1 February 2023
By email:
[FYI request #21448 email]
Dear Rosie
I refer to your information request dated 18 December 2022 made under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act). You have requested information regarding entry to the 2022 and 2023 Bachelor
of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes via the Graduate General category (excluding sub-categories).
We set out our responses to each of your questions below.
1. Lowest GPA for successful Graduate applicants (excluding sub-categories) for Dentistry
(and their UCAT score if allowed)
The minimum weighted GPA to receive an offer for entry to the 2022 BDS programme via the
Graduate General category was 8.13.
With regards to the information you have requested for the 2023 BDS programme, the University’s
Faculty of Dentistry has not yet confirmed final numbers for its 2023 BDS programme. This includes
the minimum GPA scores to receive offers to the programme under the Graduate General category.
The data will not be known and therefore will not be available until the end of March 2023 – as
student offers continue throughout the first few weeks of teaching in Semester 1. The reasons for
late offers relate to students declining entry to the programme after is has commenced (which is
permitted providing it is done by the deadline) or having to defer for unanticipated reasons. Once
this information is available, we will be able to provide you with the minimum GPA to receive an
offer to the 2023 BDS programme via the Graduate General category.
Please note that for privacy and student wellbeing reasons, the University’s standard practice is not
to report on data where it relates to fewer than five individuals. Where the numbers are very low,
there is a risk that the identity of those individuals can be determined/inferred. Outcomes for groups
with fewer than five individuals will be reported as “<5” (fewer than 5) or “W/H” (“withheld”).
Withholding this information is consistent with section 9(2)(a) of the Act, and we do not consider
that the reasons for withholding this information are outweighed by other considerations which
would make it desirable in the public interest to make the information available.
In relation to your request for “their UCAT scores if allowed”, an overall score is not part of the
selection process. Instead, the minimum UCAT requirements to progress to the interview stage for
entry to the BDS programme is by meeting the thresholds set by the Dental Admissions Committee.
Anyone who has received an offer to enter the BDS programme has met these set thresholds.
2. Highest GPA for unsuccessful Graduate applicants (excluding sub-categories) for Dentistry
(and their UCAT score if allowed)
The highest weighted GPA to not receive an offer for entry to the 2022 BDS programme via the
Graduate General category was 9.70.
With regards to the information you have requested for the 2023 BDS programme, our response is
as per our response to question 1 above. We will be in touch with regards to the highest weighted
GPA to not receive an offer to the 2023 BDS programme via the Graduate General category once this
data has been confirmed and is available.
As noted above, UCAT is a threshold measure. Students must meet the UCAT thresholds set by the
Dental Admissions Committee (as well as any other requirements as determined by the Dental
Admissions Committee, set out in
the Guidelines for Admission) in order to be considered for
admission to the BDS programme. The minimum UCAT thresholds set for entry to the 2022 and 2023
BDS programmes are noted below.
3. Interview UCAT cut-off for Graduate applicants for Dentistry
To be considered for an interview, an applicant must have met the UCAT thresholds set annually by
the Dental Admissions Committee, as follows:
2022:
• Decision Making: score of 630 or above met the threshold
• Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at the bottom 22nd percentile (scores in the top 78%
met the threshold)
• Scores for Situational Judgement, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning were
not considered
2023:
• Decision Making: score of 630 or above met the threshold
• Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at the bottom 22nd percentile (scores in the top 78%
met the threshold)
• Scores for Situational Judgement, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning were
not considered
I trust that this information will be helpful. We will be in touch with regards to the remaining
requested information (2023 data for questions 1 and 2) once this data has been confirmed and is
available.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your information request, section 28(3) of the Act
provides you with the right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate and review this response. However,
we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns with you first.
Yours sincerely
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
