Applying

Recruitment to Special Care Dentistry training posts across the UK takes place through a national selection process led by a team based in the North West.

Eligibility

Before beginning your application, you should check whether you're eligible to apply against the relevant person specification, which yo u can find on the Dental specialty training person specifications page.

It's very important that you complete your application in full and include all relevant information for each section.

Applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria both during longlisting and after offers where necessary.

Any applications which do not meet the eligibility criteria will be longlisted out of the process and will not progress to the next stage. 

By allowing applicants to progress to the interview stage, Health Education England (HEE) does not accept or confirm that applicants meet all eligibility requirements.

This includes immigration status, evidence of achievement of core competencies or equivalent, and requisite length of time in training as per the national person specification. This list is not exhaustive and is applicable to all eligibility criteria.

How to apply

Applications will only be accepted through the Oriel recruitment system. For further guidance on creating an account, registering and submitting your application using the system please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be downloaded from the Oriel Resource Bank.

Completing your application 

The application form for Special Care Dentistry will open at 10am UK time on Thursday 11 January 2024. Use the Vacancy Search tool to navigate to the national Special Care Dentistry vacancy and click Apply.

Please complete all sections of the application form in full before submitting it.

Once you have submitted your application, the only sections you will be able to change are your personal details and your referee details. 

Application deadline

The deadline for submitting applications is at 4pm UK time on Thursday 1 February 2024.

After this time no applications will be accepted. There will be no exceptions to this deadline.

You are advised to complete and submit your application at least 24 hours ahead of the deadline to allow for any unforeseen problems. 

When you submit your application, you should receive an automatic confirmation email. If you do not receive this email within 2 hours you should check to ensure that you have successfully submitted your application. 

Academic benchmarking 

If you have applied for local Special Care Dentistry Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) vacancies at ST1 or above and require clinical benchmarking, you must complete a National ST1 Special Care Dentistry application and be deemed appointable at interview.

For more information about clinical benchmarking and the ACF process, go to the Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) page.

Communication between Health Education England (HEE) and applicants will be by email or through your Oriel account. You should check your email and Oriel account regularly so you do not miss vital information about your application.

You should also check your spam or junk folders in case any messages have been filtered by your email provider. Do not contact anyone else apart from [email protected] for recruitment information.

Applicants with disabilities 

If you have a disability which may require specific arrangements or adjustments to enable you to attend an interview please indicate this on your application form and contact [email protected] to discuss your requirements.

For more information visit the Dental specialty training applying page.

General Dental Council (GDC) registration 

Applicants will need to be eligible for full General Dental Council (GDC) registration status by the time of appointment (in most cases this will be Friday 1 September 2024). You will be asked to confirm that you will meet this requirement on your application form. Any offers made will be subject to you meeting this requirement by the time of appointment. 

Assessment of Dental Core competency

Applicants must demonstrate the competencies required at the end of UK Dental Core Training year 1 (DCT1) - that is, outcome 1 - at the time of interview and year 2 at the time of post commencement (or equivalent). Core competence can be demonstrated in the following ways:

Applicants currently undertaking a UK Dental Core Training year 2 (DCT2) post

• If you're currently in a UK Dental Core Training year 2 (DCT2) post, you do not need to provide any further evidence at the time of application. However, any offer of a training post will be conditional on successful completion of DCT2. You'll be required to provide a certificate of completion of DCT2 or evidence of satisfactory Review of Competence Progression (RCP) outcome to your employing Trust prior to commencement.

Applicants who've previously completed a UK DCT2 post

• If you've successfully completed a UK DCT2 post after June 2017, you're required to provide a certificate of completion of DCT2 or evidence of satisfactory RCP outcome at the time of application. You must attach scanned or PDF copies of your certificate or RCP outcome to your application.
• If you hold a certificate of completion of DCT which pre-dates June 2017, you'll need to apply for a National Certificate of Dental Core Equivalence (NCDCE) through the process detailed on the NHS Education for Scotland website.

All other applicants

• If you hold a National Certificate of Dental Core Equivalence (NCDCE) at the time of application, you're required to attach a copy of your certificate to your application.
• If you do not currently hold an NCDCE, you'll need to apply for a certificate through the process detailed on the NHS Education for Scotland website. If you're unsuccessful in being awarded a certificate you will not be eligible for appointment to specialty training and will be removed from the recruitment process.

Career progression and experience 

You must provide a complete employment history going back to completion of your primary dental degree on your application form.

If you are in a rotational training programme, please also list posts that you are due to rotate to up until the end of August 2024 or until completion of your Core Training programme if this is later.

You must provide an explanation for employment gaps of more than 4 weeks. 

Applicants released or removed from a training post or programme 

specialty training posts and programmes are not normally available to anyone who has previously relinquished or been released or removed from a training post or programme in the same specialty. When applying for a post you will be asked if you have previously relinquished or been released or removed from a training programme in the specialty to which you are applying. 

If you answer "yes" to this question, you'll need to upload a completed “Support for Reapplication to a specialty training Programme - Exclusion Policy Support Form” to your application no later than the application deadline. This form can be downloaded from here.

Applicants applying to continue training in a different region 

Applicants who are currently undertaking a specialty training programme (and who have a National Training Number), who are reapplying to continue their training in a different region must declare this on their application form.  

If you are reapplying to continue your training in a different region, you must also upload a completed “Support for Reapplication of specialty training in a Different Region - Support Form” to your application no later than the application deadline. This form can be downloaded from here. 

Applicants on the Specialist Register 

You are not eligible to apply if you already hold, or are eligible to hold a Certificate of Completion of specialty training (CCST) in Special Care Dentistry. You are not eligible to apply if you are currently on the specialist register in any EU member state.

Immigration/right to work 

You must have the right to work as a dentist in training in the UK. Your application will be assessed based on your immigration status at the time of application. 

Applicants requiring visa sponsorship in order to take up a post are eligible to apply.

Find out more information about overseas applications, including sponsorship and right to work requirements.

Criminal records and Fitness to Practise 

The application form contains a Criminal Records and Fitness to Practise Declaration.

If you answer yes to any of the questions on this page you must fully complete and submit a separate Fitness to Practise Declaration Form.

This must be received no later than 4pm UK time on Thursday 1 February 2024. 

This form is available from the Oriel Resource Bank and must be emailed to [email protected]. Please use the subject line "CONFIDENTIAL – Special Care Dentistry". 

Both declarations and any information provided in relation to them will be kept securely and in confidence, and access to it will be restricted to designated persons within the Recruitment Office and other persons who need to see it as part of the selection process and who are authorised to do so. 

If you are successfully appointed to a training post, this information will be passed to designated persons in the Health Education England (HEE) local office or deanery which will be responsible for your training and subsequently to your employing organisation and any organisations through which you rotate as part of the training programme. 

No information relating to your declaration form will be made available to any members of the selection panel at any time during the recruitment process. 

 Applying for less than full-time training (LTFT)

Applicants may train on a less than full-time (LTFT) basis for a variety of well-founded reasons. Refer to the Dental Gold Guide for more information about less than full-time training. 

All posts offered through this recruitment process will be offered as full time posts.

If you intend to request less than full-time training you can indicate this in the relevant section on the application form.  

If offered a training programme you will need to apply separately for a deferred start date through the local office or area where you are offered a post. You will only be able to apply for less than full-time training once you have accepted a full time post. 

The final decision about less than full-time training will be made by the Health Education England (HEE) local office or deanery which will be responsible for your training according to their local LTFT policies.