Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's response to the consultation entitled Changes to the General Dental Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council's international registration legislation, updated on 28 November 2022, what progress he has made on reducing the amount of time international dentists have to wait to (a) sit exams and (b) become professionally registered.

The Department has worked with the General Dental Council (GDC) to develop legislative changes which allow the regulator greater flexibility to amend its existing international registration processes and explore alternative registration pathways as it considers appropriate. The legislative changes came into force on 8 March 2023. It is for the GDC, as an independent regulator, to decide how best to use the flexibility that these changes allow. We understand that the GDC will consult on changes to how the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) operates during summer 2023, which will enable it to increase the number of dentists it can assess, potentially allowing overseas dentists to join its register more quickly. The current legal framework for the ORE will remain in place until the GDC introduces new rules on the operation of the ORE 12 months after the legislation comes into force, in March 2024. This will allow the GDC time to consult on and finalise its approach in response to feedback from stakeholders.