Dental technician

You could do a foundation degree or degree in dental technology approved by the General Dental Council.

You could apply for a place on a Dental Technician Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship.

This can take between 2 and 3 years and combines on-the-job training with study.

Once working as a technician, you may be able to do a Clinical Dental Technician Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship. You'll need the support of your employer to do this.

You could start as a trainee dental technician with a practice and complete technician training part time while working.

This could take up to 5 years depending on how the training is structured.

You could apply to do a Mortuary Technician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship - Pathology route.

This can take up to 2 years to complete and must be done while working in a public or NHS mortuary.

You could start as a trainee assistant in an NHS or local authority pathology service. Training combines learning on the job with classroom study and leads to a Level 3 Diploma in Healthcare Science - Pathology.

Initially, you would watch a pathologist at work, then start to do some basic tasks yourself under the supervision of experienced staff.

To become a trainee you would normally need:

• 5 GCSEs or equivalent at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English, maths and a science - usually biology
• good IT skills
• to be sensitive to the issues facing families dealing with the death of a loved one
• an awareness and respect for different religious beliefs about death

You'll need to complete a higher education diploma or degree approved by the General Dental Council.

Subjects include:

• dental hygiene
• oral health science
• dental hygiene and dental therapy

When you apply for a university course, it might help to have some experience in a dental or healthcare setting, for example, shadowing a dental nurse or dental hygienist.

You might be able to get extra support with student finance, as a dental student, through the NHS Learning Support Fund.

If you're a qualified dental nurse, you may be able to do a part-time training course with a dental school to become a dental hygienist.

You could do a nursing associate foundation degree at university. This usually takes 2 years to complete when studied full time.

Each university sets their own fees and have different funding options.

You should check that the course you choose is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

You can apply to do a Nursing Associate Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship. This will take you 2 years to complete and combines study with training on the job.