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CQC, GDC and patient data
CQC, GDC and ICO fees for a dental practice in 2026/27: what a three-surgery practice pays its regulators in a year
What a dental practice pays its regulators in 2026/27: the CQC fee by chairs (£598 to £1,294), the GDC fee (£698 and £108) and the ICO fee (£52 or £78).
A single-location dental practice in England pays the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between £598 and £1,294 a year, set by the number of dental chairs: £846 for three. Each dentist owes the General Dental Council (GDC) £698 a year, each dental care professional £108, and the practice owes the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) £52 or £78.
For a three-surgery practice with four dentists, two hygienists and five dental nurses, that comes to £4,472 a year. Every figure below was read on the regulator's own page on 1 October 2026.
CQC: by chairs, then by locations
| One location, dental chairs | Fee a year |
|---|---|
| 1 (and domiciliary providers with none) | £598 |
| 2 | £747 |
| 3 | £846 |
| 4 | £946 |
| 5 to 6 | £1,095 |
| More than 6 | £1,294 |
| Locations | Fee a year |
|---|---|
| 2 | £1,593 |
| 3 | £2,389 |
| 4 | £3,185 |
| 5 | £3,982 |
| 6 to 10 | £4,772 |
The CQC's table is still headed 2024/25, and its fees page says the 2019/20 scheme "remains valid until further notice". The British Dental Association reported on 23 December 2025 that the fees for 2026-27 "will remain the same as for the last seven years".
Once a provider has a second location, chairs stop counting. Two sites with one chair each pay £1,593. One site with two chairs pays £747. A practice planning a satellite surgery should put the difference, £846 a year, into the plan first.
The fee covers registration, monitoring and inspection. The CQC says it "will send you an invoice stating your exact fee before it is due". We found no separate charge for an inspection in the pages we read. What the inspector asks the front desk for is in the CQC inspection evidence guide.
GDC: by registrant
| Registrant | Fee | Due | By quarterly direct debit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dentist | £698 | 31 December | 4 × £174.50 |
| Dental care professional | £108 | 31 July | 4 × £27 |
| Specialist title, each | £72 | 31 December | taken in full with the first payment |
The GDC's dental care professional titles are dental nurse, dental technician, dental therapist, dental hygienist, orthodontic therapist and clinical dental technician. The GDC says there is "no reduction if you work part time", and that a registrant who misses the deadline "may be removed from the register".
The deadline to set up quarterly payments is the end of May for dental care professionals and the end of October for dentists. Paying by instalments costs the same as paying once.
The fee is the registrant's own. The GDC says: "It is your responsibility to pay your fee on time." Whether the practice pays it for employed nurses is a matter for the employment contract. Either way the practice manager needs the dates, because the GDC says a person who is not registered "will not be able to practise in the UK".
The £698 a dentist pays by 31 December 2026 is the fee for 2027: once it is paid, registration runs to 31 December 2027. The fee that will fall due on 31 December 2027 had not been published when we read the page.
ICO: by size
| Tier | Test | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turnover of £632,000 or less, or no more than 10 members of staff | £52 |
| 2 | Turnover of £36 million or less, or no more than 250 members of staff | £78 |
| 3 | Anything larger | £3,763 |
A practice needs to meet only one of the two tests to stay in a tier. Staff means employees, workers, office holders and partners, averaged over the financial year, and the ICO says each part-time staff member "is counted as one member of staff". A practice with 11 or more on that count and turnover above £632,000 is in tier 2.
Paying by direct debit takes £5 off. Not paying can lead to a fine of up to £4,350. The fee is separate from the work a practice does before a tool reads patient records, which is in the guide to AI and patient data.
The worked example
Three chairs at one location, four dentists, two hygienists, five dental nurses, turnover above £632,000.
| Fee | Sum | A year |
|---|---|---|
| CQC, 3 chairs | £846 | |
| GDC, dentists | 4 × £698 | £2,792 |
| GDC, dental care professionals | 7 × £108 | £756 |
| ICO, tier 2 | £78 | |
| Total | £4,472 |
The practice itself is invoiced for £924, which is £846 plus £78. The other £3,548 falls on the registrants unless the practice has agreed to pay it. With the ICO direct debit discount the total is £4,467.
The surgery hourly rate calculator uses an example practice with £310,000 of running costs. Against that, £4,472 is 1.4%.
A calendar to copy
| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| End of May | Last date to set up quarterly direct debit for dental care professionals | Each nurse, hygienist and therapist |
| 31 July | Dental care professional fee due | Each registrant. The manager checks the register on 1 August |
| End of October | Last date to set up quarterly direct debit for dentists | Each dentist |
| 31 December | Dentist and specialist fees due | Each dentist. The manager checks the register in January |
| [your date] | CQC invoice | Provider |
| [your date] | ICO fee renewal. The ICO sends a reminder | Practice |
| Any change of chairs, locations or staff count | Recheck the CQC band and the ICO tier | Manager |
What is not in these figures
Indemnity, software and staff time spent on compliance are not regulator fees and are not counted here. Software prices are in dental practice management software prices.
Physiotherapists register with a different regulator, the HCPC, which charges £123.34 a year (£246.68 for the two-year cycle); our guide to what a physiotherapy clinic pays the HCPC and the CSP works through a clinic of three. The ICO fee is not specific to dentistry: the ICO says organisations "that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee, unless they are exempt". A physiotherapy or aesthetics clinic can check its position with the ICO's fee self-assessment.
A GDC-registered professional or the practice manager reviews anything a tool drafts before it reaches a patient. This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.
Short answers from this page
How much is the CQC fee for a dental practice in 2026/27?
For one location it depends on the number of dental chairs: £598 for one, £747 for two, £846 for three, £946 for four, £1,095 for five or six and £1,294 for more than six. A provider with two locations pays £1,593 whatever the chair count. The British Dental Association reported the fees unchanged for 2026-27.
Source: CQC, Provider fees payable: dental services; British Dental Association, 23 December 2025; read 1 October 2026
Every short answer for dental, physio and aesthetics clinics
Where this comes from: CQC, "Provider fees payable: dental services" (page last updated 10 June 2024, table headed 2024/25) and "Provider fees payable"; British Dental Association news, 23 December 2025, and BDJ In Practice, 9 February 2026 (CQC fees for 2026-27 unchanged); GDC "Annual retention fee", "Pay by instalments Direct Debit" and "Types of registrants" pages; ICO "Guide to the data protection fee" and its FAQs. All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. The GDC had not published a 2027 fee on that date. Not legal or financial advice.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
