Guides LDS Part 1 in 8 weeks
How to prepare for LDS Part 1 in 8 weeks
A week-by-week plan for a working dentist: diagnose first, sweep the syllabus, then rehearse two papers on consecutive days before the real thing.
Eight weeks is enough for LDS Part 1 if you are working and disciplined about it. It is not enough if you spend the first month reading textbooks cover to cover. This plan assumes you have a job, perhaps twelve to fifteen hours a week to give it, and two papers to sit on consecutive days at the end.
If you have not settled on the route yet, read ORE versus LDS first. If you have, and you want the format detail, that is in the LDS Part 1 format guide.
What you are preparing for
Two papers, A and B, three hours each, on consecutive days, sat at home under remote proctoring. Both must be passed in the same sitting. The syllabus is broad rather than deep, and the questions are single best answers — which means recognition under time pressure, not essay-style recall.
That has three consequences for how you revise:
- Volume beats depth. You need to have met a topic and answered questions on it, not mastered it.
- Breadth is the risk. The subjects you never got round to are where the marks leak.
- Stamina is real. Six hours of single best answers in forty-eight hours is its own skill.
The eight weeks
| Week | Focus | What you actually do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diagnose | Sit questions across every subject without revising first. The point is to find out where you are weak, not to score well. Record the weak subjects. |
| 2–3 | Weak subjects first | Work through your worst subjects while you have the most energy. Read the topic, then answer questions on it the same day. |
| 4–5 | Full sweep | Cover the remaining subjects at pace. Do not linger on things you already answer correctly. |
| 6 | First timed paper | Three hours, no interruptions, no notes. Then review every wrong answer properly. |
| 7 | Two days back to back | Sit two timed papers on consecutive days — the actual exam pattern. This is the week you find out whether day two is a problem. |
| 8 | Weak areas and logistics | Only the topics you are still getting wrong. Test your exam-day kit properly. Sleep. |
Week 1 in more detail: do not skip the diagnostic
Almost everyone wants to start by revising. Resist it for a few days. Answering questions cold across the whole syllabus tells you, in a week, what would otherwise take you a month to discover — and it stops you spending weeks polishing subjects you were already fine at.
Write the weak subjects down. That list is your plan for weeks 2 and 3.
Week 7 is the one people cut
Sitting two three-hour papers on consecutive days is the single most exam-specific thing you can rehearse, and it is the week most candidates drop when they fall behind. Do not. Day two tiredness is a real cause of lost marks, and the only way to know how it affects you is to have done it once already.
Do it at the same time of day as your real sitting, in the same room, with the same setup.
Week 8: the logistics are part of the exam
Because you sit LDS Part 1 at home, your room and your equipment are part of your preparation. In the final week:
- Test the webcam, microphone and second-camera phone together, as a full setup.
- Check your connection holds for three hours, not three minutes.
- Arrange the room so it can be clear and uninterrupted twice, on consecutive days.
- Confirm your eligibility documents are all in — they are due within one week of booking, and missing that deadline means withdrawal without refund.
How many hours a week?
Twelve to fifteen is realistic for someone working full time, and it is enough. Twenty-five is better if you have it, but a plan built on hours you do not actually have is worse than a smaller plan you finish. Consistency beats intensity over eight weeks.
What to use
You need questions in volume, explanations that teach you why the wrong answers are wrong, and something to read when a topic is genuinely new to you. Our LDS Part 1 course is built as one thing rather than two: 4,738 questions with every answer explained, and 431 revision topics written out in full across 23 subjects, with a weak-areas report so you are not guessing what to revise.
It is £199 for three years, and three hours of the whole thing are free before you decide.
FAQ
Is eight weeks enough for LDS Part 1? For most working dentists, yes — at twelve to fifteen hours a week, provided you start with questions rather than textbooks.
How many hours a week should I study for LDS Part 1? Twelve to fifteen is realistic alongside a job and is enough to cover the syllabus in eight weeks.
Should I revise or answer questions first? Answer questions first. A cold diagnostic across all subjects in week one tells you where your marks are actually leaking.
Do I need to practise two papers on consecutive days? Yes. Both papers fall in one sitting on consecutive days, and day-two tiredness costs marks if you have never rehearsed it.
Is LDS Part 1 the same as ORE Part 1? Different exams and different awarding bodies, but the written first part of each tests much of the same core knowledge.
Sources
Formats and deadlines change — confirm the current position with RCS England before you plan around it.