NHS Education for Scotland has announced the Dental Vocational Training 2026/27 timeline, including DTIS prospectus dates, visitation, preferencing, matching results, clearing and training start date.

Category: Healthcare Training / Vocational Training / International Skilling
Tags: Dental Vocational Training, DVT Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland, NES, Healthcare Training, Vocational Training, Dental Education, Skill Development, Scotland Training Programme

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has issued important updates for the Dental Vocational Training (DVT) 2026/27 recruitment cycle, outlining key dates for trainer prospectus publication, visitation, candidate and trainer preferencing, matching results, clearing and commencement of training posts.

Dental Vocational Training is organised and administered across Scotland by NES. The programme is designed to support recently qualified dentists as they transition from undergraduate dental education to independent dental practice. It follows a centralised recruitment process and a standardised training framework to ensure new dental professionals receive structured support at the beginning of their professional careers.

According to the latest update, recruitment for the 2026/27 training year has already commenced, while the application window for Dental Vocational Training posts in Scotland is now closed. Applications to become a DVT/TVT trainer for the 2026/27 intake are also closed.

The next stage of the recruitment cycle focuses on trainer prospectus access, visitation, preferencing and matching. The Rural Trainer Prospectus will go live on DTIS from Friday, 29 May 2026 to Monday, 1 June 2026. During this period, visitation opens for rural practices only, and these practices are eligible to make direct appointments.

From Monday, 1 June 2026 at 10:00 AM, the remaining Trainer Prospectus will go live on DTIS, and visitation will open for all other practices. The visitation period will continue from 1 June 2026 at 10:00 AM to 12 June 2026 at 10:00 AM, during which only direct appointments will be available and no preferencing will take place.

The candidate preferencing window will open on Friday, 12 June 2026 at 10:00 AM, and both the candidate preferencing window and visitation period will close on Friday, 19 June 2026 at 10:00 AM.

Matching results will be released to candidates on Oriel on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 at 10:00 AM. Candidates will then have 48 hours to either accept or reject the match. Shortly after this, matching results will be uploaded to DTIS for trainers to view the candidates matched with them.

The clearing process will open on Thursday, 25 June 2026 by 5:00 PM, and the new training posts are scheduled to commence on Tuesday, 1 September 2026.

The update also highlights Longitudinal Foundation Training (LDFT). Applicants who applied for DVT by the closing date will be given the opportunity to register interest for the LDFT programme. NES will contact eligible applicants once the longlisting process has been completed.

LDFT provides an additional pathway for eligible applicants and is supported by separate programme documentation, including the LDFT Booklet and Person Specification.

NES has also confirmed that applications to become a trainer for the DVT/TVT 2026/27 intake are now closed. The trainer recruitment process began with the portal opening for all trainer applications on 6 October 2025, followed by the closing date for new trainer applications on 8 December 2025 and the deadline for current and returning trainers on 26 January 2026.

Trainer outcomes were scheduled to be issued by 1 April 2026, while access to DTIS for trainers to complete practice prospectus details was granted in the week commencing 13 April 2026. The deadline for submission of practice prospectus was 8 May 2026.

The trainer-side timeline now aligns with the candidate process, including prospectus publication, visitation, preferencing, matching results, clearing and commencement of the new training programme.

The Dental Vocational Training programme plays a significant role in strengthening Scotland’s dental workforce by providing recently qualified dentists with structured exposure to professional practice. For trainees, the 2026/27 recruitment cycle offers a clearly defined pathway from application to placement and training commencement. For trainers and dental practices, the DTIS prospectus, visitation and matching process provides a structured mechanism to engage with candidates and support the next generation of dental professionals.

With applications now closed, candidates and trainers should closely follow the remaining schedule, particularly the visitation period, preferencing window, matching results and clearing dates.

All dates mentioned in the NES recruitment timeline are subject to change. Candidates, trainers and participating practices are advised to regularly check official NES, Oriel and DTIS updates for the latest information.