European dental qualifications will continue to be recognised in the UK for the next five years, the government announced today.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that standstill provisions providing for automatic recognition of European dentists’ qualifications will be retained for a further period of five years.
Around 17% of all dentists on the UK register have European qualifications. They made up 37% of all dentists who joined the register in 2022.
The continuation of the automatic recognition of European dentists’ diplomas means that the process for those dentists to join the UK register will remain, including checks on language, health and character.
The announcement also means that the qualification of those who left the UK to study dentistry in Europe will be recognised in the UK when they return.
Dentistry’s top stories
Modernisation and improvements
Legislative reforms providing the GDC with the powers to amend rules for the registration of those who qualify outside the UK were provided three months ago.
The GDC states that the additional time provided by the extension of standstill arrangements ‘will allow for modernisation and meaningful improvements to regulatory processes before additional capacity for the assessment of European qualifications is needed’.
Stefan Czerniawski, the GDC’s executive director of strategy, said: ‘We are pleased that the government has agreed with our arguments that the current arrangements for recognising European dental qualifications should continue for the time being.
‘Although in the longer term we believe there is a strong argument for a single approach to international registration, now is not the time to disrupt the flow of new entrants to the UK dental workforce.’
Follow Dentistry.co.uk on Instagram to keep up with all the latest dental news and trends.
