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Working as a dentist in Australia:one assessment, three decision-makers, plainly.

There is no single "ADC exam" that ends in a licence. The Australian Dental Council assesses you, the Dental Board of Australia decides your registration, and Ahpra runs the application. This page explains the whole route.

See the three stages Find my licensing path

First, the shape of the thing

One assessment,
three decision-makers.

If your dental qualification is not recognised in Australia, the standard route to general registration runs through the Australian Dental Council (ADC). The ADC assesses your knowledge and skills. It does not register you. The Dental Board of Australia decides registration under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, and Ahpra administers the application.

A pass is not registration. The Dental Board says so plainly: you must still apply through Ahpra and meet every registration standard before you can practise.

The ADC assessment

Three stages, in order.

The standard route for an overseas-qualified dentist with an unrecognised qualification: Initial Assessment, then the Written Examination, then the Practical Examination. New candidates begin by creating an ADC Connect account.

Initial Assessment

The ADC checks who you are and what you hold before any exam is offered.

What it is

A document-based assessment of your qualification and credentials, started through an ADC Connect account.

What it decides

Whether you are eligible to proceed to the Written Examination. It is not an exam, and it is not a registration decision.

The alternatives

A New Zealand-registered dentist can apply under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition instead. Completing an Australian Board-approved qualification also bypasses ADC assessment.

The check

Current eligibility rules, dates and fees live on the ADC assessment hub. Read them there before you pay for anything.

ADC assessment hub · ADC Connect →

Written Examination

Delivered by Pearson VUE over two consecutive days. The most fully published part of the process.

The format

Four two-hour sections over two consecutive days, 70 scenario-based multiple-choice questions in each section, 280 in total. All four sections must be completed in the same examination session.

What it assesses

Knowledge of dental science and practice, and clinical judgement and reasoning relevant to Australian dental practice.

Booking

You need ADC authorisation and a Pearson VUE Authorisation to Test before you can book, and both days must be at the same venue. The exam is normally held twice a year.

The source of truth

Pearson VUE handles delivery and booking only, and points candidates to the ADC Written Examination Handbook for current content and policy.

Pearson VUE ADC · ADC assessment hub →

Practical Examination

Hands-on assessment in a simulation clinic, with structured feedback afterwards.

The setting

Technical tasks completed during the technical-skills day in a simulation clinic, marked against task rubrics.

What feedback names

ADC’s official Candidate Feedback Report gives examples of assessed tasks: approximal resin-composite preparation, metal-ceramic crown preparation, provisional crown restoration, endodontic access cavity, and anterior and posterior resin-composite restorations.

How it is marked

Descriptors run from very good through satisfactory and borderline to unsatisfactory, across criteria such as outline form and depth, caries removal, margin form and position, taper and occlusal reduction.

The caution

Those tasks are examples from a feedback report, not a fixed or complete task set. Use them as a skills-practice checklist; the current handbook controls the real exam.

ADC Candidate Feedback Report · assessment hub →

The route, step by step

From where you are to an Australian registration.

Check recognition first

The Dental Board’s first question is whether your qualification is recognised. New Zealand-registered practitioners can apply under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition.

Pass the Initial Assessment

Create an ADC Connect account and submit your documents. The ADC assesses your qualification and decides whether you may proceed to the Written Examination.

Sit the Written Examination

Two consecutive days, four two-hour sections, 70 scenario-based questions in each, 280 in total, all in the same session. Book through Pearson VUE once the ADC authorises you.

Sit the Practical Examination

Technical tasks in a simulation clinic, marked against rubrics. Afterwards you receive structured feedback on any criterion assessed as unsatisfactory.

Apply for registration

Passing the ADC does not register you. Apply through Ahpra for general registration with the Dental Board and meet every registration standard: English language skills, criminal history, recency of practice, indemnity and CPD.

After you pass

Passing is not registration.

Three things sit between a pass and a first day of work.

Registration is a separate application

Ahpra administers it, the Dental Board decides it, and you cannot work as a dentist before it is granted. Expect identity and suitability evidence, good-standing documents, employment history, translations and an international criminal-history check.

Registration standards still apply

English language skills, criminal history, recency of practice, professional indemnity insurance and continuing professional development. The accepted English test scores changed from 23 April 2026, so read the live standard rather than any summary, including this one.

Visas and jobs are separate processes

Ahpra says so explicitly: visas, immigration and securing employment sit outside registration, and success in one process does not guarantee success in another. Skilled visas run through ImmiAccount; for employer-sponsored visas, the employer nominates before you apply.

A note on question banks. There is no official ADC question bank. The Candidate Feedback Report is a marking-rubric example from a past exam, not live questions. Treat commercial "recall" sets as what they are: unofficial material.

Practise for the ADC Written Examination.

Question practice and timed mock exams shaped around the published format: 280 questions across four two-hour sections over two days, so exam day feels familiar, not frightening.

Start exam practice Find my licensing path

CEJ Experts is independent of every licensing authority. No pass guarantees.

Every fact on this page comes from the Australian Dental Council, the Dental Board of Australia, Ahpra, Pearson VUE and the Department of Home Affairs. Fees and processes change; we link to the official pages rather than quoting figures that would age. Back to Compass →

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