GDC Courses: Online Courses for a GDC Concern and Verifiable CPD

GDC courses are searched for in two situations: a concern has been raised with the General Dental Council about your consent process, your records, your communication or your conduct, and you need to show what you have done about it before the case examiners decide; or you want verifiable CPD on ethics and professionalism for your five-year cycle. This guide sets out, from the GDC’s own pages, how a concern runs, the standards it is measured against, which course fits each kind of concern, and the price. Each course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours, online and self-paced, and Probity & Ethics is CPD accredited through The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).

How does a GDC concern run, and where does a course fit?

The GDC investigates concerns about a dental professional’s practice, health or behaviour. It may ask you for more details and take advice from its clinical advisers, and it says you can continue working in your current role while it investigates. At the end of the investigation it either closes the case with no further action or refers it to the case examiners. The GDC says only around a third of the cases raised with it reach that stage.

When a case is referred, the GDC sets out allegations that your fitness to practise may be impaired and invites your comments. It gives 28 days as the standard time to reply, and more in some circumstances. This is the point at which a course matters: your reply can show what you have learned, what you have changed and the evidence for it.

Two case examiners, one lay and one dental professional, then decide whether there is a real prospect of the allegations being proved and of your fitness to practise being found impaired. They can:

• close the case and take no further action;
• issue a letter of advice;
• issue a warning, which can be published on your register entry;
• agree a series of undertakings with you; or
• refer the case to a practice committee at the Dental Professionals Hearings Service for a full inquiry.

Where there may be a serious or immediate risk, a case can be referred at any stage to the Interim Orders Committee, which decides whether your registration needs to be restricted while the matter is investigated. Our guide to preparing for a fitness to practise hearing covers the later stages.

Which standards is a GDC concern measured against?

The GDC’s Standards for the Dental Team set out nine principles that every registrant must follow. In 2026 the GDC consulted on replacing them with a new framework for professionalism; until a change takes effect, these are the standards a concern is measured against. Each principle has a course that answers it.

Which GDC course fits which concern?

Start from the concern as the GDC has described it, take the course on that subject, then add the short modules that are about the response itself.

• Consent (treatment without valid consent, options not explained, costs not agreed): Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice, with Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals.
• Records (notes missing, late or altered; radiographs not reported): Professionalism in Documentation.
• Clinical care (a treatment outcome, an error, working outside competence): Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety, with Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice if a patient was not told.
• Honesty or money (a claim, a record, NHS and private fees): Probity for Healthcare Professionals and Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals.
• A boundary with a patient or a colleague, including social media: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians, Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues or Professionalism and Boundaries in Use of Social Media.
• The standards as a whole: Ethics and Ethical Standards for Dentists and Dental Professionals.
• The response itself: Module on Insight and Module on Reflection, then Module on Remediation for the plan you put to the case examiners.

Do the same courses count as verifiable CPD?

They can, when they meet the GDC’s test for verifiable CPD. The GDC says it places no restrictions on the way CPD is delivered, and asks for evidence that shows the subject, aims, development outcomes, date, hours, your name and quality assurance. You link each course to one or more of the GDC’s development outcomes in your activity log. The GDC recommends CPD in legal and ethical issues and in complaints handling, which is where ethics and professionalism courses sit. The hours for each registered title, the two-year rule and the annual statement are in our guide to CPD courses for dentists and dental nurses.

What to do: five steps after a GDC letter

1. Get advice the same day. Contact your indemnifier, defence organisation or a solicitor before you reply to the GDC or your employer.
2. Read the allegations line by line. Note which of the nine principles each one relates to and the date your comments are due.
3. Keep to the facts. Gather the clinical records, radiographs, consent forms, appointment notes and messages that relate to the concern.
4. Start remediation that matches the concern. Take the course on the subject of the concern and keep notes after each section; add the Modules on Insight and Reflection for the response.
5. Write a reflection that shows insight. What happened, which standard it fell short of, the effect on the patient and on trust, and what you have changed. See how to demonstrate insight.

Our GDC courses and the Bulk Buy offer

Every course below is online and self-paced, with immediate access and a dated certificate. They are written for the whole dental team: dentists, dental nurses, dental hygienists and therapists, orthodontic therapists and dental technicians. They serve a professional responding to a complaint or a GDC concern, and a professional building a verifiable CPD record.

Courses by subject

Any 3 courses for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. The £49 Modules are bought on their own. Unsure where to start? Book a free call or use which course do I need.

Other regulators:

See the courses for your profession:

• DoctorsGMC
• Nurses and midwivesNMC
• Dental teamGDC
• PharmacistsGPhC
• HCPC professionsHCPC
• Optometrists and dispensing opticiansGOC
• ChiropractorsGCC
• OsteopathsGOsC
• Social workersSocial Work England

Questions and answers