Liverpool School of Dentistry: Overview

The University of Liverpool is one of the largest universities in the UK, with over 70,000 students and a global reputation for research excellence. Moreover, the city itself is one of the best cities to live in as a student; cheap accommodation, ample nightlife and Liverpool’s beautiful streets make studying at the University of Liverpool a pleasant experience.

The School of Dentistry is based at the university's main campus in the city centre, but also offers courses at its own dedicated teaching hospital on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Innovative technology plays a large role in teaching at the University of Liverpool School of Dentistry: Dental students have the opportunity to work in state-of-the-art facilities and simulation suites, alongside some of the best teachers, dentists and researchers.

Selection For Dentistry Interviews at Liverpool University:

🔢 How does Liverpool select students for interviews (A200)?

GCSEs & Predicted Grades: Academic screening will be the first stage of the admissions process. You won’t be ranked or given points for your GCSE or predicted grades. Your grades will only be checked for meeting Liverpool’s minimum entry requirements.

Personal Statement: Assessed in terms of your insight into dentistry and evidence of work experience. In your personal statement, you should demonstrate that you have a caring attitude, commitment to studying dentistry, as well as other attributes outlined by the NHS Constitution. If you weren’t able to secure a work experience placement in a dental setting, this will not negatively affect your application.

UCAT: The UCAT is an important element of the selection process for dentistry. Unlike most other dental universities, Liverpool will consider your Situational Judgement score in the selection process. A Band 4 in the SJT will most likely result in an automatic rejection.

📊 What is the UCAT cut-off score to get a dentistry interview at Liverpool?

For 2022 entry, the lowest UCAT score to get an interview at Liverpool was 2160. Meanwhile, the average score of those invited to the interview was 2611. The UCAT cut-off for dentistry at Liverpool varies from year to year and is dependent on the number of applications, as well as the average scores of the cohort.

📈 TOP Tip: Want to improve your chances of securing a place for dentistry at Liverpool? Prepare for your interviews with Dentfully and ace your Dentistry Interviews!

📤 When does Liverpool start sending interview invitations (BDS Dentistry)?

Liverpool usually sends most invitations between December and February of the application cycle.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Liverpool Dental School Interviews: Number of interviews

960 students applied for 2022 entry dentistry at Liverpool. The admissions team invited 390 students for an interview (40% of all students who applied).

💡 How To Prepare for Dentistry Interviews at Liverpool?

Preparing for dentistry interviews is no easy task. It requires gathering a lot of knowledge, consolidating it and working on your interview performance and appearance. To save you effort, time and money, we’ve created Dentfully and made the preparation process simpler than ever before:

🦷 Liverpool Dentistry Interview Questions (A200):

Motivations for Dentistry:

• What made you apply for dentistry and not medicine?
• What did you do to find out if dentistry is the right choice for you?
• What appeals to you the most and the least in the work of a dentist?

Studying Dentistry at Liverpool Uni:

• Why should we choose you?
• Why would you like to study dentistry at Liverpool University?

Insight into Dentistry:

• What did your work experience teach you about the typical responsibilities of a dentist?
• In your personal statement you’ve written that you were able to work closely with the entire dental team. Who can be a part of the dental team and what are the responsibilities of each of the members?
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years' time?
• What would you like to achieve as a dentist?

NHS & Hot Topics:

• How would you explain the new traffic light system to a patient who has only recently moved to the UK and doesn’t know anything about the way dentistry works here?
• What do you know about the 2006 Dental Contract? Do you think that it’s introduction had a positive impact on dentistry in the UK?
• How did Covid-19 impact dentistry and dental practitioners in the UK?

Personality:

• Tell us about a situation where you showed empathy.
• What are your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?
• There are a number of qualities and skills that a good dentist should possess. Which of those are you planning to improve in yourself during your time at university?

Dental Ethics:

• What do you understand by the term confidentiality? What information should be kept confidential? Do dentists have the duty to keep confidentiality in every situation or are there some cases when confidentiality should be breached?
• A young mother comes with their 12-month-old child to your dental practice for a checkup. During the checkup, you discover that the girl’s pulp is severely damaged and infected and recommend root canal treatment. After hearing the name of the procedure the mother nervously takes the child’s hand and says “We don’t want any treatments. Ginny, let’s go home”. Both the mother and the girl are clearly anxious. However, you know that the treatment is necessary. How would you act in such a situation?

Dental Role-play:

• Imagine you are a 3rd-year dental student. It’s April and you are studying hard for your final year exams. Your best friend Jake (the interviewer) sees that you are struggling to cover the material and offers you help. He wants to meet with you to show you a PDF with exam questions that he leaked with his Computer Science friends. You know that cheating is strictly prohibited and that anyone involved in the process of sharing exam questions can be kicked out of the university. In the following station, you will meet with Jake (the interviewer) to discuss the issue.
• You are a dentist specialising in Oral Surgery. During a complex procedure involving extractions and applying implants, you notice a worrying lump on the inside of a patient’s cheek. After the procedure is done, you wake up the patient to discuss the need for a biopsy. The patient consents but grows very anxious. The results of a biopsy show the lump is cancerous and very advanced. Break the news to the patient (the interviewer) that they have oral cancer. You may offer them a treatment combining surgery, radio- and chemotherapy, but the chances for success are 30-40%

🚀 TOP Tip: Have a hard time answering any of the above questions? You’ll find insider tactics to tackle all of the above questions and formulate convincing and structured answers at Dentfully - UK’s best all-in-one interview preparation platform.

Please note that these aren’t questions that have been asked at Liverpool University in past years. Publishing such information would be against Liverpool’s policy. The above questions are adjusted for the interview style at Liverpool and are meant to give you a broad sense of the questions you may face.

Liverpool Dentistry Interviews (2023 entry):

🗓️ Liverpool Dentistry Interview dates (2022):

This year, Liverpool will most likely conduct their dentistry interviews between late January 2023 and the beginning of March 2023 (as it was in previous years).

💬 Interview format at Liverpool Dental School?

In the past Liverpool conducted MMI interviews for dentistry. These interviews are comprised of several mini-interviews, each with a different interviewer and revolving around a different topic. At Liverpool, there were usually between 10 and 12 such stations, and the interview lasted 60-90 minutes.

Liverpool hasn’t yet announced what the dentistry interview will look like for the 2023 entry, but you can check this website regularly for the latest updates. You should also receive more detailed information about the interview format, location and time with the invitation email (which we really hope you’ll get!).

🚀 TOP Tip: Don’t forget to bring your original certificates for all the achievements you’ve listed in your UCAT form! Liverpool requires you to bring those to the interview, otherwise, your application will be penalised. If you should get more detailed information about what exactly to bring in your dentistry interview invitation, but if you are unsure, email the admissions team at Liverpool before your interviews.

🏆 Liverpool BDS Interviews: How many offers?

For the 2022 entry, Liverpool interviewed 390 students for dentistry and has given out 96 offers. This means, that last year approximately 25% of the interviewed students have received offers, making Liverpool a fairly competitive university to get into.

⏳ How long does it take to hear back from Liverpool?

You should hear back from Liverpool by the 31st of March at the latest, but the information may come earlier if you’ve been interviewed at the beginning of the interview cycle.

✅ Liverpool Dental School Interviews: 4 Tips

🛏️ Take advantage of rest stations

In the Liverpool dentistry MMI, you should get a few so-called rest stations. As the name suggests, in these stations you’ll have a few minutes to relax before the next MMI stations.

Make sure to take advantage of these stations. Don’t add unnecessary stress by thinking about what you could have said or done better. Instead, do whatever works best for you to calm yourself down - get a cup of water, do a few breathing exercises or practise affirmations.

😍 Treat the MMIs like speed dating

The Multiple Mini Interviews sound like a scary concept. But it can be fun if you make it so.

If you think of it the MMIs are a lot like speed dating - you are given a few minutes to talk to a stranger and get them to like you. The only difference is that the MMIs revolve mostly around dentistry and your achievements, skills and qualities.

Approaching the MMIs with the right mindset will help you go a long way. Treat it like speed dating or a casual conversation, rather than this scary obstacle on your way to dental school.

📆 Plan your journey ahead

If the interviews will take place in person this year and if you aren’t from Liverpool, you should plan your journey to the interview. It’s probably wiser to book a stay in Liverpool and arrive a day or two before your interview date. You don’t want a delayed train or car traffic to add to your stress or make you miss your chance for an interview! Moreover, it will give you a chance to explore the campus and the city.

🧠 Reflect on your work experience

Liverpool places a large emphasis on work experience/insight into dentistry during the selection process. Not only will the admissions team screen your personal statement for evidence of work experience, but it’s very likely that you’ll be asked about it in your dentistry interview.

If you’ve kept a reflective journal, revisit it before your interviews. Think back to the experience and recall what you saw, did and how it made you feel. Then try to really deeply reflect on it and write down your thoughts: What did it show me about dentistry? How did it make me feel (more compelled/deterred)? How was the reality different from my expectations? How could I prepare myself to handle such a situation in the future? What skills and qualities did I observe?

🤞 Fingers crossed for your Liverpool Dentistry Interview!