The General Dental Council has increased the fees for Part 2 of its overseas registration exam by 65%, from £4,235 to £6,967.

The Government recently announced that it was funding more overseas registration exam places, and the GDC last week provided details about changes it was making.

Alongside the changes to Part 2 of the exam – which is designed for candidates to demonstrate practical clinical skills – the GDC announced an increase in the application processing fee from £96 to £115.

However, it has also announced a reduction in the fee for Part 1 – which tests candidates' application of knowledge to clinical practice – from £584 to £485.

Meanwhile, the British Dental Association has questioned whether expanded overseas registration exam capacity will result in improved NHS dental access without wider contract reform and increased funding.

The ORE is the main route through which dentists qualified outside the UK or EU can join the GDC register. Demand for places has increased by 400% since 2022, and internationally qualified dentists accounted for 53% of new additions to the register in 2025, 20% of whom joined through the ORE.

The GDC has agreed a new contract with UCL Consultants to deliver the exam starting from this month, which in the first year will provide 2,400 Part 1 places in four separate sittings and 944 Part 2 places.

Part 2 capacity is expected to rise to 1,500 places annually by the third year of the contract.

The regulator said the increase in Part 2 fees reflected the cost of delivering the clinical examination at scale, including investment in specialist facilities, equipment and quality assurance, as well as the introduction of VAT.

For the first time, candidates will book their ORE sittings through their MyGDC account. The booking window for the August 2026 Part 1 sitting opens on 30 June 2026.

Candidates nearing the five-year limit for completing Part 2, along with those with refugee status, will receive priority access to exam places.

Theresa Thorp, executive director of regulation at the GDC, said: 'We want to get as many dental professionals practising in the UK as possible, without compromising patient safety.

'This announcement marks real and significant progress. The new contract with UCL Consultants gives us a more consistent and predictable framework for the ORE, and the capacity to grow exam numbers in a controlled and sustainable way.'

However, the BDA is sceptical over whether the pledged increase in overseas dentist numbers will directly translate into a boost for NHS dental services.

Dr Eddie Crouch, chair of the BDA, said: 'The government has a responsibility to ensure this country has the dental workforce it needs.

'The GDC is certainly being ambitious when it comes to the number of overseas qualified dentists it will process. But unless ministers deliver the goods on funding and reform, it is very unlikely this will translate into real gains for NHS dentistry.'

The GDC emphasised that all dentists joining the register through the ORE would continue to be assessed against the same standards required of UK-trained professionals.