Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery Part 1
Exam overview
The MFDS consists of Part 1 and Part 2 exams.
Candidates are normally allowed a maximum of five years in which to complete all parts, but will need to pass Part 1 before progressing to Part 2.
Part 1 consists of 150 Single Best Answer (SBA) questions within a single three hour paper. The questions carry equal marks. An example question can be found in section 5 of the MFDS Candidate Guidance.
Important notice: Changes to MFDS exam
The MFDS qualification will be changing over 2026 and 2027. Find out more about the changes to the MFDS and what this means for you.
- £535.00
Eligibility
Education and training requirements
To be eligible to enter the MFDS Part 1 exam, you must:
- possess a primary dental qualification acceptable to the boards of the dental faculties at The Royal College of Surgeons of England, and should normally be registered to practise dentistry in their country of residence;
- have complied with all of the MFDS exam regulations.
Reasonable adjustments
We have a new email inbox for reasonable adjustments: ra_exams@rcseng.ac.uk. Please send all documentation and queries related to reasonable adjustments here. We will no longer be monitoring reasonable adjustment requests from the dental exams inbox.To apply for reasonable adjustments, candidates must submit a clinical assessment report which includes a recommendation of the adjustments they require in the exam.
If you are resitting an exam or sitting an exam after having reasonable adjustments applied for a previous part, you must inform us if you would like reasonable adjustments to be applied again.
Withdrawal and refund policy
If you wish to withdraw from the exam, you may or may not be entitled to a full or partial refund according to the guidelines outlined in our refund policy.
Please familiarise yourself with this policy before applying for an exam seat to ensure a smooth and easy withdrawal process.
Exemptions
Format of exam
Part 1 consists of one paper assessing knowledge and applied knowledge. This includes 150 Single Best Answer (SBA) questions within a single three-hour paper. The questions carry equal marks. The exam is not negatively marked.
An example question can be found in section 5 of the MFDS candidate guidance.The exam will be conducted remotely, online.
Syllabus
Please read the MFDS syllabus.
Booking options
UK and Ireland Exams
UK and Ireland
Apply before: 04 Mar 2026
13
May
2026
£535.00
Pricing notes:
Full price: £535.00BTL - Surpass Remote Examination
Book online
Please ensure you are logged in to your account or, if you do not have an account, have registered.
Please ensure you are logged in to your account or, if you do not have an account, have registered.
International exams
Asia
Middle East, Europe & Central Asia
Africa
Apply before: 04 Mar 2026
13
May
2026
£535.00
Pricing notes:
Full price: £535.00BTL - Surpass Remote Examination
Book online
Please ensure you are logged in to your account or, if you do not have an account, have registered.
Please ensure you are logged in to your account or, if you do not have an account, have registered.
Upcoming Exam Dates
The MFDS Part 1 examination will be delivered via online remote examination - you can read our remote delivery guidance for more information.
MFDS Part 1 May 2026
Application deadline: TBC | Exam date: 13 May 2026
MFDS Part 1 October 2026
Application deadline: 11 August 2026 | Exam date: 20 October 2026
Results are scheduled to be released 5-6 weeks after the exam date. Dates and fees may be subject to change. Please check back regularly for updates.
Candidates required to provide their Primary Dental Qualification must now provide these documents via email.
Please send scanned copies of your original documents to DentalEligibility@rcseng.ac.uk. Do not post in your document to our offices.
Important Notice for Indian Candidates Regarding Examination Fees
Effective for all exams taking place from 1st July 2025, please be informed that an additional 18% tax will be applied to examination fees for candidates sitting the examinations in India. This tax is mandated by local Indian tax regulations and is not determined by the College. The exam fee is £535 plus 18% tax, totalling £631.30.
Further details on the additional tax for exams in India can be found in the FAQs document.
Regulations and Guidance
Got a question? Get in touch...
All MFDS Exam queries should be emailed to MFDSexam@rcseng.ac.uk
All document submissions for eligibility should be emailed to DentalEligibility@rcseng.ac.uk
Candidates should not post any documents to our offices.
Thank you for your enquiry. We will reply to you as soon as possible.
Telephone
For general exam queries please call 020 7405 3474 - Option 3
Our main switchboard is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.