Government Announces Expansion of Dental Training Places
The first thing I spoke about in Parliament after being elected as your MP was the need for better access to dentistry (https://hansard.parliament.uk/.../78EE5485.../details...)
Since then, I have campaigned with colleagues Alice Macdonald and Ben Goldsborough MP for South Norfolk for a new dental school at the University of East Anglia (https://www.facebook.com/AliceMLabour/posts/pfbid02y3w2e83CLEAzSYZsABMX9Km9izyuNN4v9BXCCPtag2NXg453FhiWyQqj7fYmtMAJl) and worked alongside the Association of Dental Groups to ensure those already qualified overseas as dentists can access UK exams which allow them to practise in the NHS.
I am therefore very glad that the Government has announced two important changes this week.
Firstly, they have unveiled the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 20 years.
50 new dentists will be trained every year from next year, and the Government will prioritise these new training places in ‘dental deserts’ like ours.
The University of East Anglia has strongly welcomed this move and has indicated that it will submit a bid to train new dentists in our area.
Secondly, I am pleased that the Government has listened and will fund a tenfold increase in the number of overseas exam places – from 180 to 1,800 by 2028.
Dentists trained overseas are currently being pushed into the private sector in the UK due to not being able to access the exams that would allow them to treat NHS patients.
This expansion in exam capacity will allow 1,350 extra overseas-trained dentists to become NHS dentists by 2028.
Alongside this, the General Dental Council (GDC) will significantly expand the number of places in its Overseas Registration Exam – with more than 1,000 expected to join the GDC register each year through this route by 2029.
There is, of course, lots more to be done, including, crucially, reforming the NHS dental contract.
I am nevertheless encouraged by this new action and the measures the Government has already taken which mean that in the first 7 months of 2025/26, the NHS delivered 1.8 million more courses of treatment than the same period prior to the election and local NHS integrated care boards have delivered nearly 1 million urgent appointments since the Government pledged 700,000 extra.
I recognise that many local residents are still struggling to access NHS dental appointments.
Turning this around will take some time, but if you would like to contact me about any dental issues you are facing please do email me at jess.asato.mp@parliament.uk and I and my office will do what we can to highlight your case with the local NHS.