Studying dentistry at KCL was a dream come true to me personally. You are being taught by the top specialists in their fields. These are the people who write dental textbooks used by dental students worldwide – it’s a privilege to learn from them on clinics! Studying in central London is also a very unique experience which provides endless opportunities of meeting new people and exploring new places. You can go to a different bar/restaurant/art gallery every day and you will never run out of options!

Great university, great tutors, huge diversity of students, great societies to be a part of. However, quite unorganised with lectures and timetables. Overall, I would recommend the uni to other people.

I personally felt that in general, dentistry in KCL was taught well and they had good timing in teaching the theoretical and practical sides of dentistry. That way, the knowledge could be grasped in a logical manner. They can be disorganised at times, but I suppose every organisation can be from time to time. The tutors are for the most part, fantastic and are probably the best quality of the university.

I enjoyed my experience at KCL – especially it being in the heart of London. I was at Guys Campus where I enjoyed the large array of extra-curricular activities and the new facilities made however I would have liked there to be more library space and more social areas there such as in Bush House.

I like this university and enjoy my course (dentistry). The majority of the professors are brilliant and know a lot about their fields so are willing and able to answer questions. I am only in first year but there are a few things I’ll highlight if you’re considering going here:

We had two formative (mock) theory exams in the academic year and two sets of summative (real) theory exams (one exam in January which counts for 15% of the year and two exams in May which count for the rest). It’s possible to retake first year exams (unsure about future ones).
We also have a tooth morphology, a tooth waxing and a clinical skills exam which can also be retaken. The clinical skills exam must be passed before one can enter clinics.

The administration is not the best – there were several timetable errors and cancelled lectures (most of which are emailed about on the day of the class).

There is good pastoral support depending on which tutor you are assigned but you can always contact the head of pastoral care who is very helpful!

Apart from lectures (which are usually about fifty minutes long) we have lab experiments, histology sessions, prosections and clinical sessions where we gain some experience being around patients and do dental nursing. I find the clinical sessions very valuable even in first year. I also think the prosections are useful as they can help you gain a deeper understanding of anatomy but this is not something offered by all universities so it is worth having a think about whether that is something you are comfortable with.

The first year is mainly theoretical so lectures are the main focus – histology and lab sessions tend not to happen more than once a week and there are only about five prosection sessions in the year (although you can go to weekly revision sessions if you want to). Clinical sessions are one morning a week for the second term of first year.

The atmosphere is also very safe and friendly and there are lots of events planned by the university and student reps. There is a fair amount of work that should be done outside of lectures but this is mostly independent so it is important that you are able to work consistently throughout the year otherwise you will struggle around exam season! It is definitely possible to maintain a good study/life balance (except for during exam season but that is a given anyway). There are a couple of group projects, write-ups and also some question sheets that do need to be turned in but no essays (again – this is just from first year).

Overall I would recommend this university and the course! I have enjoyed it, I just thought it would be worth pointing out a few things which I was not expecting/was unsure about. Good luck!