British dental journal
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British dental journal · Nov 2009
Comparative StudyWidening access? Characteristics of applicants to medical and dental schools, compared with UCAS.
The aim of this paper is to compare the demography (age, sex, ethnicity, social status) and academic experience (school type, tariff scores) of focused and successful applicants to preclinical dentistry with preclinical medicine, and with higher education in general in the UK. ⋯ Focused and successful applicants for preclinical medicine and dentistry are more likely to be from higher social classes and a minority ethnic background than applicants to higher education in general. Dentistry attracts twice the level of Asian applicants as medicine and four times that of universities in general. Controlling for other factors, there is evidence that gender, ethnicity, maturity, and school type are associated with probability of acceptance for medicine and dentistry. Higher social status is particularly associated with acceptance for medicine. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of widening access and social justice.