Accreditation

The Council accredits and monitors New Zealand-prescribed dental programmes that lead to registration, to ensure the quality of education is appropriate and standards are maintained.

The purpose of accreditation is both to assure the quality of education and training and to promote continuous improvement of the programmes. All New Zealand prescribed qualification must be accredited and monitored by the Council. 

An accreditation committee advises the Council on whether new or accredited programmes meet the accreditation standards to ensure graduates are competent to practise in New Zealand once registered, and to advise the Council on other accreditation related matters

The Council monitors 21 New Zealand programmes across the oral health professions.  

The accreditation status of the programmes accredited by the Dental Council.

Accreditation Standards

The Council sets accreditation standards. The accreditation standards standards set the benchmark and expectations against which we assess education programmes for accreditation.

The standards are underpinned by a set of professional competencies that graduates must meet to complete their studies and register as oral health practitioners.

Monitoring

The programmes are monitored and reviewed by annual reports or cyclical five-year reviews.

The Council puts in place appropriate monitoring should one of the reviews
identify any major changes or risks that could compromise a programme continuing to meet its accreditation standards.

The Council requires an annual report for each accredited programme. Details of any significant changes, planned or unplanned, must be provided at that time. It is the responsibility of the programme to notify the accreditation committee in its annual reports of any planned significant changes before they are implemented.

Progress on relevant recommendations made at previous accreditation visits are also reported as part of the annual reports.