Dental Schools in London
2027 Entry · 2 schools
London has two dental schools: King's College London (KCL) and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (Queen Mary). Both are research-intensive Russell Group institutions with major NHS dental hospital affiliations - KCL teaches at Guy's and St Thomas' and Barts teaches at the Royal London Dental Hospital. The two schools have different selection algorithms: KCL prioritises GCSE attainment alongside UCAT, while Barts runs a distinctive contextual offer scheme that gives reduced UCAT thresholds to widening-participation applicants.
Studying dentistry in London
London-based dental schools share the same cost-of-living realities as London medical schools: tuition at £9,250/year (UK home), accommodation typically £180-£300/week, and a higher London maintenance loan to partially offset. Clinical placements at central London NHS dental hospitals are world-class but commute times to outer-zone community placements can be significant. Both KCL and Barts feed predominantly into the London / South East Dental Foundation Training (DFT) scheme, which is competitive but well-resourced.
London cost reality
Tuition: £9,250/year (UK home). Accommodation: £180-£300/week (zones 1-3). London maintenance loan: ~£13,762 vs ~£9,978 elsewhere - partially offsets the cost.
Dental schools in London
2 dental schools in London for 2027 Entry. Click any school for the full how-to-get-in guide including UCAT cut-offs and London-specific entry advice.
Frequently asked questions
- How many dental schools are in London?
- Two: King's College London (5-year BDS at Guy's campus) and Barts and The London (5-year BDS at the Royal London Dental Hospital, Queen Mary). UCL does not run a dental school.
- Which London dental school is harder to get into?
- Both are highly competitive. KCL typically has a slightly higher UCAT threshold and weights GCSE attainment heavily. Barts uses a contextual offer scheme that means the effective bar varies more by applicant background. See each school detail page for the latest cycle cut-offs.
- What is dental life like at KCL vs Barts?
- KCL teaches at Guy's Hospital with strong central-London infrastructure and a busy outpatient case mix. Barts teaches at the Royal London Dental Hospital in Whitechapel with a similarly broad patient population and a separate dedicated dental school identity. Both have strong DFT placement rates.
- Do London dental schools offer graduate-entry routes?
- Neither KCL nor Barts runs a dedicated graduate-entry BDS. Graduate applicants apply to the standard 5-year BDS alongside school-leavers, and a relevant prior degree is treated as additional context.
- Is the cost of living manageable on a dental student budget?
- Tight but workable. Most London dental students share flats from year 2, use the London maintenance loan uplift, and pick up paid clinical jobs in later years. Outer-zone accommodation (zones 3-5) brings rent down materially.
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