Empowering The Next Generation of Dental Professionals
Licence in Dental Surgery — Part 1
LDS Part 1 is the first of the three-part Licence in Dental Surgery, run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) for dentists who trained outside the UK. It tests your knowledge against the GDC Safe Practitioner Framework.
Part 1 is delivered online by remote testing, so you can sit it from a quiet, private space with a webcam, a second (phone) camera and a reliable internet connection. It is made up of two papers:
- Paper A — clinically applied dental science and clinically applied human disease. 150 single best answer (SBA) questions, 180 minutes.
- Paper B — aspects of clinical dentistry, law and ethics, and health and safety. 150 SBA questions, 180 minutes. You must pass both papers in the same sitting to progress to Part 2.
How to prepare
- Cover both papers’ syllabus thoroughly — science, human disease, clinical dentistry, law and ethics.
- Practise full 150-question papers under strict 180-minute timing.
- Review every wrong answer to close knowledge gaps before the next mock.
How Visage Dental Academy helps
The same Part 1 preparation that supports ORE candidates applies to the LDS — our comprehensive course and mock question bank cover the shared syllabus in depth.
At a glance: online remote exam · 2 papers · 150 SBA questions and 180 minutes each · pass both at one sitting · up to 4 attempts (re-sit up to 3 times) · results ~6 weeks.
Fees & dates (RCS England): £900 for sittings up to summer 2026, rising to £1,025 from the October 2026 sitting under the LDS pricing restructure. Booking is via Eventbrite. Confirm the next sitting and fee on the RCS England LDS Part 1 page.