"Exciting development" as University of Portsmouth "well placed" for allocation of new dental school places
The University of Portsmouth is “well placed” to take advantage of the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly two decades.
The announcement of an increase in home student places by 50 from the 2027/2028 academic year has seen the chances of them going to Portsmouth grow.
The Office for Students (OfS) is in charge of allocating the places and has been told to prioritise new dental schools that do not currently receive government funding for places, which the University of Portsmouth would come under.
A bidding process will begin shortly for the places with professor Chris Louca, University of Portsmouth’s director of dentistry, believing they are well placed to benefit.
Professor Louca said: “I very much welcome the news that the government will increase the number of dental school places for UK home students by 50 from 2027.
“Following the recent development of the first ever dental school in the South East of England, at the University of Portsmouth, we are well placed to educate and train these additional dentists to meet the future NHS dental workforce needs.”
The news could not only be beneficial for patients in Hampshire, with evidence suggesting students tend to practice near where they trained, but also local students.
Professor Louca added: “Our strategy will be to recruit local students keen on a career in Dentistry to study on our new and exciting training programme using the very latest modern simulation equipment and clinical facilities.
“We will aim to graduate dentists ready to deliver oral and dental healthcare in the immediate area and region in order to address the existing poor provision of such services in a part of the country referred to as a dental desert.
“This is an exciting development in UK dentistry and the University of Portsmouth is looking forward to rising to the challenge.”
As well as an increase in the allocation of home students, the government has announced that a total of 2,400 more overseas-trained dentists, many of whom are already living in this country and waiting for the opportunity to help, could be registered annually from 2028/29.
The General Dental Council will also significantly expand the number of places of its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), meaning more than 1,000 overseas-trained dentists are expected to join the register annually via this route by 2028/29, according to the government.
Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan, said: “Access to NHS dentistry remains a challenge faced by Portsmouth people and remains an issue I am prioritising within parliament.
“The progress already achieved by the University of Portsmouth, securing Dental Authority Status for their Dental Academy, will allow them to take advantage of the opportunity provided by these new places and train the next generation of dentists right here in Portsmouth.
“Training our own dentists here in our city means we can build a sustainable NHS dental workforce that understands and serves our community’s needs”.
Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, said: “Given Stephen Morgan MP’s longstanding campaigning to improve access to NHS dentistry for the people of Portsmouth, I am pleased to announce that our requests to the OfS will provide the University of Portsmouth with an opportunity to train the next generation of dentists.
“Strengthening regional dental workforces is crucial to improving access and tackling geographic disparities, including Portsmouth’s own dental desert”.