Intercollegiate approach to assessment

19 August 2024

The General Dental Council (GDC) has published newly revised curricula for dental specialties, which will be introduced for trainees beginning their specialty training from September 2024.

The current system of assessment has a number of different approaches in use by the specialties and inconsistencies between these, with exams administered by individual Royal Colleges, or a combination of Colleges.
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 are now working together to introduce an Intercollegiate approach to assessment. This will cover 10 specialties, supporting trainees to demonstrate the specialist knowledge, skills and capabilities required for progression.


Current trainees will continue with the current assessment programme which will be provided until academic year 2026-27, to allow them to progress through their training, with opportunity for resits for those who are unsuccessful in their initial attempts. New assessments will be in place for academic year 2026-27 for candidates taking their first sitting.


The Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) Chairs are working with education specialists to define the assessment strategy with input from the trainee reps, trainers and the Deans. This will be shared at the launch of the new curricula in September 2024.


Stakeholder groups are involved in discussions on eligibility, examination approach and transitional arrangements. Periodic progress updates will be shared with these groups in coming months, and a dedicated website containing these updates and other relevant documents is expected to be launched before the end of 2024.


Please direct any questions to jenny.clark@rcpsg.ac.uk, your SAC Chair, Directors of Examinations or the Deans.


List of specialties to be covered by the new approach:
Dental Public Health
Endodontics
Oral Medicine
Oral Surgery
Orthodontics
Paediatric Dentistry
Periodontics
Prosthodontics
Restorative Dentistry
Special Care Dentistry

List of specialties not covered:
Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology
Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
Oral Microbiology