Licence in Dental Surgery Part 1 — Royal College of Surgeons (2024)

An overview of LDS candidate eligibility is provided below. Read the LDS exam regulationsand LDS Part 1 application guidance.

To be eligible to enter each part of the LDS exam all candidates must:

• If registered on a course of study at a UK undergraduate dental school, produce evidence that they have satisfactorily completed a five-year curriculum as described and recognised by the General Dental Council (GDC) and have passed the dental schools final exams, and are registered with the GDC.
• If in possession of a qualification awarded by an EEA university or licensing body that is recognised by the GDC for purposes of full registration in the UK, produce evidence of qualification, certificates of the courses of study attended and exams passed for such a qualification.
• If holding a qualification awarded by an overseas university or licensing body that is not recognised by the GDC for purposes of full registration in the UK, produce evidence of qualification and a NARIC certificate. In addition, it is necessary to provide certificates showing that the studies and courses undertaken were in line with the standards described in the First Five Years: a Framework for Undergraduate Dental Education 3rd edition (interim) (General Dental Council, 2008). A NARIC certificate is required unless temporary registration with the GDC is current and can be verified.

The LDS Part 1 exam is comprised of two 180 minute examination papers, each consisting of 150 single best answer (SBA) questions centred mainly on knowledge and its application to:

• Paper A: clinically applied dental science and clinically applied human disease

• Paper B: aspects of clinical dentistry, law and ethics, and health and safety

In order to progress to Part 2, both Part 1 papers will need to be passed at one sitting. If either paper is failed candidates will be required to re-sit all of Part 1.

Below is an outline of the major competencies/learning outcomes that may be assessed. These represent broad categories of professional activity and concerns that occur in the general practice of dentistry and are interdisciplinary in orientation and must embrace an element of critical thinking.

They may apply in differing ways to patients of all ages, including children, adolescents, adults and the elderly.

These major competencies are underpinned by sub-sets of more detailed supporting skills, understanding and professional values. The detail, along with associated assessment methods are set out in theLearning Outcomes document.