Our analysis provides evidence of important factors in career decision making for medicine which can be used to inform widening participation interventions in 3 areas, namely, those of school support, home support and raising aspirations.

We concluded that norm referencing is preferable to criterion referencing, negative marking preferable to number-right marking, a discontinuous scale preferable to a continuous scale and that grades should be weighted to favour the most recent outcomes, although there should still be a degree of persistence (earlier grades should not disappear all together). Grade boundaries should be established with regard to rules on remediation and progression.

A healthcare curriculum must be up-to-date, fit for purpose and relevant to the population it serves wherever that population might be, worldwide. In this paper we describe the rationale for the design and implementation of a curriculum in a new dental school in UK. We assessed the general and dental health needs of our local population and proposed a set of core skills our dentists will need on graduation and in the future. This core learning falls into three domains of learning. The psychomotor domain covers the learning of technical skills for which we use the shorthand 'hands'. The affective domain covers empathy and behaviour management, that is the 'heart'; and the cognitive domain including critical thinking, the 'head'. The three domains require different ways of learning but all are delivered in context in an integrated, case-based spiralling curriculum building in complexity year on year. Students treat patients from half way through year 1, which helps them appreciate the relevance of the 'hands', 'heart' and 'head' of dentistry as they begin to build their knowledge and experience.

An enquiry-based, student-centred curriculum at the Peninsula Dental School provides a positive academic environment for the students.

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