Medical and Dental Students survey - MDS
Guidance for providers
The Medical and Dental Students survey asks higher education providers in the UK to provide data on the intake of medical and dental students.
This is an annual, UK-wide survey. We are conducting it on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Scottish Funding Council, Medr (Wales’s Commission for Tertiary Education and Research) and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.
This document gives guidance for submission of data, and changes and clarifications since last year's survey.
- Ref:
- OfS 2026.49
- Date:
- 1 October 2026
Completed workbooks must be submitted through the OfS portal no later than noon on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
By Monday 9 November 2026:
- all data verification queries must be resolved
- the data should be signed off by the provider’s accountable officer.
Medical and dental intakes
Published 24 September 2024
Last updated 01 October 2026 + show all updates
Last updated 01 October 2026 + show all updates
01 October 2026 - We have published the guidance for MDS 2026.
13 October 2025 - We have published the guidance for 2025.
17 October 2024 - Minor updates to guidance: Paragraph 15b – correction to the date to be 2024 (rather than 2023); Footnote to paragraph 41 – additional guidance to clarify for Scottish providers; Annex A – added KCL and Portsmouth under collaborative arrangements.
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