University of Portsmouth hosts Government announcement of new dental school places in England

The University of Portsmouth has welcomed Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock MP to its Dental Academy, where he announced a national expansion of dental school places in England - including 25 new undergraduate dentistry places for the University. 

The announcement confirms Portsmouth will be home to the first dental school ever established in the South-East, and one of the first new dental schools anywhere in the country in over 20 years.  

Backed by £11 million of government funding, the expansion will see 25 new dentists graduating into the workforce per year in Portsmouth, with the first starting their training in September 2027.  

The city was one of only two universities nationally to secure places in this first wave of expansion, and the allocation means all NHS regions will now have a dental school for the first time. 

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “No one in the 21st century should struggle to access basic dental care or, even worse, forced to take matters into their own hands. By bringing dental school places to the University of East Anglia and the University of Portsmouth for the first time, trainee dentists will put down roots in parts of the country that have for too long been left behind. These new places will help train NHS-ready dentists in the communities that need them most, meaning patients can get the care they need faster and closer to home.” 

The announcement follows the University's Dental Academy achieving Dental Authority Status (DAS) earlier this year - a mandatory government requirement for institutions wishing to deliver a degree in dentistry. The academy currently trains dental nurses, dental hygienists, and dental therapists. 

Why Portsmouth? 

Portsmouth and its surrounding areas represent one of the most acute dental deserts in England. The city has fewer than 100 NHS dentists serving a population of over 200,000 - one dentist for every 2,265 residents - placing it among the areas with the lowest provision of NHS dental services in the region. 

The University's Dental Academy was selected as the venue for the Government announcement in recognition of its established track record in dental education and its deep community roots.  

The Academy, which opened in 2004, already trains dental nurses, dental hygienists, and dental therapists, and treats over 5,000 patients each year through more than 20,000 individual appointments. 

During the visit, Minister Kinnock toured the Academy's state-of-the-art facilities including the Haptics Suite – featuring virtual reality simulation units that train students before they treat real patients – and the Phantom Head Lab, where he met students from across the Academy's courses. 

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, Professor Graham Galbraith CBE, said: “Securing these places is a landmark moment for the University of Portsmouth and the communities we serve. The South-East has needed its own dental school for decades, and today that ambition becomes a reality. We are ready to train the next generation of dental professionals right here in Portsmouth- professionals who will stay in the region and help end the dental desert.” 

Addressing a critical shortage 

With 97 per cent of dentistry and medicine graduates from Portsmouth entering high-skilled employment upon graduation - above the national average - the University hopes to recruit students locally to ensure graduates remain in the region and contribute to the NHS workforce. 

Professor Chris Louca, Director of Dentistry at the University, said: “Our Dental Academy is already deeply embedded in the Portsmouth community. Our students provide supervised free dental health services to the public and gain invaluable hands-on experience in the process. With this allocation, we can now extend that commitment and train fully qualified dentists who will go on to transform access to NHS dental care across our region.” 

The new Dental School will integrate undergraduate training for dental therapists and dentists, with a strong focus on team-based learning in primary care and community settings.  

Students at the academy regularly take part in outreach activities under the supervision of our qualified staff, including offering free dental health services to the public and delivering the Brush Up programme in schools in Portsmouth, to help improve children’s oral health.   

The University is committed to widening participation, creating pathways for existing dental nursing, hygiene, and therapy students to progress into dentistry. Applications will open later this year, ahead of a September 2027 start. The school will officially open at a ceremony on Friday (5 June 2026). 

Building a health education ecosystem 

The Dental School is within the Faculty of Science and Health at the University of Portsmouth. Last year, the faculty officially launched the Centre for Integrated Health and Wellbeing (CiH-Well), a research hub dedicated to tackling complex health challenges that affect people from childhood through to older age – including dental and oral health.  

The faculty is also home to the UK's first branch medical degree in partnership with King's College London, training the next generation of doctors to address the severe GP shortage in the city and surrounding areas.   

Commenting on the Dental School plans, University Provost Professor Sherria Hoskins, said: “The addition of a Dental School represents a transformative moment for our university and the communities we serve. Together, we are building comprehensive and integrated health education and research right here in Portsmouth. Our vision is to train healthcare professionals across multiple disciplines who will work together to address the pressing health challenges facing our region - from the GP shortage to the dental crisis. Our approach to health education and community service is what sets us apart.”   

The new dental places are part of a wider package of government measures to rebuild NHS dentistry. The government has also invested in significantly expanding the number of places on professional registration exams for overseas-trained dentists, with up to 2,400 more dentists expected to be eligible to join the register annually by 2028 to 2029.  

The government is also reforming the NHS dental contract to reward dentists more fairly, prioritise the highest-need patients, and strengthen preventive healthcare - including new long-term treatment pathways for patients with significant dental decay or gum disease, improved payments for dentists, and requirements for practices to deliver urgent care.