The General Dental Council has agreed to seek an increase in the fees charged to candidates sitting the International Qualifying Examination (IQE), to help meet the growing demand for places from overseas dentists wanting to work in the UK.

The IQE is funded by the fees candidates pay to sit the exam. To be able to run a new, larger programme of sittings, the GDC has agreed to increase the fees for Parts A and C of the IQE from £550 and £750 to £600 and £950 respectively, and to leave the Part B fee (£650) unaffected. The fee increases are expected to be implemented for all IQE examinations taking place after June 2005, subject to approval by the Privy Council.

In 2004, the GDC increased the capacity of the IQE by over 120% compared to the capacity for 2003, thanks to a special subsidy from the Department of Health (England) and the support of UK dental schools, which hold the exam. As a result, candidates' waiting times were reduced significantly and 199 dentists became eligible to apply for GDC registration over the year.

The GDC is keen to ensure that IQE candidates continue to have an early opportunity to sit the exam and has negotiated a flexible programme of IQE sittings with dental schools, with enough capacity to meet the expected demand for places over the next two years. It claims this should enable dentists to go through the examination process more swiftly than in the past.

GDC President, Hew Mathewson said: “The IQE is self-funding. The GDC covers the costs of running the examination through candidates' fees, rather than subsidising it through the annual fees paid by GDC registrants. The Department of Health has offered a fixed sum to help fund the new, extended, flexible programme of IQE sittings, but an immediate increase to candidates' fees is needed to ensure the GDC covers its costs and those incurred by the dental schools holding the exam.”

The IQE is the GDC's examination for dentists from overseas who wish to practise in the UK but whose primary dental qualifications are not recognised for full registration with the GDC. The examination tests the dentist's skills and knowledge and, after passing all three parts, successful candidates can apply for registration with the GDC.