Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps with dental schools to develop apprenticeship programmes to help expand the dental workforce.

There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the development of the dental workforce, including Level 3 Dental Nurse, Level 4 Dental Practice Manager and Level 4 Orthodontic Therapist.

NHS England has been supporting dental schools to encourage delivery of the Level 6 Dental Hygienist apprenticeship standard, and the department continues to make it easier for providers to offer and deliver apprenticeships, including cutting red tape through reforms to the payment system.