ORE Part 2 Complete Breakdown: OSCE Stations, Manikin Test, DTP, and Medical Emergencies

1. Overview: Structure, Venues, and the Four-Component Framework

ORE Part 2 is a multi-component practical examination designed to demonstrate that a candidate can perform safely and effectively across the full scope of general dental practice in the UK. Unlike Part 1, which tests applied knowledge through written questions, Part 2 requires candidates to show what they can actually do — with instruments in hand, under examiner observation, in clinical and simulated patient scenarios.

The examination is currently administered by a consortium that includes the Royal College of Surgeons of England and UCL Eastman Dental Institute as the primary venues. Each sitting accommodates a maximum of 144 candidates, spread across four days. The April 2026 sitting ran from 23 to 26 April and was fully booked. Booking opens eight weeks in advance through candidates' eGDC accounts; the £4,235 fee is payable immediately at the point of booking and is non-refundable in ordinary circumstances.

The four components — Dental Manikin (DM), OSCE, Diagnosis and Treatment Planning (DTP), and Medical Emergencies (ME) — each have independent pass/fail thresholds. Passing three out of four is not a pass. Every component must be passed in the same sitting for the overall result to be a Part 2 pass, with the single exception of the ME partial resit provision described above. This component-level independence makes Part 2 significantly more demanding to prepare for than a single integrated examination.

2. The Dental Manikin (DM) Operative Test

The DM test assesses a candidate's ability to perform operative dental procedures to a standard consistent with safe, independent UK dental practice. Candidates work on a dental phantom head — a full-arch manikin mounted in a dental chair — and are required to complete three procedures within three hours. Procedures are primarily restorative and preparatory in nature, though other technically assessable operative skills may be included where simulation allows meaningful assessment.

Typical DM exercises include: cavity preparation and restoration using amalgam (Class I, II, or other) or composite; anterior composite restoration including Class IV; crown preparations — full gold, metal-ceramic posterior, all-ceramic anterior, or labial veneer preparation; endodontic access cavity preparation; and occasionally bridge abutment preparation. Candidates are not told in advance precisely which procedures will be set for their sitting, though the range of exercise types is consistent with published guidance from the exam centre.

Examiners assess both the procedural process and the final outcome. Correct positioning of the manikin as a proxy patient, cross-infection control protocols, instrument management, eye protection, and the use of rubber dam where indicated are all assessed alongside the technical quality of the preparation or restoration. The manikin is treated as a patient throughout — candidates who treat it as a laboratory model rather than a clinical scenario will lose marks on professionalism criteria regardless of technical quality.

3. The OSCE Circuit: Station Types and What Is Assessed

The OSCE circuit is the most varied and arguably the most complex component of Part 2. Candidates move through a series of up to 24 stations, spending one minute reading instructions at the door and five minutes completing the task inside. The circuit covers the full breadth of clinical dentistry as defined by the GDC's Preparing for Practice learning outcomes, and stations are designed to assess skills that cannot be tested on a manikin or in a written paper.

Station types fall into three broad categories. Actor-based stations pair the candidate with a trained actor playing a patient. These assess history-taking, communication of diagnoses and treatment options, obtaining informed consent, breaking difficult news, and managing the anxious or complex patient. The actor will follow a brief and respond realistically; candidates who fail to establish rapport, use inappropriate language, or do not obtain the information they need before moving to management decisions will lose marks on both process and outcome criteria.

Skilled OSCE stations require candidates to demonstrate a clinical technique — suturing, applying a rubber dam, taking an impression, placing a matrix band, administering a local anaesthetic injection on a model, or performing a periodontal assessment with a BPE probe. These stations are examiner-observed and marked in real time against a predetermined criteria sheet. Written OSCE stations require candidates to interpret clinical information — a radiograph, a photograph of a mucosal lesion, a blood test result, or a treatment planning scenario — and provide a structured written response.

The OSCE domain coverage, as confirmed by the GDC, includes: behavioural sciences; human disease; law, ethics, and professionalism; clinical dentistry across restorative, paediatric, orthodontic, and surgical disciplines; preventive dentistry; oral surgery; oral medicine; oral pathology and microbiology; dental radiology and imaging; dental public health; and comprehensive oral care. No single station covers all domains — the circuit is designed to sample broadly across the full scope of general practice.

4. The Diagnosis and Treatment Planning (DTP) Exercise

The DTP exercise presents candidates with a complex clinical case requiring structured diagnostic reasoning and comprehensive treatment planning. An actor plays the patient and provides a clinical history — responding to questions but not being physically examined. The case is supported by a set of clinical artefacts: radiographs, intraoral and extra-oral photographs, study models, and results of special investigations such as blood tests or sensibility tests.

Candidates are expected to synthesise information from the history and the provided clinical materials to arrive at a provisional diagnosis or problem list, propose a logical treatment sequence across immediate, short-term, and long-term phases, identify referral needs, discuss prognosis, and explain their reasoning to the actor-patient in accessible language. The exercise tests both the candidate's clinical knowledge and their ability to communicate a coherent management plan to a patient.

DTP cases commonly present complex periodontal disease, multi-tooth restorative needs, partially dentate or edentulous scenarios requiring prosthetic planning, patients with medical comorbidities affecting dental management, patients taking medications with oral or haemostatic implications, and cases involving suspected oral pathology requiring investigation or referral. Candidates who approach DTP as a clinical examination rather than a communication exercise often underperform — the actor's engagement and the quality of the explanation form a substantial part of the mark.

5. The Medical Emergencies (ME) Assessment

The Medical Emergencies component tests a candidate's ability to recognise and initiate the correct management of acute medical emergencies that may occur in a dental practice setting. It has two distinct parts: a structured scenario-based oral examination, and a practical demonstration of single-handed basic life support (BLS) including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a resuscitation manikin.

The oral component presents the candidate with a clinical scenario — a patient who has collapsed, developed chest pain, is having a seizure, has shown signs of anaphylaxis, or is experiencing a hypoglycaemic episode — and questions them on recognition, immediate management steps, the drugs and equipment they would reach for, dosages, the role of 999/112, and when to transfer to secondary care. Candidates are expected to know the contents and use of the standard dental emergency drug kit: adrenaline (epinephrine), aspirin, glyceryl trinitrate spray, glucagon, oral glucose, salbutamol with spacer, midazolam, and oxygen. They must also know the Guedel oropharyngeal airway and how to use it.

The BLS demonstration requires candidates to perform CPR on a resuscitation manikin using the correct Resuscitation Council UK protocol — single-handed, with appropriate rate, depth, and chest recoil, correct head-tilt chin-lift, and effective rescue breaths. Candidates who are not current with UK Resuscitation Council guidance fail this section regardless of their oral performance.

6. Passing, Failing, and the ME Partial Resit

Each of the four Part 2 components is assessed independently. A pass in three components and a fail in one does not constitute a Part 2 pass — all four must be passed at the same sitting. The sole exception is the Medical Emergencies component. If a candidate passes DM, OSCE, and DTP but fails ME, they may book a standalone ME retake at the next available Part 2 sitting for £566. If they pass ME at that retake, their Part 2 pass is confirmed. If they fail ME again, a full Part 2 resit is required, counting as the next attempt towards the four-attempt maximum.

Results are emailed to candidates within 20 working days of the examination. The GDC does not permit appeals against academic judgements or examiner decisions. Candidates may raise a formal complaint only on grounds of a serious procedural defect that demonstrably disadvantaged them, or on grounds of discrimination.

On passing Part 2, candidates receive notification from the GDC that they are eligible to apply for full registration. This triggers a separate GDC registration application process with its own fees — the Part 2 pass alone does not automatically add you to the register. Candidates should be aware that registration processing can take several weeks and that they cannot practise as a dentist in the UK until their name appears on the GDC register.

7. Part 2 Under the UCLC Contract: What Will Change from September 2026

From September 2026, UCL Consultants Ltd (UCLC) — the incoming ORE provider — takes over administration of Part 2. The UCLC consortium already includes the Royal College of Surgeons of England and UCL Eastman Dental Institute, both of which currently host Part 2 components. Continuity in venue is therefore likely, though no formal confirmation of the exact venue arrangements under UCLC has been published as of April 2026.

The most significant operational change is capacity. Under current arrangements, Part 2 is capped at 144 candidates per sitting with four sittings per year, providing 576 places annually. Under the UCLC contract, Part 2 places are expected to rise to 944 in the first year, scaling further to approximately 1,500 annually by year three.

The four-component structure of Part 2 is determined by the GDC's regulatory framework — not by the provider — so candidates should expect the DM, OSCE, DTP, and ME format to remain. Any changes to component content, station format, or venue will be communicated through the GDC's candidate communications. Candidates already preparing for Part 2 under the current contract should continue using existing resources; the framework they are studying to will not change materially with the provider transition.

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References

• General Dental Council — ORE Part 2 | Official GDC page confirming all four Part 2 components, exact venues, £4,235 fee, 144-candidate maximum, ME retake provision (£566), results timeline, and sitting dates.
• General Dental Council — ORE booking dates | Current booking status, priority booking policy, and refugee priority window information.
• General Dental Council — Preferred bidder for ORE confirmed | UCLC announcement and confirmed Part 2 capacity expansion.
• British Dental Journal — GDC shares more details on new ORE contract | March 2026 update on September 2026 first sittings and Part 2 capacity plans.
• General Dental Council — ORE Part 2 preparation and results | Historical Part 2 component pass rate distributions by sitting.
• Resuscitation Council UK — Basic Life Support Guidelines | The UK BLS and CPR standard candidates are expected to follow in the Medical Emergencies component.