Special circumstances

Special circumstances guidance for Dental Foundation Training (DFT), Dental Core Training (DCT) and Dental Specialty Training (DST) applicants.

The special circumstances process should be used if you cannot relocate for training (or can only relocate to a specific region) due to one or more of the special circumstances criteria below.

Please note, special circumstances are different from reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments are changes that need to be made to enable an applicant to attend interview or take up a training post.

If you require reasonable adjustments to be made, state this on your application form and contact the Lead Recruiter to discuss your requirements as soon as you receive an invitation to interview.

Reasonable adjustments are not managed through the special circumstances process.

To apply for special circumstances, you must meet the eligibility requirements of your training programme (found in the Person Specification) and be able to evidence that you meet one of the following criteria.

Criterion 1
You are the primary carer for someone who is disabled, as defined by the Equality Act 2010 Please note if you have parental responsibility for the person you care for, please apply via criterion 4: Parental responsibility. 

To evidence that you meet this criterion, you must be the primary carer for someone, usually your partner, a parent or a sibling. If the person you are caring for is not your partner, parent or sibling, you will be expected to explain your relationship with them clearly and present a strong case as to why and how you have the role of their primary carer.

If you are not the primary carer but provide care for a person as part of a group of carers, a family for example, you are not eligible to apply under this criterion. Special circumstances is for applicants who cannot relocate. 

You must provide all of the following:

- A completed special circumstances form

- Proof of current address

- A written statement confirming your role as a primary carer

- A care plan confirming the care you provide

Further information and advice on this evidence can be found below. If any of this information is missing, the special circumstances application will be rejected at the eligibility panel.
Criterion 1: Written statement The statement must:

- Be on headed paper from the General Practitioner or social services professional of the person being cared for

- Confirm your role as primary carer for this person

- Confirm the disability of the person being cared for

- Be current, such as, written for the purpose of this application, and dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current).

Examples of acceptable evidence for the written statement:

- is registered with (xxxxxx) as a primary carer for her husband

- is the designated primary carer for her mother

- (xxxxx) is her only carer

- the only carer she has

Examples of acceptable phrases for the written statement:

- Primary carer

- Main carer

- Sole carer

- Significant caring responsibilities

- Cares for

- Cares for with others

Examples of rejected evidence for the written statement:

- is a registered carer for her son – please apply via criterion 4

- is involved in supporting and caring for her sister

- and his mother are the main carers for his father

- acts as a supporting carer
Criterion 1: Care plan A care plan is a document, usually written by the GP or social services professional of the person being cared for.

A care plan must:

- Detail the disability of the person who is being cared for

- Detail the substantial and long-term adverse effect this disability has on their ability to carry out day to day activities. Please note that long term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months

- Detail the care you provide to this person, for example, cleaning, shopping, personal hygiene, administering medication

- Be dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current)

A care plan can be combined with the written statement if authored by the same person.

If not written by a GP or social services professional, the care plan must be signed by the GP or social services professional of the person being cared for (signature and organisation stamp required to confirm authenticity).
Alternative evidence It has been recognised by the Postgraduate National Recruitment team that obtaining documentation from primary care services is becoming more challenging. In light of the increasing difficulty obtaining documentation to support primary carer status, the Supporting Evidence for Primary Carer form will be considered as part of the special circumstances application in the event that you have not been able to obtain a care plan or written statement confirming your role as a primary carer from the GP or social services professional.

The Supporting Evidence for Primary Carer form must be completed in full and countersigned by a professional from the list below. The counter signatory must have a relevant professional relationship with the person you are the primary carer for.

Examples of recognised professions include:

- Allied Health Professional, for example, physiotherapist, dietitian, occupational therapist

- Dentist

- Doctor – (either General Practitioner or treating doctor)

- Headteacher

- Midwife

- Nurse

- Optician

- Pharmacist

- Social worker
Criterion 2
You have a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up in the specified region(s) is an absolute requirement You must provide all of the following:

- A completed special circumstances form

- Proof of current address

- A written statement confirming your medical condition or disability and treatment requirements (see below)

Further information and advice on this evidence can be found below. If any of this information is missing, the special circumstances application will be rejected at the first panel.
Written statement from the current medical specialist treating your condition or Occupational Health Physician The written statement must:

- Be provided on headed paper

- Be current, such as, written for the purpose of this application, and dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current)

- Describe your current medical condition or disability

- Describe your ongoing treatment and frequency, suchas, the treatment is required, where it is delivered, how often you are required to attend hospital

- Contain either an explanation of the reasons why care cannot be delivered elsewhere in the UK or a description of the impact that transferring care elsewhere would have on you

- Please note, if you live in adapted housing that could not be easily replicated elsewhere, this must be explained in the letter with confirmation from the GP or local council in written form, dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current)

You must evidence that continuing care in your current region is an absolute requirement or that the impact on your health and wellbeing of moving care elsewhere would be detrimental to your health. You do not need to show evidence of both.
Examples of acceptable evidence to show that continuing care in current region is an absolute requirement - Treatment is only available in one or a few centres nationally

- You are on a personally funded treatment that cannot be transferred to another region without a reapplication

- You are on a waiting list for treatment

- You are undergoing an active treatment regime where relocation to another provider would require a new referral

- Continuity of care is essential due to complex medical condition
Examples of acceptable evidence to show that the impact on health and wellbeing of moving treatment elsewhere would be detrimental - You have a support network locally that assists with daily living needs, when required

- You have developed a relationship with a care team over a number of years that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere
Criterion 3
You are in the process of adopting a child and remaining in the current location is an absolute requirement You must provide all of the following:

- A completed special circumstances form

- Proof of current address

- A written statement from the adoption agency or social services confirming your involvement with the adoption process

Further information and advice on this evidence can be found below. If any of this information is missing, the special circumstances application will be rejected at the first panel.
Criterion 3: Written statement The statement must:

- Be on headed paper from the adoption agency or social services

- Be current, suchas, written for the purpose of this application, and dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current)

- Confirm that you are currently in the process of adopting a child

- Confirm that you need to remain in the current location for the duration of the adoption process

- Confirm the likely duration of the adoption process
Criterion 4
You have parental responsibility or legal guardian status for a child or children under the age of 18, which means relocating for training is not possible, or you are only able to relocate to a specific region due to the availability of support This criterion is based on childcare. Pregnancy is not part of this criterion. If your sole circumstance is that you or your partner is currently pregnant, you will not be regarded as eligible.

It is expected that you and your child(ren) need to remain at your current address and pre-allocation, if approved, would be to your current region as this criterion is to support applicants who are unable to relocate.

If your application states regions not local to your current address, you will need to explain why another region is manageable for relocation when others are not. If this is due to substantial childcare support being provided by a family member in another location, you will need to provide proof of address for this family member and a written statement from the family member confirming that they would support with childcare responsibilities in this region.

If you and your child(ren) do not normally reside together, this should be referred to on the application form and an explanation provided of how the parental responsibilities remain significant.

You must be able to provide all of the following:

- A completed special circumstances form

- Proof of current address

- The full version of the birth certificate, which includes parent(s) name(s) and the full name(s) of the child(ren). See below for advice for legal guardian and/or adoptive parents

- A written statement from a professional with a working relationship with you and your child(ren), confirming that you have parental responsibilities for the child / children

Further information and advice on this evidence can be found below. If any of this information is missing, the special circumstances application will be rejected at the first panel.
Criterion 4: Birth certificate You must provide all of the following:

- The short version of the birth certificate, which contains only the child’s details, will not be accepted unless you are a legal guardian or adoptive parent and do not have access to the full version

- If you are a legal guardian or adoptive parent, you will need to provide a copy of the legal document that confirms your relationship with the child(ren) named in the birth certificate

- If the birth certificate is not written in English, please provide a translation of the birth certificate
Criterion 4: Written statement The written statement must:

- Explicitly indicate that the signatory has a professional relationship with you and your child(ren) (see below)

- Confirm that you have a parental responsibility for a child or children under 18

- Be current, suchas, written for the purpose of this application, and dated within 6 months of the application deadline (or include a signature and confirmation from the author that the content is still current)

- Be on headed paper

The signatory must:

- Be over 18

- Have known you for at least 6 months

- Have a direct professional working relationship with you and your child / children, for example Midwife, family GP/Doctor, family Dentist, Head Teacher, Social Worker, Nursery Manager

- Not be related to you by birth or marriage

- Not be in a personal relationship with you

- Not live at the same address as you

Important information regarding supporting evidence for all criteria

You will need to provide all the supporting evidence for the criterion to which you are applying.

Information on the required region(s) and an acceptable travelling distance is required for all criteria.

If your current address is not in the required region(s), you will need to explain why you can be placed in a different region from where you currently live, providing evidence of addresses where relevant.

Please note that if any evidence does not have a hand-written signature or has an electronic signature, you will need to provide the email address from which the form was received in the evidence PDF.

Proof of address can be via:

  • A utility bill dated within the last 3 months
  • A valid driving licence at the time of application
  • Council tax bill dated within the last 12 months
  • Bank statement dated within the last 3 months
  • HMRC document dated within the last 12 months

Applying for special circumstances

If you wish to apply to the special circumstances process, you should:

  1. State, when asked in your Oriel application form, that you believe you are eligible for special circumstances
  2. Read the evidence requirements of the criterion under which you are applying (found below)
  3. Gather the evidence required and scan/clearly photograph and save into a single pdf document
  4. Complete the special circumstances application form, available to download on the right-hand side of this page
  5. Submit the special circumstances application form and evidence PDF to [email protected] by the same application closing date as the dental training programme to which you are applying

Joint application

Joint applications will be permitted in the following circumstances:

  • Shared caring/parental responsibilities. For when you and another applicant applying in the same recruitment round share caring responsibilities for the same individual (criteria 1, 3 and 4). Please ensure that you both complete the special circumstances form as a joint application
  • Fertility treatment. For when you and another applicant applying in the same recruitment round are in a relationship and undergoing fertility treatment (criterion 2). Please ensure that you both complete the special circumstances Form as a joint application

Special circumstances process

After you submit your application for special circumstances, you will be notified if your application has been accepted for review by the special circumstances eligibility panel, you will be given the date of the panel and of when you will hear the outcome.

The eligibility panel will make decisions against the evidence requirements of the relevant criterion. Decisions are made using only the information you provided in your special circumstances application form and evidence. You will be notified of the outcome of the eligibility panel, which will be either approved or rejected.

If your application for special circumstances is rejected by the eligibility panel, you will be given a brief reason for the decision. If you believe you have further evidence to support your application, relevant to the reason provided, you may appeal the decision and submit further evidence. You will be provided with instructions on how to do this if you are notified of a rejection.

You will be notified if your new evidence has been accepted for review by the special circumstances appeals panel and you will be advised of the date of the panel and when you will hear the outcome. 

The appeals panel will review the new evidence against the original reason for rejection. You will be notified of the decision of the appeals panel. This second decision is final and cannot be further appealed.

Approach to panels

Panels for the special circumstances process include a trainee representative, a BDA representative, a recruitment lead and a Postgraduate Dental Dean.

Eligibility and appeals panels include different representatives of the same groups to ensure a fair outcome. All panel members are given the opportunity to discuss and challenge decisions, and the panel must reach a consensus, ensuring that the outcomes are consistent.

All decisions and discussions regarding the outcomes are based on the requirements detailed on these pages.

Allocation, preferencing and offers  

If your special circumstances are approved and the following conditions are met, you will be allocated to your required region(s) before the main offers process runs. This is called pre-allocation and refers to a region, not a programme/post.

You must:

  1. Be appointable at interview
  2. Choose a region that can deliver the full training curriculum for your specialty 
  3. Score high enough in the national ranking to receive an offer, such as, after interviews and/or exams

How scoring ‘high enough in the national ranking' works

You will be considered to have scored high enough if:

  • Your rank would normally place you in line for an offer, or
  • Some higher-ranked applicants cannot receive offers (because, for example, they listed too few preferences), meaning places are still available

Important: what you are (and are not) guaranteed

You are guaranteed:

  • Pre-allocation to your required region(s) if the above conditions are met

You are not guaranteed:

  • A specific programme or post within that region

Instead:

  • You will be offered the highest ranked programme in your required region(s)  that you would have received without approaved special circumstances, based on your score and preferences
  • If you would not normally have been offered a programme in that region, you will still be offered a suitable preferenced programme within that region, in line with other applicants’ outcomes

If your rank is not high enough in the first round of offers:

  • You will be placed on a reserve list
  • You will be considered for programmes you have preferenced each time the offer process is run
  • You may still be offered a programme later if one becomes available, however this cannot be guaranteed

Important

  • Applicants who have already accepted programmes will not be moved or displaced
  • Special circumstances do not override accepted offers by other applicants

Locum posts (where relevant)

If the vacancy includes Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) posts:

  • You must rank higher than the lowest-ranked candidate offered a National Training Number (NTN)

This ensures special circumstances do not disadvantage applicants receiving substantive training posts

Your preferences – what you must do

You will be offered a programme based on your preferences. When preferencing (ranking) programmes:

  • Rank all the programmes you would be willing to accept
  • Do not rank the programmes you would not accept if offered
  • Rank at least one programme in your required region(s)

Please be aware

If you fail to rank any programmes in your region(s), your pre-allocation will be voided.  

Ranking a single programme in your required region(s) does not guarantee that you will be offered that programme. If there is competition from other applicants with approved special circumstances who have ranked higher than you, the programme may be offered to them instead. 

If you rank programmes in another region higher than programmes in your required region(s), these will not be offered to you. 

If you are not offered a post in the first round of offers, you may update your preferences later in the process. This allows you to be considered for other regions if you choose to do so.

Some specialties may not be able to provide precise post location information within the preference options. If this applies, you should preference any programmes that include the area to which you are restricted.

If you subsequently accept an offer, you should contact the relevant training region as soon as possible to explain your circumstances so that they can be taken into account when allocating you to a specific programme location.

Please note that, where multiple applicants with approved special circumstances are competing for the same programme, it will be offered to the applicant with the highest ranking.

Key points to remember

  • Special circumstances allow priority allocation to a region, not a specific job

You must still: 

  • Meet the required standard
  • Compete based on merit
  • Approval does not guarantee an offer, only priority consideration

Key takeaway

If your special circumstances are approved and you rank high enough, you may be allocated to your required region(s) before offers are made, but you are not guaranteed a specific post and all offers still depend on your score and preferences.

Page last reviewed: 29 June 2026
Next review due: 29 June 2027