The planned dental school at the University of East Anglia (UEA), once hailed as a key solution to Norfolk’s chronic shortage of NHS dental services, now faces uncertainty after ministers failed to commit to providing the required student support.
UEA had originally planned to admit its first cohort of 40 undergraduates next year, but enrollment is increasingly uncertain. While work has begun on the expansion of the Edith Cavell Building at Norwich University Hospital, funding for the building is separate from the funding required for clinical training places.
The center, costing ￡3 million to build, will be funded half by UEA and half by the local council, which has previously agreed to contribute ￡1.5 million.
However, the funding for the training places will be paid through the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to the Office for Students (OfS), which is responsible for deciding which courses will receive the additional undergraduate places.
Ministers have yet to inform the OfS how many, if any, additional dental or medical places should be allocated.
Due to the lack of guidance, an OfS spokesperson confirmed that the allocation process has not yet begun. The spokesperson stated that the OfS has not received any guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSC) to allocate additional dental or medical training places for the 2026-27 academic year, noting that any decision to allocate additional dental places rests with the government.
They added that if the OfS is asked to initiate the allocation process, it will coordinate the timing with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department for Education.
This comes after the new administration ordered a government-wide spending review, raising questions about the original timetable.
Health Secretary Stephen Kinnock had previously stated that a 2026 start was “still possible” and said in June that the process of instructing the OfS to allocate places would take “a few weeks.” Three months later, no official guidance has been issued.
The University of East Anglia (UEA) expressed disappointment at the slow progress but said it remained committed to providing undergraduate dental training to help address the county’s dentist shortage.
A university spokesperson stated that its application to the General Dental Council was approved earlier this summer, but stressed that it could not open applications or offer places until the government directs the OfS to allocate undergraduate places. The University of East Anglia added that if an earlier opening is not possible, it still hopes to open in September 2027.
Supporters say a local dental school would encourage students to stay in Norfolk and help end the region’s reputation as a “dental desert”—a region where many residents have difficulty accessing NHS care.
North Norfolk MP Stefan Acquarone has expressed concerns about the delay in parliament; his written inquiry submitted on June 16th received only a qualified response.
A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Committee said plans for the allocation of dental practice funding would be announced “in due course,” but did not give a firm timeline.