glasgow BDS admissions information (updated September 2026), Person Specification 2027 and Dentistry BDS 2027 entry page; UCAT Consortium key dates. All read October 2026.

Glasgow's admissions document says "individual feedback will not be provided to applicants", although unsuccessful applicants are told the reason for the decision through UCAS.

Applicants for 2028 entry are working to a different clock. UCAT says registration instructions for the UCAT 2027 will be published in March 2027, and the test must be taken in the year of application. The UCAS deadline falls on 15 October of the year before entry, an applicant to Dentistry (A200) "must limit your choice to four dental schools only", and Glasgow is "unable to consider applications for deferred entry" for the BDS; its admissions document provides that, where an exam appeal is not resolved in time for the admissions cycle, "a deferred offer for the following academic year may be considered, provided all offer conditions are ultimately met". Our UK dentistry admissions guide sets out how the other UK dental schools compare.

What Glasgow Has Said About the 2027 Interview

Glasgow's June 2026 open-day slides say: "Interviews for 2027 are likely to be virtual MMI style interviews." That is a statement of likelihood, not a confirmed format. The dental school FAQ describes an interview "designed to assess the applicant's non-cognitive skills" and says successful candidates receive further details by email.

What the interview looks for is set out in the Person Specification, which says the interview process "has been designed to test these characteristics". Applicants should be able to:

• be diligent and ethical;
• show a caring nature, empathy and respect for the views of others;
• communicate well;
• work in a team and have the capacity to act as a leader;
• be self-critical and self-motivating, and capable of independent thinking;
• plan and think on the spot, and enjoy problem solving;
• show strong evidence of manual dexterity, creativity and spatial awareness.

Two practical points come from Glasgow's FAQ. Manual dexterity is on the list, but "we do not require a portfolio for entry and no examples should be brought to interview". And "no work shadowing is required for September 2027 entry"; Glasgow suggests volunteering or caring roles and its FutureLearn course, Become a Dentist, as alternatives.

After the interviews, the results "are computed and ranked", and Glasgow's slides say that an interviewed applicant without an offer missed it because their "overall interview score was below the cut-off for receipt of an offer". Extenuating circumstances are narrow: the dental school "will only consider extenuating circumstances that relate directly to the BDS interview performance", and an applicant affected should notify the BDS Admissions Team within 5 working days of the interview. Problems with exams go through the exam board, and UCAT runs its own procedure. Our MMI interview coaching prepares applicants for this style of assessment.

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What Each Fee Status Pays, and the Grant Tied to NHS Scotland

Fee status also sets the cost of the five years. Glasgow's published tuition fees for new entrants are below.

Source: University of Glasgow undergraduate tuition fee pages for Scottish, RUK and international students, read October 2026.

For RUK students who started from September 2025, Glasgow says fees "will, therefore, increase for every year of study in line with tuition fee caps proposed by the UK Government". Glasgow's dental school page, read in October 2026, also notes that BDS students taking it as a second undergraduate degree, whether Home, RUK or EU, are eligible to have their tuition fees, or a proportion of them, paid by the Scottish Government up to a maximum of £1,820 per year.

The funding that is specific to dentistry in Scotland is the Dental Student Support Grant. According to mygov.scot (last updated 9 October 2026), it is a grant of £4,000 a year for BDS students at Aberdeen, Dundee or Glasgow whose household income is under £34,000 and who are allowed to live and work in Scotland after graduating. It comes with a tie-in: for each year of grant, a year working as a dentist for NHS Scotland, during which at least 80% of earnings must come from NHS Scotland, starting no later than 14 months after graduation. A student who does not complete the commitment repays some or all of the grant, and a student who takes an intercalated degree during the BDS cannot apply.

Glasgow's dental school says its students are eligible for a Talent Scholarship in their first year only, and for the Dental Student Support Grant in the following years. For 2027/28 entry Glasgow offers around 50 Talent Scholarships, typically £1,500 a year, to students ordinarily resident in Scotland who could face financial difficulty. RUK students may qualify for the World Changers RUK Access Bursary for 2027-28 entry: £2,500 a year where household income is less than £25,001, and £1,500 a year between £25,000 and £35,000. The separate RUK Excellence Scholarship is closed to dentistry: "Dentistry, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine applicants are not eligible for this award."

Which School Certificates Glasgow Says Do Not Satisfy Its BDS Requirements

International applicants go through the same UCAT ranking and interview, against their own threshold, and in 2025 entry 85 applied, 29 were interviewed, 22 received offers and 8 matriculated. The first question for many of them is whether their school-leaving qualification counts at all, and Glasgow's dental school answers it country by country.

For several national certificates the answer is no. Glasgow's Asia page states that "the Indian School Certificate, the Higher School Certificate, the Higher Secondary Certificate and the all India Senior School Certificate do not satisfy our entry requirements", and its Africa page says the same of Nigeria's "Senior School Certificate/WASSC". In each case Glasgow advises applicants "to undertake GCE A-Levels or review our alternative routes for entry". Other qualifications are accepted on stated terms:

• China: the Gao Kao "would need to be supplemented with two GCE A-levels at grade A in Chemistry and Biology", with Mathematics at 85% in the Gao Kao if it is not taken at A-level.
• Hong Kong: HKDSE grade 5 in Biology, Chemistry and the two components of Maths, plus a pass in all core subjects.
• Republic of Ireland: Leaving Certificate Chemistry and Biology at H1, with all other subjects at H2 or better, including Maths and/or Physics and English.
• United States: 3 AP examinations at grade 5 (or 3 SAT II subject tests at 700+) including Chemistry, Biology and Maths or Physics; Glasgow notes that the High School Graduation Diploma does not satisfy its requirements.
• Australia: an ATAR of 96 including Chemistry, Biology and Maths or Physics at a minimum of 90%.

Applicants whose first language is not English need IELTS Academic at 7.0 with no sub-test under 7.0, achieved within two years of Glasgow considering the complete application. International applicants to Dentistry apply through UCAS by the 15 October deadline. Glasgow also warns that it "is neither responsible for, nor in a position to offer, entry in to the Scottish dental workforce following successful completion of the BDS programme".

Degree Holders, Adult Returners and Reapplicants

Glasgow has no shortened course for applicants who already hold a degree: "due to the nature of BDS", it does not offer accelerated entry to applicants from other subject areas, although it says holders of an MBChB with at least part one of the MCRS (Glasgow's abbreviation) may be considered for Year 2 if a place is available. The academic bar is a 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent (for example a GPA of 3.0 or above) in a relevant subject, plus evidence of Chemistry and Biology at grade A and of Maths or Physics, all obtained within the last six years. Glasgow's entry-requirements page and FAQ give the Maths or Physics element at grade B, while its 2027 Person Specification says grade A, so that detail is worth confirming with the admissions team. A 2.2 closes the route: an applicant with a 2.2 Honours degree "will not be considered for entry, regardless if they have undertaken an additional qualification such as an MSc". In 2025 entry Glasgow's table records 83 applications from degree holders, 19 interviews, 16 offers and 12 matriculations. Our comparison of graduate-entry dentistry courses in the UK sets Glasgow beside the shortened programmes elsewhere.

Adult returners can meet the requirements with Highers or A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths or Physics at grade A, all in one sitting, or through an approved Access course. Glasgow names two: Access to Medical Studies at Glasgow Kelvin College and Access to Medical Sciences at Glasgow Clyde College, each requiring "an AAA in SWAP student profile and 80%+ in all graded work". Other Access courses are reviewed individually, but "we do not consider fully online Access courses".

Reapplicants are considered "only where they have been unsuccessful at UCAT or interview stage", must apply "through the usual channels" and must take the UCAT again in the year of application. Any contextual adjustment applies only at first application.

Checks Between an Offer and the First Day

Glasgow's admissions document says all offers "are subject to a satisfactory police and health check", and both checks need action before the course starts. Offer holders join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups scheme and must make a "full declaration of convictions, including anything deemed ‘spent’", at their own cost; anyone who has lived outside the UK for six months or more during the last six years also needs police clearance from that country. On health, all dental students are tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV before joining, and "anyone who declines to be tested will not be allowed to enter" the programme; Glasgow's health clearance page adds that no student will be registered without the Hepatitis B blood test.

Hepatitis B immunisation works differently. Students must complete a full course, which "can take up to nine months", and Glasgow advises starting at the earliest opportunity, but "it is not a requirement for students to have completed the immunisation process prior to registration". Its admissions document describes the course being completed at clinics run by the University's Occupational Health Unit once a student is registered.

How Leading Tuition Helps With a Glasgow Dentistry Application

Glasgow's process rewards three things in sequence: a UCAT total high enough to clear a threshold Glasgow sets each year and does not release during the cycle, a personal statement that survives two screenings, and an interview that tests non-cognitive qualities. Our interview tutors run timed station practice against Glasgow's person specification for 2027 applicants, and for those sitting the UCAT in 2027 for 2028 entry our UCAT tutors work on the three scored subtests Glasgow ranks; both work from the applicant's own fee status and route, standard or adjusted. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades, and a free consultation is the place to set out a plan for a Glasgow application. For an overview of every school in this directory, start from our UK dental schools hub.

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