The MFDS has been replaced — and a half-finished one is now worth nothing

First, what the MFDS is not

The MFDS is a postgraduate membership qualification. It is not a route to GDC registration and it will not let you practise in the UK. Candidates confuse it with the ORE and the LDS constantly, and the confusion is expensive. The routes to registration for an overseas-qualified dentist are the ORE and the LDS. The MFDS is what you take after you are registered, if you want to move towards specialty training.

What changed

The three UK surgical royal colleges — RCS England, RCS Edinburgh and RCPS Glasgow — retired their separate MFDS exams and replaced them with a single tri-collegiate exam delivered by a new body, the Dental Examinations Executive. The first sitting under the new arrangement was 28 October 2026. On passing you choose which college to affiliate to.

Three things there are worth dwelling on. The exam is no longer taken at home. The standard has risen substantially — it is now pitched at a dentist finishing their third year of Dental Core Training. And it costs over 50% more.

Why take it at all

The honest answer is specialty training. The MFDS is now a prerequisite for the ten new Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations — candidates must hold an MFDS qualification, with limited exemptions for those who began specialty training before 1 January 2026. If you are aiming at a specialty list, the MFDS became more necessary this year, not less.

If you are not aiming at specialty training, be clear-eyed: it will not help you register, and we found no primary source saying it is required or formally scored for Dental Core Training or NHS post recruitment. It is a respected qualification and a set of post-nominals. Whether that is worth £1,900 and a year of preparation is a decision only you can make.

If you already hold the full legacy MFDS

You keep it, and you keep your post-nominals. You remain eligible to enter the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations provided your Part 1 application goes in on or before 1 May 2031. After that date you would need the new MFDS.

A note on the RCSI

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland awards the MFD, not the MFDS, and it is a separate qualification that is not part of the tri-collegiate exam. We could not reach the RCSI's own pages to verify its current format or fees, so we are not going to repeat what other sites say about them. Ask the Faculty of Dentistry at RCSI directly.

A Royal College diploma that is open now: the RCSI Dip PCD

The new MFDS is sat in person, pitched at a dentist finishing Dental Core Training year 3, and costs £1,900. If that is years away for you, there is a Royal College postgraduate qualification you can sit now, from wherever you are. The Faculty of Dentistry at RCSI awards the Diploma in Primary Care Dentistry (Dip PCD), taken by dentists working in general and primary care practice. From 1 October 2026 it is one three-hour online paper of 180 items, sat remotely and proctored, worldwide. It is open to any dentist with a degree RCSI recognises, and no licence in any country is required to sit it.

Be as clear-eyed about it as about the MFDS. It is a postgraduate diploma, not a route to GDC registration, and it is not part of the tri-collegiate exam. What it gives you is a Royal College qualification you do not have to wait for. What the Dip PCD paper asks, and how The Arch prepares you for it.

Frequently asked

What is the MFDS? The Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, a postgraduate diploma awarded by the Royal Colleges. It is a postgraduate qualification rather than a route to GDC registration, which is the most common misunderstanding about it.

Does the MFDS give me GDC registration? No. The MFDS is a postgraduate diploma. Registration for a dentist with a non-recognised primary qualification comes through the ORE or the LDS. Holding the MFDS does not substitute for either.

Is MFDS Part 1 the same as ORE Part 1? They are different exams with real overlap in the underlying knowledge, which is why many candidates prepare for both from the same material. The emphasis and format differ, so check coverage against both syllabuses rather than assuming one bank covers both.

Should I take the MFDS as well as the ORE? It depends what you want it for. It is a recognised postgraduate qualification and useful for career progression, but it is not a registration route and it does not shorten the ORE or the LDS.