ORE Part 1 Structure and Syllabus: Paper A, Paper B, and What to Expect in 2026

1. Overview: What Part 1 Is Designed to Test

ORE Part 1 is explicitly designed to test the application of knowledge to clinical practice — not rote recall alone. The distinction matters. Questions are presented in clinical scenarios requiring candidates to apply their dental science, medical knowledge, and professional understanding to determine the most appropriate course of action or the most accurate interpretation of the presented information.

This applied clinical framing means that candidates who have practised dentistry for many years but have not revisited core sciences or UK-specific regulatory frameworks often find Part 1 demanding. The exam is not testing whether you can perform a clinical procedure — Part 2 does that — but whether you understand the evidence base, the legal context, and the clinical reasoning behind the decisions UK dentists are expected to make.

The entire syllabus is defined by the GDC's Preparing for Practice document (revised 2015), which sets out the learning outcomes expected of all registrants on the UK dental register. Every question in Part 1 is mapped to a specific learning outcome in that document. Candidates are strongly advised to download it from the GDC website and use it as their primary study framework.

2. Paper A: Clinically Applied Dental Science and Human Disease

Paper A tests foundational and clinical science as it applies directly to dental practice. This includes the sciences underpinning how teeth, supporting structures, and the orofacial region develop, function, and respond to disease — and how systemic diseases and pharmacological agents affect the dental patient.

The principal subject areas examined in Paper A include: oral and dental anatomy, histology, and embryology; oral pathology and oral medicine including mucosal disease, salivary gland pathology, and orofacial pain; general and systemic pathology relevant to dentistry including haematology, cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal disease; microbiology and immunology including caries, periodontal disease, and infection control principles; physiology and biochemistry as they relate to clinical dentistry; pharmacology and prescribing including analgesics, antibiotics, anxiolytics, and local anaesthetics in the UK context; and medical emergencies — their recognition, causation, and management.

Questions in Paper A require candidates to integrate their science knowledge with clinical scenarios. A question might present a patient with a haematological condition and ask which local anaesthetic drug or technique modification is most appropriate, or describe radiographic findings and ask which pathological process they represent. Knowing the underlying science is necessary but not sufficient — applying it to the presented scenario is what earns marks.

3. Paper B: Clinical Dentistry, Law, Ethics, Health and Safety

Paper B covers the practical clinical aspects of dentistry alongside the legal, ethical, and regulatory framework within which UK dentists operate. This is where candidates from outside the UK most commonly face a knowledge gap — not because they lack clinical skills, but because UK-specific professional regulation, patient consent law, radiation regulations, and NHS structure differ substantially from other jurisdictions.

Clinical dentistry content in Paper B spans the full breadth of general dental practice: restorative dentistry including indirect restorations, endodontics, and periodontal treatment planning; paediatric dentistry and child protection; oral surgery and minor oral surgical procedures; orthodontics — particularly assessment and triage rather than active treatment; prosthodontics including removable and fixed prosthetics; and special care dentistry. Questions are applied and scenario-based throughout.

The law, ethics, and professionalism component is substantial and tests knowledge specifically against the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team, UK consent law, the Mental Capacity Act, child protection obligations, and the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IR(ME)R). Candidates must understand what is required of a UK-registered dentist in terms of record-keeping, referral, complaint handling, and professional boundaries — and must apply this knowledge to clinical scenarios rather than simply recall regulatory titles.

Health and safety content includes cross-infection control protocols, safe use and disposal of sharps, COSHH regulations, decontamination requirements including HTM 01-05, radiography regulations, and the management of clinical waste. Many of these regulations are UK-specific and represent a common area of underpreparation for overseas candidates.

4. Question Formats: SBAs and EMQs Explained

Part 1 uses two question formats: single best answer questions (SBAs) and extended matching questions (EMQs). Both are computer-based and multiple choice in nature, but they assess knowledge differently.

SBAs present a clinical stem — typically a brief patient scenario with relevant clinical or investigative information — followed by a lead-in question and five answer options. Only one answer is correct; the others are plausible distractors.

EMQs group questions into themes. A single option list of eight to twelve possible answers is provided, and candidates must match each of several clinical scenarios to the most appropriate option from the list. Options may be used more than once or not at all.

5. Sitting Logistics: Location, Capacity, and Booking

Part 1 is held at King's College London Faculty of Dentistry at Denmark Hill, London SE5. All candidates must attend in person — there is no remote or online option under the current King's College London contract. International candidates need to factor in UK travel and accommodation costs when planning their exam attempt.

Each Part 1 sitting accommodates up to 600 candidates. The two papers are sat on consecutive days within the sitting window, which typically runs across four days. Individual timetable slots are allocated to candidates within this window. Booking opens approximately eight weeks before the sitting date through your eGDC account and requires payment of the £584 fee at the point of booking.

Under the current schedule, Part 1 sittings are held three times per year: in April, August, and December, with 600 places per sitting, giving 1,800 Part 1 places annually. From September 2026, UCL Consultants Ltd (UCLC) take over as provider, with Part 1 places expected to increase to 2,400 per year in the first year of the new contract. The format of Part 1 under UCLC has not yet been confirmed in detail.

6. Results, Feedback, and What Happens After Part 1

Results are emailed to candidates within 30 working days of the examination. Each paper is scored as a percentage out of 100, and candidates receive an overall pass or fail award. The pass threshold is determined by standard-setting after each sitting rather than a fixed cut-score, which means the effective pass mark may differ marginally between sittings depending on question difficulty.

The GDC does not provide individual item-level feedback on your performance. However, approximately 40 working days after the examination, King's College London publishes a post-exam feedback report that covers performance trends across content areas and clarifies any topic-specific issues that arose during that sitting.

On passing Part 1, your name is added to the Part 2 candidate list. You do not need to reapply to the GDC at this stage. The GDC will contact you with information about Part 2 booking when sittings become available. If you fail one or both papers, you are permitted to rebook for a future sitting, subject to your remaining attempts.

7. What Changes Under the UCLC Contract for Part 1

From September 2026, UCL Consultants Ltd (UCLC) — led by UCL Eastman Dental Institute — takes over the administration of both Part 1 and Part 2 from King's College London and the current Part 2 consortium. For Part 1 specifically, the most confirmed change is a significant increase in capacity: places are expected to rise from 1,800 per year to 2,400 in the first year of the new contract.

The exam venue will likely change from KCL Denmark Hill to UCL Eastman or another UCL-affiliated site — though this has not been formally confirmed as of April 2026. Candidates should monitor the GDC website and their eGDC accounts for updates on venue, booking arrangements, and any changes to exam format or content mapping under the new provider.

Importantly, the core framework of Part 1 — two papers mapped to the GDC's Preparing for Practice document — is expected to remain. The regulatory basis for the examination is set by the GDC, not the provider, so the syllabus and pass standards framework should not change materially with the provider transition.

Related ORE articles

References

• General Dental Council — ORE Part 1 | Official GDC page confirming Part 1 structure, current provider, fee, results timeline, and attempt limits.
• General Dental Council — Preparing for Practice | The master syllabus document to which ORE Part 1 questions are mapped.
• General Dental Council — ORE booking dates | Current sitting dates, booking windows, and fully booked status updates.
• General Dental Council — Preferred bidder for ORE confirmed | UCLC transition announcement and capacity expansion details.
• General Dental Council — ORE preparation and results | Historical Part 1 and Part 2 result distributions by sitting.
• British Dental Journal — GDC shares more details on new ORE contract | March 2026 summary of transition details and first-sitting timing.