Your prep plan — Dentistry Interview School

The short version

Start with yourself: Common Questions and Your Story come straight after Start Here, because your examples appear in almost every station.
Six weeks: learn, then practise out loud, then mocks, then your schools. With less time, cut topics, never practice.
Practise aloud, not in your head. Record and time yourself, keep notes as bullet points and get honest feedback.
Spend 15 minutes a day on dental news and log each story in one line: date, what happened, both sides, your view.
Build a file for each school and prepare any practical task you are set. In the final week, learn nothing new.

Take the course in this order

Start with what every station uses: you. Then learn the methods that work on questions you have never seen. Leave topic-by-topic breadth until later.

First: Start Here, then Common Questions and Work Experience and Your Story. Your examples appear in almost every station.
Early: the first lessons of Performance: How to Talk, because delivery habits take weeks to change.
Next, Ethics: The Engine and Role Play, where anxious patients and difficult conversations live.
Then: NHS Dentistry, Hot Topics and Oral Health of the Nation, plus the dental team, the career and patient safety.
Last: Dexterity, Data and Group Tasks for the formats you face, then The Final 24 Hours.

A six-week plan

Weeks 1 and 2, learn: Start Here, Common Questions, Your Story and Ethics: The Engine. Build a bank of six to eight experiences.
Make sure one experience shows careful work with your hands, such as a job, a craft or an instrument.
Weeks 3 and 4, practise out loud: Role Play, NHS Dentistry and Hot Topics. Record and time two or three answers a day.
Week 5, mocks: at least two timed mocks in your schools' formats, ideally with people you do not know well. Fix one thing after each.
Week 6, your schools: build each school file, prepare any practical task, and do one light mock early in the week.
Less than six weeks? Start from your interview date and work backwards. Fewer topics, said out loud, beat more topics read silently.

Practise out loud, not in your head

Reading feels productive, but on the day you must find words under pressure, so practise exactly that. The Dental Schools Council says panels expect natural, unrehearsed answers, and the Medical Schools Council's dentistry page says spontaneous, well thought-out answers impress more than rehearsed ones.

Record yourself on your phone. Watch once for what you said and once for how you said it.
Time every answer. Most should land within one to two minutes.
Keep notes as bullet points, never full sentences you could recite.
Get honest feedback: a teacher, a friend or a dental student can run a timed mock with you.

Dental news in 15 minutes a day

Dental schools want a layperson's awareness of dentistry in the news, not expert detail (Medical Schools Council). Ten minutes of reading and five of writing is enough.

Follow BDA news, GDC news and government announcements on NHS dentistry.
NHSBSA publishes yearly NHS Dental Statistics for England. The 2025/26 release came out on 27 August 2026.
Log each story in one line: the date, what happened, why it matters, the case on each side and your view.
Example: in August 2026, NHSBSA reported that 40% of adults in England had seen an NHS dentist in the 24 months to 31 March 2026.
Depth beats breadth: three stories you can discuss beat twenty you can only name. Hot Topics shows you how.

Your school file and the final week

For each school, note the course, the interview format and timings, any task to prepare, its values and the population it serves.
Know why each school: Sheffield's 2027 panel scores commitment to Sheffield itself.
Practise any set task in advance. For 2026 entry, Bristol asked for a dried-pasta model and a five-minute presentation.
Re-read your personal statement and the Dental Schools Council's core values guidance, which it recommends for interview preparation.
In the final week, learn nothing new, do one light mock early on and protect your sleep. The Final 24 Hours covers the rest.

How this comes up on the day

"How have you prepared for this interview?" — three methods, one weakness you found and fixed, and one dated news example.
"What dental story has caught your eye lately?" — one story from your log: dated, both sides, then your view.
"Why this dental school?" — two specific features from your school file, each linked to you; Common Questions goes deeper.
"How do you know you have the manual skills for dentistry?" — one hands-on job or hobby, what it demanded and how you improved.
"If we offer you a place, what will you do before September?" — one plan near patients or a dental team, one thing to read, and some rest.

The words to use

Story bank: Six to eight experiences you know well, each noted as bullet points: what happened, what you did and what you learned.
News log: One line per dental or health story: the date, what happened, why it matters, the case on each side and your view.
Mock interview: A timed practice run in your schools' formats, ideally with people you do not know well, followed by one clear thing to fix.
School file: Your notes on each school: the course, interview format, any practical task, its values and the population it serves.

Model answer

The interviewer asks

“How have you prepared for this interview?”

A strong answer

I've tried to prepare in a way that's like the interview itself, rather than just reading about it.

First, I picked six experiences I could talk about in depth, like my work experience at a dental practice, my Saturday job at a pharmacy, and fixing phones for friends, which is my best evidence for fiddly hand skills. For each one I wrote bullet points on what happened, what I did and what I learned. I kept them as bullet points on purpose, so I don't sound like I'm reciting.

Second, I practised out loud. I recorded myself on my phone and timed each answer. The first recordings were painful. I spent ages on the background and rushed the part about what I actually did, so now I keep the scene-setting to a couple of sentences.

Third, I've spent about fifteen minutes a day on dental news and written a line on each story. For example, the NHS figures published in August 2026 showed only 40% of adults in England had seen an NHS dentist in the previous two years. I noted the arguments about why, and what might help.

I also read the Dental Schools Council's values guidance and matched an example to each value. If I started again, I'd record myself from the first week, because that's where I improved most.

Why this scores. It has a clear three-part shape, and each part is a method, not a list of activities. It admits a weakness the recordings exposed and shows the fix. The news example is accurate and dated, and using the Dental Schools Council's values guidance shows the candidate knows what dental schools look for.

Sources 7

Dentistry interview preparation — Medical Schools Council (Studying Healthcare), 2026
Applicant guidance – Online Interviews — Dental Schools Council, 2026-01
Guidance on the core values and attributes needed to study dentistry — Dental Schools Council, 2023-12
Entry requirements for UK dental schools: 2027 entry — Dental Schools Council, 2026-10
NHS Dental Statistics for England 2025/26 — NHS Business Services Authority, 2026-08-27
Dentistry interviews (December 2025 to February 2026) — University of Bristol, 2025
Dental Surgery admissions and selection process 2027 — University of Sheffield, 2026

Content reviewed 2026-10-24

Now check what stuck5 questions on this lesson. Get 4 right and it ticks off.

Take the course in this order

Start with what every station uses: you. Then learn the methods that work on questions you have never seen. Leave topic-by-topic breadth until later.

First: Start Here, then Common Questions and Work Experience and Your Story. Your examples appear in almost every station.

Early: the first lessons of Performance: How to Talk, because delivery habits take weeks to change.

Next, Ethics: The Engine and Role Play, where anxious patients and difficult conversations live.

Then: NHS Dentistry, Hot Topics and Oral Health of the Nation, plus the dental team, the career and patient safety.

Last: Dexterity, Data and Group Tasks for the formats you face, then The Final 24 Hours.

A six-week plan

Weeks 1 and 2, learn: Start Here, Common Questions, Your Story and Ethics: The Engine. Build a bank of six to eight experiences.

Make sure one experience shows careful work with your hands, such as a job, a craft or an instrument.

Weeks 3 and 4, practise out loud: Role Play, NHS Dentistry and Hot Topics. Record and time two or three answers a day.

Week 5, mocks: at least two timed mocks in your schools' formats, ideally with people you do not know well. Fix one thing after each.

Week 6, your schools: build each school file, prepare any practical task, and do one light mock early in the week.

Less than six weeks? Start from your interview date and work backwards. Fewer topics, said out loud, beat more topics read silently.

Practise out loud, not in your head

Record yourself on your phone. Watch once for what you said and once for how you said it.

Time every answer. Most should land within one to two minutes.

Keep notes as bullet points, never full sentences you could recite.

Get honest feedback: a teacher, a friend or a dental student can run a timed mock with you.

Dental news in 15 minutes a day

Dental schools want a layperson's awareness of dentistry in the news, not expert detail (Medical Schools Council). Ten minutes of reading and five of writing is enough.

Follow BDA news, GDC news and government announcements on NHS dentistry.

NHSBSA publishes yearly NHS Dental Statistics for England. The 2025/26 release came out on 27 August 2026.

Log each story in one line: the date, what happened, why it matters, the case on each side and your view.

Example: in August 2026, NHSBSA reported that 40% of adults in England had seen an NHS dentist in the 24 months to 31 March 2026.

Depth beats breadth: three stories you can discuss beat twenty you can only name. Hot Topics shows you how.

Your school file and the final week

For each school, note the course, the interview format and timings, any task to prepare, its values and the population it serves.

Know why each school: Sheffield's 2027 panel scores commitment to Sheffield itself.

Practise any set task in advance. For 2026 entry, Bristol asked for a dried-pasta model and a five-minute presentation.

Re-read your personal statement and the Dental Schools Council's core values guidance, which it recommends for interview preparation.

In the final week, learn nothing new, do one light mock early on and protect your sleep. The Final 24 Hours covers the rest.

How this comes up on the day

"How have you prepared for this interview?" — three methods, one weakness you found and fixed, and one dated news example.

"What dental story has caught your eye lately?" — one story from your log: dated, both sides, then your view.

"Why this dental school?" — two specific features from your school file, each linked to you; Common Questions goes deeper.

"How do you know you have the manual skills for dentistry?" — one hands-on job or hobby, what it demanded and how you improved.

"If we offer you a place, what will you do before September?" — one plan near patients or a dental team, one thing to read, and some rest.

The words to use

Story bank

Six to eight experiences you know well, each noted as bullet points: what happened, what you did and what you learned.

News log

One line per dental or health story: the date, what happened, why it matters, the case on each side and your view.

Mock interview

A timed practice run in your schools' formats, ideally with people you do not know well, followed by one clear thing to fix.

School file

Your notes on each school: the course, interview format, any practical task, its values and the population it serves.

Model answer

The interviewer asks

“How have you prepared for this interview?”

A strong answer

I've tried to prepare in a way that's like the interview itself, rather than just reading about it.

I also read the Dental Schools Council's values guidance and matched an example to each value. If I started again, I'd record myself from the first week, because that's where I improved most.