What happens in the DCT interview

The UK Dental Core Training (DCT1, DCT2 and DCT3) National Selection interview is a single online multi-station interview coordinated by NHS England and COPDEND. Candidates complete two 10-minute stations — one assessing clinical scenarios and medical emergencies, and one assessing clinical governance, management, professionalism and communication — each preceded by 3 minutes of scenario reading time before the two-assessor panel begins questioning.

Checked against the official sources on 24 October 2026.

The parts, in order

How it is marked

Each station is scored independently by two trained dental panellists across structured domain criteria, assessing clinical knowledge and judgement, patient safety and prioritisation, clinical governance and ethical reasoning, and structured communication.

Passing

Appointability requires meeting the national minimum threshold score across the interview stations; for DCT1 recruitment, candidates who pass the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) benchmark are ranked using their combined interview and SJT scores.

Worth knowing

• Dental Core Training National Selection interviews are held online via a single national assessment process for posts across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• MedMock practises both 10-minute stations with the real 3-minute reading window before each station.

Sources

• NHS England: Dental Core Training (DCT) National Recruitment
• COPDEND: Dental Core Training Curriculum