The General Dental Council (GDC) has confirmed that the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) for 2027 will rise by 3.1%, driven by the cost of processing increasing numbers of fitness to practise concerns.
The GDC has set its 2027 Annual Retention Fee at £720 for dentists and £111 for dental care professionals. This 3.1% increase matches the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The regulator said the rise was prompted by year-on-year growth in the number of fitness to practise concerns reported. The GDC received 1,766 new fitness to practise concerns in 2025, a 26% increase on the previous year. Whistleblowing disclosures relating to dentistry also increased by 74% on the previous reporting period.
Tom Whiting, chief executive and registrar of the GDC, said it had not taken the decision lightly. He continued: ‘We know that dental professionals want fitness to practise investigations to be quicker and less stressful, and so do we.
‘We are receiving many more concerns than we did a few years ago and need the right resources in place to deal with them fairly and promptly. The sustained increase in the volume of concerns being received creates a challenging environment which we will need to take further steps to address in future years.’
As a result, the GDC forecast that its financial reserves will fall below its target range.
How will the revenue from the Annual Retention Fee rise be used?
According to the GDC, this financial pressure means ‘the GDC cannot improve the timeliness of the fitness to practise process as quickly as it wants to’.
The regulator said the ARF increase would be used to invest in additional resources to deal with the immediate demands on fitness to practise and start work on longer-term improvements.
Tom Whiting said: ‘We want this investment to make a real difference to people going through the process. We will engage with stakeholders and dental professionals in the months ahead to share more information about the challenges and seek feedback on our approach.’
In 2025, the ARF rose by 12.5% following a 12-week public consultation on the GDC’s strategy.
Helen Phillips, chair of the GDC, said: ’We said last year that any increase would not exceed CPI, and council has kept to that. We don’t underestimate what it means to ask dental professionals to pay more, and council scrutinised the business plan carefully, including its impact on registrants, before setting the fee for 2027.’
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