Changes to written examinations

The ADC has updated its written examination blueprints across several practitioner assessments to support consistency, clarity and alignment with the revised professional competencies.

Dental hygiene and/or dental therapy written examination

As reported in the winter edition of The Candidate Lounge, the written examination for dental hygiene and/or dental therapy has been updated to ensure consistency across all ADC dental practitioner assessments.

The revised blueprints contain a number of significant changes which include:

• A reduction in the total number of questions
• Removal of standalone multiple-choice questions
• Re-categorisation of domains into clusters of competency
• Re-naming and modification of discipline areas
• Re-distribution of cluster and discipline weighting

Passing requirements for the written examination will also change.

Candidates will progress from needing to pass individual examination papers, to passing each cluster of competency. While a grade will still be provided for each assessment cluster, the new grades will now reflect candidate performance relative to the passing standard (set at the standard competent new graduate).

For more information regarding updates to the written examination format, please visit the ADC website or the written examination handbook.

Further updates regarding dental hygiene and/or therapy practical examinations will be announced to candidates in the next edition of The Candidate Lounge.

General dentistry & dental prosthetics

The ADC is also pleased to announce minor updates to the written examination blueprints for general dentists and dental prosthetists. These updates reflect recent updates to the Professional competencies of the newly qualified dental practitioner and will come into effect for all written examinations starting 2026.

Updated written examination blueprints can be found in respective examination handbooks on the ADC website.