Post offers process

• Temporary registration with the GDC is not accepted for Dental Foundation Training. All applicants in receipt of an offer must have full GDC registration by commencement of post (1 September 2026)
• Please ensure you read the guidance on obtaining full GDC registration if you are applying for dental foundation training as a temporary GDC registrant. Information about registration with the GDC can be found on the GDC website

• Membership of NHS Dental Performers List in England and Wales (or equivalent in Northern Ireland) is a legal requirement and the only mechanism for a dentist to be able to work in NHS primary dental care services
• All dentists who are able to obtain full registration with the GDC at the time of commencement of a DFT post (for example, dental undergraduates in their final year) will be required to join an NHS Dental Performer List (or the equivalent in Northern Ireland) at the start of their training or, exceptionally, within the first three months
• It is strongly recommended that, in order to join the NHS Dental Performers Lists in England and Wales (or the equivalent in Northern Ireland), dentists and dental students who expect to graduate or have recently graduated from a dental school anywhere in the UK, undertake DFT. This is subject to them not having completed more than 12-months of experience working as a dentist by the intended start date of the DFT programme

Deferrals of 12 months after the proposed DFT post start date can only be approved on the basis of statutory reasons. These include:

• maternity, paternity or adoption leave
• periods of personal ill health

Please ensure you inform the region where you have accepted an offer of your intention to defer as soon as they make initial contact.

If you are applying to enter Dental Foundation Training but are unable to train full time, you may be able to apply for less than full-time training (LTFT), provided you can show that training on a full-time basis would not be practical for you for well-founded reasons.

• well-founded reasons may include, for example: 
• disability
• ill health
• caring responsibilities
• religious commitments
• unique opportunities for personal or professional development

Less than full time training must meet the same requirements as full-time training, except that there will be fewer hours of work per week.

Please note that you will need to secure a full-time post in open competition before you can make an application to work LTFT.

You should apply for eligibility through your current NHSE local office/deanery ahead of this and indicate your desire to work less than full time on your application form.

If you are, or will be, on a Skilled Worker visa, your pro rata salary must meet the minimum salary threshold for this visa type.

Please contact the region you have accepted an offer in if you are planning to apply for LTFT training, so the region can review your request and advise further.

Once the upgrade deadline has passed (see recruitment timeline) you are unable to change regions/schemes.

You will not be made any further offers and the offer that you have been given will be the final offer.

You should speak to the region where you have recieved an offer in for any support you may need however this will not mean any change in region/schemes.

We do not facilitate any swaps or changing of schemes with applicants in the process for Dental Foundating Training.

In brief, all regions will aim to provide academic opportunities that meet the relevant requirements; however, this will be managed after offers have been made.

If your application is successful, you will be expected to participate in all study day courses and equivalent prescribed virtual or on-line activities, as set out in the published 2027-28 programme.

Attendance at all of the Dental Foundation study days is mandatory for all Foundation Dentists.

The study days will run consistently from 1 September 2027.

You must be available to attend all commissioned study days provided during this time and therefore should not plan annual or other leave during this training period.

Consent of absence will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, subject to the agreement of the Postgraduate Dental Dean, following a written request at least 6 weeks in advance.

Any study days missed will be expected to be made up with suitable equivalent training/education (approved by the relevant Postgraduate Dental Dean for Dental Foundation Training) in your own time and, where necessary, at your own cost.

All preferences will be to scheme level.

For September 2027 start dates, allocation to a practice will take place after upgrade deadline which is on 3 June 2027.

Allocation to a training practice within a DFT scheme will be managed locally by the Local Office/Deanery/Nation hosting the scheme and does not constitute part of the England, Wales and Northern Ireland national recruitment process.

Once all offers have been accepted the list of successful applicants, with their ranking within each scheme, will be sent to the NHS England Local Office/Deanery hosting that scheme.

This ranking may then be used to inform the local allocation process of a training post at an individual dental practice.

The allocation of practices will be made based on your ranking and your preferences.

If accepted a post in London and KSS schemes

An email will be sent explaining where to find information about available practices and the relevant preferencing timeframe and deadline.

You will receive an alert on your dashboard alert list, labelled ‘allocation acknowledgment pending’.

Allocations are linked to an accepted offer, and therefore you must access your offers tab to view and acknowledge this information.

Within the offers tab, an offer for which there is a pending allocation is displayed with a yellow allocation pending banner. 

Click on the offer to view the information, and then click ‘acknowledge allocation’ to confirm that you have read this information. 

Note, acknowledging your allocation allows the administrator to see that you have viewed this information. As you have already been offered, and accepted a job offer, failure to acknowledge the allocations has no impact on your job offer.