FOI_26-229 Dentistry course admissions criteria
Date of response: 17 September 2026
We have now considered your request of 15 September 2026 for the following information:
I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the admission and shortlisting processes for the undergraduate 5-year BDS Dental Surgery (A200) programme at the University of East Anglia.
As this is a newly established programme, I would like to request clarification on the operational mechanics of the selection criteria that will be used to screen applicants and select candidates for interviews.
Specifically, I request the following information regarding the current/upcoming application cycle:
Question 1. Detailed Screening Process: The exact multi-stage screening process used to filter applicants before an interview invite is issued.
Please specify if applications are first screened on a Pass/Fail basis using academic minimums (GCSEs/A-Levels) before being ranked on admissions test scores.
Our response:
Please see ‘how will you process my application' section on our web page: https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/bds-dental-surgery#entry_requirements
Question 2. UCAT Ranking Mechanics: Once basic academic requirements are met, how are candidates ranked for interviews?
Is shortlisting determined purely by a ranking of the overall cognitive UCAT score (scaled out of 2700), or is a weighted matrix used?
Our response:
Briefly, all on-time applications proceed to primary screening, where checks are made to see that applicants meet, or are predicted to meet, our minimum academic entry criteria, have a satisfactory personal statement and reference and have taken the UCAT test in the summer prior to submitting the application. Applicants are then invited to interview (from late November/December onwards).
If the number of applications received exceed the number of interview places available, those meeting primary screening requirements may also undergo secondary screening, where the overall UCAT score may be ranked against the applicant cohort, with the strongest applicants invited to interview.
Question 3. Lowest UCAT Expectation: While I understand there may not be a historical cut-off score, what is the internal projected or lowest baseline UCAT score the university realistically expects to call for an interview based on the limited cohort size?
If data from early internal modeling or pilot frameworks exists, please provide the minimum UCAT score required to trigger an interview invitation.
Our response:
There is no threshold or lowest baseline and there is no internal modelling or pilot framework.
Question 4. SJT Component Weighting: How is the UCAT Situational Judgement Test (SJT) band utilised during the pre-interview shortlisting stage? is the SJT score strictly reserved for post-interview scoring?
If any definitive structural data or admissions policies regarding these specific thresholds have been finalized for the current cycle, please provide them.
Alternatively, if the university is mirroring the exact mathematical weighting and algorithmic ranking system of its existing undergraduate Medicine (A100) course for the dental cohort, please explicitly state that this is the case
Our response:
UCAT
All applicants must sit the UCAT in the year of application, prior to applying. UEA does not have a cut off score. A high score is advantageous; a low score does not disqualify an applicant from consideration.
How do we use the UCAT?
- The overall UCAT score is used to rank applicants for selection for interview.
- The overall UCAT score is used alongside the interview score to rank and select applicants to whom an offer is made.
- The SJT component score is included within the interview score.
Following the completion of interviews, interviewed applicants are ranked (by interview scores – which includes the UCAT SJT subsection score - and UCAT overall scores) within the applicant cohort. The interview score and UCAT score is weighted equally and the top ranking applicants will receive offers.
The ranking system is identical to Medicine A100.