UDA value explained: how much is a UDA worth in 2026?

A UDA value is what an NHS dental contract in England is paid for each unit of dental activity it delivers. It is not set nationally. Each contract has its own, worked out as the annual contract value divided by the number of UDAs the contract must deliver in a year. That one figure decides what every NHS check-up, filling and crown is worth to your practice.

This guide covers how to calculate yours, what a UDA earns for each band, why values differ so much between neighbours, and how the April 2026 changes made the figure matter more.

How much is 1 UDA worth?

One UDA is worth whatever your contract pays for it. NHS England defines the monetary value of a unit of dental activity as the relevant contract value divided by the total UDAs the contractor must provide in a year, excluding UDAs for sedation and domiciliary services. The definition is in its quality and payment reforms contractual guidance, published 26 March 2026 and updated 29 July 2026.

There is no single national rate. Practice Radar's study of NHS dental contract values in England found that contracts a mile apart are paid a median £3.15 per UDA apart, and one pair in three £5 or more. Two practices on the same street can be paid different amounts for the same work, and the patient pays the same NHS charge at both.

How to calculate your own UDA value

You do not need a UDA value checker. The calculation takes a minute:

1. Find your annual contract value for general dental services. It is on your contract and in Compass, the NHS Business Services Authority's contract management system.
2. Take off any parts that are not paid through general dental UDAs, such as orthodontic, sedation or domiciliary lines.
3. Find your contracted UDAs for the year, again on your contract and in Compass.
4. Divide the value by the UDAs. The answer is your value per UDA.

The NHS Business Services Authority also publishes every contract's annual UDA target and the financial value tied to it, month by month, in its English Contractor Monthly General Dental Activity open data. That is how anyone can see what the contracts around them are paid.

What does each band earn?

Each NHS course of treatment earns a fixed number of UDAs, listed by the NHS Business Services Authority. Multiply by your value per UDA and you have what that course is worth to the contract.

The patient charge does not change this. From 1 April 2026 an NHS patient pays £27.90 for band 1, £76.60 for band 2 and £332.10 for band 3, and that money counts towards the contract value rather than being added on top.

How many UDAs is a filling?

A course with one or two fillings is usually band 2a, 3 UDAs. If three or more teeth need fillings, extractions, preformed crowns or fissure sealants in the same course, it is band 2b, 5 UDAs.

How many UDAs for a denture repair?

From 23 June 2026, a denture repair earns 2 UDAs, up from 1. It remains free of charge to the patient. A relining or rebasing on its own is a band 2a course, and when added to another band 2 course it can earn up to 2 extra UDAs, according to NHS England's guidance.

Is there a minimum UDA value?

NHS England's February 2024 dental recovery plan set a minimum indicative UDA value of £28 for 2024/25. Its update on the plan says every contractor below £28 should have been contacted by their ICB to agree either fewer UDAs or a higher contract value. Contract values have been uplifted each year since, when the government accepts a recommendation from the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body. NHS England's 2026 contractual guidance does not set a separate national minimum for 2026/27, so check with your ICB if you think you are at or near the floor.

Why are UDA values so different?

The short answer is history. Most contract values trace back to when the current contract framework started in April 2006, or to whenever a contract was first agreed, and they have been carried forward since. Most changes since then have been uplifts applied to every contract, usually as a percentage, which carry every gap forward. A contract paid £5 less than the practice down the road keeps being paid less, and a percentage rise widens the cash gap slightly.

Your ICB is the only body that can change your value outside the annual uplift. A permanent change to contract value or UDAs is called rebasing in NHS England's Policy book for primary dental services, and it is usually done by mutual agreement through a contract variation. The exception is persistent under-delivery, where a contract that has missed 96% for three years running can be reduced.

What is a good UDA rate?

There is no official benchmark for a good UDA rate. A useful definition is relative: where does your value sit against the other contracts in your ICB and in your town? If you are near the bottom of your own area, you are being paid less than your neighbours for the same work, and that is the starting point for any conversation with your commissioner. The UDA study sets out the national picture.

Associates often ask the same question about their own pay. What an associate is paid per UDA is set in their associate agreement with the practice and is a different number from the contract's UDA value.

How the 2026 changes use your UDA value

From April 2026, several new payments are set in pounds and then converted into UDAs at your own value. That makes the value more important, not less.

• Urgent care. Contracts of 100 UDAs or more get a £15 fixed credit and a £60 activity credit for each required urgent course, and £75 for each course above the requirement. NHS England's example: at £35 per UDA, a £60 credit is 1.72 UDAs, rounded up to two decimal places.
• Complex care pathways, from 23 June 2026, are worth £293.40, £732.47 or £256.21, converted to UDAs and credited in instalments.
• Quality improvement: £3,400 a year for practices that complete the programme, converted the same way.

Because the cash is fixed, a contract with a low UDA value is credited more UDAs for the same urgent course, and a contract with a high value fewer. The money is the same. What changes is how much of your UDA target the urgent work covers.

How many UDAs per day?

There is no national figure. Divide your annual UDA target by the clinical days available in the year to find the pace your contract needs, then track delivery against it monthly. At year end, delivery of 96% or more lets you carry the shortfall forward with no money recovered. Below 96%, the money for the whole shortfall is recovered and a breach notice may follow. Above 100% is paid only if your ICB has agreed in advance to fund up to 110%.

What to do with your UDA value

1. Work it out and write it down. Most owners know it roughly. Know it to the penny.
2. Compare it with your neighbours. The NHS Business Services Authority's open data shows every contract's target and value.
3. Use it to plan your diary. If an hour of NHS work earns less than an hour of private work, that shapes how many NHS hours you commit, within your contract.
4. Take it into every contract conversation. Rebasing, extra activity, a sale or a purchase. A buyer will ask what each UDA is worth, and so should you.

If your plan involves more private work, the patients for it will mostly find you through search. The guide on getting more dental patients covers where to start.