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Dental Hygiene at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Open days

7Dec
University of Portsmouth Open Day
Undergraduate

Course summary

Overview Dental hygienists treat and prevent oral diseases. They support people in maintaining their oral health by providing treatments and advice designed to improve the health of the mouth, teeth and gums. If you want a career as a dental hygienist, this BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene degree course is for you. Studying in our Dental Academy, you’ll get the skills and knowledge for registration with the General Dental Council (GDC), which is essential for practicing as a dental hygienist.

  • Be taught in our Dental Academy, complete with the latest technology used in dental practices including 2 clinics with 44 dental treatment bays, 2 individual surgeries, a phantom head room, a new haptics suite, a decontamination suite, and radiography booths
  • Build your experience working as part of a dental team, studying alongside dental therapy, dental nursing and dental students as well as qualified professionals
  • Get out of the classroom to work with real patients, performing dental procedures and taking part in local community outreach projects
NHS Learning Support Fund Students on this course may be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund bursary of at least £5,000 a year. Professional recognitions This programme has been provisionally accepted to commence delivery by the General Dental Council (GDC) following a paper-based submission. The GDC Quality Assurance Team will carry out an on-site inspection of the programme and examinations prior to the first cohort of students qualifying, wherein approval for the purposes of registration with the GDC will be assessed by an expert panel of inspectors. This is the process for all new dental care professional (DCP) programmes. The GDC continually assess the course to make sure it meets the standard required for accreditation, so you’ll know you’re getting the most relevant and up-to-date teaching available. Careers and opportunities As the title suggests, dental hygienists help patients keep their teeth clean, but there's much more to the role than this alone. Dental hygienists provide treatments, carry out procedures and give dietary and oral hygiene advice to maintain a healthy mouth, teeth and gums. Patients are often referred to dental hygienists by dentists, although many opt to see a hygienist regularly themselves. Dental hygienists are needed in both the NHS and within private healthcare. Once you graduate you'll be ready to take your skills into areas such as general dental practice, hospital dental services or the Armed Forces, so you'll have great employment prospects as you embark on your dental career. Looking to study dental hygiene and learn how to carry out additional procedures such as fillings and extractions? Take a look at our BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy degree. What areas can you work in with a dental hygiene degree? When you graduate, you'll be qualified to work in areas such as:
  • general dental practice
  • hospital dental services
  • the Armed Forces
  • the NHS
  • health promotion
You could also continue your studies or do research at postgraduate level. Work experience with patients in the community To help you gain professional experience, you'll help to provide free dental health services to the public at the Dental Academy and work with patients in local community settings. You'll have the chance to offer preventative and educational dental support within institutions such as school clinics and hostels for homeless people, enabling you to gain a better understanding of the social impact of good dental care. Our community work experience projects include:
  • outreach activity in community surgeries and maxillofacial departments in local hospitals
  • oral health promotion
  • supervised tooth brushing in infant schools
  • helping staff to develop oral care plans in residential homes
  • providing dental screening to offenders in the probation service

Modules

Year 1 Core modules in this year include:

  • Foundation of Evidence Based Practice (Dental) (20 credits)
  • Foundations of Dental Hygiene Practice (40 credits)
  • Fundamentals of Dental Hygiene Practice (20 credits)
  • Science Informing Practice (Dental) (40 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Applied Dental Hygiene Professional Practice (40 credits)
  • Communication for the Dental Team (20 credits)
  • Dental Radiography (20 credits)
  • Engaging with Service Improvement (Dental) (20 credits)
  • Evidence Based Decision Making (Dental) (20 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 3 Core modules in this year include:
  • Behaviour Management (20 credits)
  • Enhancing Dental Hygiene Professional Practice (40 credits)
  • Leading Safe and Effective Care (Dental) (20 credits)
  • Project (40 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies. Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment method

You’ll be assessed through written examinations, computer examinations, presentations, coursework. You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • General Dental Council

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
B752
Institution code:
P80
Campus name:
Main Site
Campus code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Additional entry requirements

Criminal records declaration (DBS/Disclosure Scotland)

Applicants must pass Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before starting the course.

Health checks

Applicants must pass Occupational Health check before starting the course. This includes screening to exclude infectivity with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.

Interview

All shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview in support of their application. Shortlisting occurs up until the end of February and interviews take place between March and April.

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)7English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 7.0 with no component score below 6.5.
PTE Academic76An overall score of 76 with a minimum of 65 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)100100 with a minimum of 24 in Reading, 23 in Listening, 25 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 185 with no component score less than 176.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 185 with no component score less than 176.
Trinity ISETrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
80%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
80%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £19200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2024/25): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,385 EU – £1,385 (including Transition Scholarship) International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Dental Hygiene at University of Portsmouth - UCAS