A new dental nursing course is being offered by a Bolton school from September.
University Collegiate School (UCS) is running the course for 16 to 18-year-olds, and is part of the newly introduced T-Levels, which are technical-based qualifications which focus on practical skills and on-the-job experience.
It will be equivalent to three A-levels.
The course will be conducted with Synergy, which has a number of dental clinics across the town.
Stephanie Manchester, head of Health Specialism at the school, said: "We will deliver a T-Level in Health, with occupational specialisms in dental nursing and adult nursing.
"The dental nursing is new for this year, September 2024.
"One of the important things is it provides you with practical skills in comparison to other qualifications. Also there are not many courses out there for 16-18 year olds, only apprenticeships for dental nursing.
"The T-Level is a different way towards dentistry and dental nursing in particular. Our students will be better equipped because of the partnership with Synergy."
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She added: "It is the equivalent to three A-levels and emphasises occupational skills in particular and help our students get into skilled employment.
"Eighty per cent of the course is in the classroom, we have a dental suite set up which provides our students with equipment, resources and technology used in a real dental working surgery or clinic."
The course is approved by the General Dental Council, the UK regulator for dental professionals.
Stephanie added: "Synergy have quite a few clinics in the local area so our students can move around and have different experiences in different clinics."
Dr Zuber Bagasi, Managing Director and Surgeon at the dentists, said: "I'm really excited about this partnership. With the introduction of this new medical school, the goal is to develop Bolton into a health hub.
"This is all part of a wider plan to develop the future workforce of dentistry - through our existing partnerships with the University of Bolton, we hope this will allow young people in Bolton to progress further into undergraduate and post graduate dentistry courses."
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