It is one of the most common questions we hear from practice owners and associates: what is the UDA rate in my area, and how does it compare with the rest of the country? The honest answer surprises people. There is no national UDA value, and there is no official regional rate card that sets a UDA figure by area. The variation you see is real, but it is a product of history rather than a published tariff. This guide explains why the per-UDA value differs across the UK, what the broad England picture looks like, and how the four nations diverge.
Why There Is No National UDA Value
A UDA, or Unit of Dental Activity, is the basic measure of NHS dental treatment in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each course of treatment earns a set number of units: a Band 1 course (examination, advice, scale and polish) is worth 1 UDA, a Band 2 course (fillings, extractions, root treatment) is worth 3 UDAs, a Band 3 course (crowns, dentures, bridges) is worth 12 UDAs, and an urgent course is worth 1.2 UDAs. The practice is paid a fixed amount for each UDA it delivers, up to its contracted annual target.
The figure that varies is the value attached to a single UDA, and the reason it varies sits in how the contracts were created. When the current UDA system began in 2006, each practice's per-UDA value was set from its own baseline: the practice's historic test-year NHS fees were divided by the number of UDAs it was contracted to deliver. A practice that had earned more in the reference period, or had agreed a particular UDA target, ended up with a different per-UDA value from the practice down the road. Those individual baselines were then carried forward and uplifted annually. There was never a single national price, and there was never a step where regions were given a published rate.
That is the crucial point for anyone benchmarking. Because every value descends from a practice-specific 2006 starting point, the per-UDA figure varies contract by contract and, when you look at enough contracts in one area, area by area. It does not vary because a commissioner publishes a London rate, a Midlands rate and a northern rate. The pattern is an artefact of thousands of historic baselines, not a tariff you can look up.
The Broad England Picture
Across England, per-UDA values run from roughly the mid teens to over forty pounds per unit, with the large majority of contracts clustering in a middle band. We deliberately frame this as a wide range rather than a set of area figures, because quoting a precise number for a region would imply a rate card that does not exist. Two practices in the same town, holding contracts that began from different historic baselines, can sit at opposite ends of that range.
What does drive the spread? Several legacy factors compound. The historic test-year fees baked into the 2006 baseline differ from practice to practice. The contracted UDA target chosen at the outset affects the resulting per-unit figure. Annual uplifts have not always kept pace with practice cost inflation, so contracts that started lower have tended to stay relatively low in real terms. Local commissioning history and any subsequent contract changes add further variation. None of this is a regional price list. It is the accumulated effect of how each contract was built and maintained.
For owners, this means a contract with a higher per-UDA value carries a more valuable NHS income stream, which feeds directly into how a practice is valued on sale. For associates, the per-UDA value of the specific practice you join shapes the gross fee income your clinical activity can generate. In both cases the number that matters is the one on the actual contract, not a regional average that was never officially defined. To understand how that value is calculated and read off your own contract, see our guide to what a UDA value is and how it affects your NHS contract.
How the Four Nations Differ
The phrase "across the UK" hides a major structural divide. England, Wales and Northern Ireland all use UDA-style activity contracts, but each runs its own contract terms and reform programme. Scotland does not use UDAs at all. The table below sets out the four systems at a glance.
| Nation | Payment mechanism | How the per-unit value is set | Reform position |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) | Per-contract value from a 2006 baseline (historic fees divided by contracted UDAs), uplifted annually; no national or regional rate | Incremental change, with the UDA mechanism continuing alongside phased reform |
| Wales | UDA-style activity contract, Welsh terms | Per-contract value on a historic baseline, under Welsh contract rules and requirements | On its own reform path, distinct from England |
| Northern Ireland | UDA-style activity contract, Northern Ireland terms | Per-contract value on a historic baseline, under Northern Ireland arrangements | Own contract and reform path, separate from England |
| Scotland | Item-of-service Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR) | Defined fee per treatment item; no UDAs and no per-UDA value at all | Reviewed under Scottish arrangements, separate from the UDA nations |
England
England holds the large majority of NHS dental contracts and is the setting most people mean when they ask about UDA rates. The structure is as described above: a per-UDA value descended from each practice's 2006 baseline, uplifted annually, with no published regional figure. Reform in England has been incremental rather than wholesale, and the UDA mechanism remains the working basis of NHS dental payment. The sensible planning assumption is to price any decision on the contract as it stands today, not on assumed reform changes.
Wales
Wales uses a UDA-style activity contract but operates under its own contract terms, requirements and uplift history, and it has been pursuing a reform programme separate from England. That means a Welsh contract is not directly comparable with an English one even where both express their value in UDAs, because the surrounding requirements differ. The per-contract value still rests on a historic baseline rather than a published regional rate. For how the Welsh path is developing, see our guide to NHS dental contract reform in Wales.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland also operates a UDA-style activity contract under its own arrangements, separate from England, with its own terms and reform direction. As elsewhere in the UDA nations, the value attached to a contract reflects a historic baseline, not a regional tariff. Anyone weighing up a Northern Ireland contract should look at the value stated on that specific contract and the local terms that govern it, rather than reading across from English figures.
Scotland
Scotland is the outlier. It does not use UDAs at all. NHS dental work in Scotland is paid under the item-of-service Statement of Dental Remuneration, the SDR, which sets a defined fee for each treatment item delivered rather than a payment per Unit of Dental Activity. Because the entire mechanism is different, there is no Scottish UDA value to compare, and UDA benchmarking simply does not apply north of the border. If you are moving between systems or assessing a Scottish practice, read our explainer on the Scottish Statement of Dental Remuneration for how the item-of-service model works in practice.
What "Varies by Region" Really Means
It is worth being precise about the language, because loose talk about regional rates leads people to chase a number that was never published. The variation is genuine, and you will see clusters when you look across enough contracts in one part of the country. But the cause is the legacy of practice-specific 2006 baselines and uneven annual uplifts, not an official decision to pay one region more than another. There is no rate card to request, no regional tariff to quote in an associate negotiation, and no published figure to put into a valuation as the "going rate" for your area.
This matters in three practical situations. When valuing or buying a practice, the per-UDA value of that exact contract is a key input into the goodwill assessment, and it should be read off the contract rather than estimated from a regional average. When negotiating an associate split, the figure to anchor on is the practice's own per-UDA value, not a headline area number. And when planning the finances of an existing practice, the contract value divided by the contracted UDA target gives the only figure that genuinely applies to you.
How to Find the Figure That Actually Applies to You
Your per-UDA value is determined by your own NHS contract. To work it out, divide your total annual contract value by your contracted UDA target. That gives the per-unit figure that descends from your practice's baseline, and it is the only one worth benchmarking against because it is the only one that is real for your contract. Treat any quoted regional average with caution: it may describe a loose cluster, but it is not an official rate and it will not match your contract.
Because the variation is structural and legacy-driven, the figure on your contract is also unlikely to move easily. Values are largely fixed for the contract term, and meaningful change tends to come through reform rather than ad hoc revaluation. That is why most owners focus on understanding and managing the contract they hold, and on the wider mix of NHS and private work, rather than expecting the per-UDA value itself to be lifted.
Where to Take This Next
The takeaway is straightforward. There is no national UDA value and no regional rate card. The per-UDA figure varies area by area in England because each contract was built from its own 2006 baseline and uplifted annually, while Scotland sits outside the UDA system altogether under the SDR, and Wales and Northern Ireland run their own contract and reform paths. For any financial decision, the figure that counts is the one on the specific contract in front of you.
If you are benchmarking a contract, valuing a practice, negotiating an associate split, or weighing up a move between nations, it pays to work from the real contract value rather than a notional area rate. Our team works exclusively with UK dentists and understands how these contracts behave across the four nations. Contact us for a confidential discussion about your contract and what its UDA value means for your plans.