Category: News
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Candidate Online Drop-In Sessions
The Dental Examinations Executive will be hosting drop-ins for prospective candidates to ask questions about the new tri-collegiate MFDS and Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations commencing in October 2026. Prospective candidates can use this time to ask questions about the application process or any general questions you may have about the examinations and their arrangements. Suggested…
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A new generation of dental exams is coming
The opening date for applications for 10 new Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations is approaching. This is part of a new, joined-up approach to assessment which will also see changes to the MFDS (Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery) qualification. Changes to specialty exams Currently, most dental specialties have multiple versions of the specialty exam,…
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Webinar for UK Trainees and Training Programme Directors
COPDEND will be hosting a webinar on Monday 9th March 2026 from 6-7pm for Training Programme Directors and UK Trainees with a National Training Number (NTN). This webinar will communicate key progress and updates on the delivery of the tri-Collegiate Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations and Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (MFDS) examinations. Arrangements…
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The MFDS qualification is changing
The MFDS (Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery) qualification will be changing over 2026 and 2027. This is an update on the changes and what they mean for you if you have already passed MFDS, are part-way through MFDS, or plan to sit MFDS in the future. What is the MFDS? The MFDS is…
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Exam Boards kick off design of a ‘new generation’ of exams
The design of 10 Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations is now underway following completion of the planning stages of a new, joined-up approach to assessment. Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations Board Chair, Professor Sondos Albadri, and education expert Dr Yvonne Hurst, met with members of the 10 new exam boards to begin work on the new exams…
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Dentists invited to become examiners for new assessments
2 April 2025 The newly-appointed exam board chairs for the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations and revised MFDS are calling for experienced clinicians to join them to support the next generation of assessment. Ten leading dentists were appointed as exam board chairs in March. They are now inviting other experienced clinicians to become members of the…
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Leading paediatric dentist appointed as Chair of exams board
6 February 2025 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. The appointment follows an agreement between four Royal Colleges in the UK and Ireland to work together on a new, joined-up approach to…
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Webinar – 26 November 2024
This webinar was held on 26 November to introduce the Training Programme Directors and Associate Deans to the new Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations. As the work to develop this initiative continues, elements may change and new information will be made available on this website.
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Dental specialties assessment strategy goes live
Update to the news release of 13 November – 13 December 2024 The sentence starting, “Dental trainees….” relating to transitional arrangements has been updated to remove the text: “will generally complete their training with the existing curriculum and the existing membership and fellowship examinations”. 13 November 2024 The new assessment strategy for nine dental specialties…
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Progress made towards a joined-up approach to summative assessment
20 September 2024 Dentists entering specialty training from September 2024 will follow 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…