The Australian Dental Council's Annual Report 2024/25, published on the council's website, records a written-examination pass rate of 12 per cent for the 2025 financial year — 404 of 3,325 candidates — and a practical-examination pass rate of 11 per cent, 205 of 1,880 candidates. Both are the lowest figures in the six years the report tabulates. According to the report, the written examination ran in two sessions at more than 113 venues across 33 countries, and 79 practical sessions were held at the ADC's examination centre in Melbourne.
The published series is volatile rather than steadily declining. Written pass rates ran 50, 44, 24, 24 and 41 per cent across FY2020 to FY2024 before falling to 12; the practical series reads 19, 36, 27, 19, 15 and 11 per cent. Candidate numbers kept rising: written candidates grew from 2,925 in FY2024 to 3,325 in FY2025 while passes fell from 1,209 to 404. The report does not publish a first-attempt breakdown — the rates are passes divided by all candidates who sat in that financial year.
The report also describes capacity changes at the practical examination. From period 2 of 2025, the simulation clinic expanded from 24 to 28 candidates per session — which the ADC states adds more than 300 examination places a year — with the changeover between OSCE stations cut from two minutes to one and reading and examination times unchanged. The council processed 2,043 initial assessment applications across all professions in the financial year.
