Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to establish a dental school in Portsmouth.

On 3 September 2025, the University of Portsmouth was designated as a dental authority for the purposes of the Dentists Act 1984 by The Dentists Act 1984 (Medical Authorities) Order 2025, enabling it to run dental exams and award dentistry qualifications.

On 10 March 2026, the Government announced an expansion of dental school places in England from 809 to 859, backed by an £11 million investment per year once the expansion is fully implemented.

The Office for Students (OfS) has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for dental school places. Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education have requested that the OfS prioritise new dental schools, approved by the General Dental Council, when allocating the new places.