How to Track UDAs — Complete Guide for NHS Dentists

How to track UDAs — 7 steps

The repeatable method below works on any NHS contract type (GDS or PDS) and for any practice type — NHS associate, salaried, locum, or mixed. Every step is supported in UDA Pulse on iPhone and Android.

1. 1

   Set your annual UDA target

   Open UDA Pulse on iPhone or Android and enter your contracted UDAs per year, contract end date, and working pattern (sessions per week, holidays). The setup wizard takes about two minutes.

2. 2

   Log each course of treatment as you complete it

   Tap the matching Band button — Band 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, or 3 — or use voice quick-add ("two Band 2s and a crown for 450"). Voice for NHS bands is free; works offline.

3. 3

   Watch the progress ring

   Your dashboard shows today, this month, and year-to-date UDA delivery against target, with year-over-year comparison and pace alerts.

4. 4

   Add a home-screen widget

   Pin a Today / Month / Year widget to your iPhone or Android home screen for at-a-glance pace between patients. Four sizes, custom colours.

5. 5

   Cross-check against NHSBSA Compass

   Once a month, import your Compass DCS127, DCS129 or SD86c report so UDA Pulse reconciles with the official NHS figures.

6. 6

   Spot clawback risk early

   UDA Pulse calculates the daily UDAs you need to stay above the 96% contract delivery threshold. If pace dips, the dashboard surfaces it weeks before a clawback letter would land.

7. 7

   Review reports, tax and benchmarks

   Use Reports for monthly breakdowns, Tax Summary for income tax, NI, student loan and VAT estimates, and Business Insights for EHR, FTA, treatment-mix and NASDAL benchmarks.

What is a UDA?

A Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) is the accounting unit the NHS in England uses to value dental treatments and pay providers under the General Dental Services contract. A practice has a contracted number of UDAs to deliver each financial year (1 April – 31 March) and must deliver between 96% and 102% of that target to avoid clawback or wasted activity.

For plain-English explainers see the LDC Confederation "What is a UDA?" article and the BDA UDA Value Checker. For the official Band 2 sub-band guidance see NHSBSA.

2026/27 NHS contract UDA bands

Under the April 2026 NHS dental contract, the band values for a Course of Treatment are:

Fissure sealants are now Band 2: 1–2 teeth = 3 UDA, 3+ teeth = 5 UDA. Always check the official NHS England contractual guidance for the most current rules.

For a detailed breakdown of the 2026/27 NHS contract, see our NHS Contract Guide.

How to prevent UDA clawback

Clawback occurs when an NHS dental contract delivers under 96% of its target UDAs and the shortfall is recovered from future NHS payments — typically between January and April. Five practical steps to prevent it:

1. Track daily, not monthly. Monthly Compass reports are too slow to act on. Use a daily delivery view.
2. Forecast per performer. Aggregating to clinic total hides under-performing associates whose shortfall drives the practice over the clawback line.
3. Watch the daily-UDAs-required number. If pace dips and that figure climbs above your sustainable session rate, raise it with the associate or commissioner now — not in February.
4. Use the 13-week early-warning window. Practices that flag risk by week 40 still have options; after week 48, choices narrow sharply.
5. Contact the Local Area Team early. NHS England has discretion to allow carry-forward of a shortfall to the next year if the practice is confident it can make it up.

UDA Pulse surfaces the daily-UDAs-required figure on the main dashboard for every contract you track, so clawback risk is visible from quarter one.

UDA Pulse vs Compass vs spreadsheets vs PMS reports

How a mobile-first UDA tracker compares to the tools most NHS associates use today.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

UDA

Unit of Dental Activity. The accounting unit used by the NHS in England to value dental treatments and pay providers.

Course of Treatment (CoT)

All treatment a patient needs in one continuous episode of care. A CoT is what is banded and counts for UDAs, not each individual procedure.

Band 1 / 2a / 2b / 2c / 3

NHS England dental treatment bands. Band 1 = 1 UDA; Band 2a = 3; Band 2b = 5; Band 2c = 7; Band 3 = 12.

Clawback

NHS recovery of payment when a practice delivers under 96% of its contracted UDAs. Deducted from future payments — typically January to April.

Compass

NHSBSA Compass — the official web system for NHS dental contract management, payments and UDA delivery reporting.

FP17

The form NHS dentists submit per CoT to claim UDAs. Has a 62-day submission window from treatment completion.

NHSBSA

NHS Business Services Authority — the body that operates Compass and processes NHS dental payments.

GDS

General Dental Services contract — the standard NHS England dental contract type that uses UDAs.

PDS

Personal Dental Services contract — an alternative NHS England contract type, often with bespoke terms.

DCS127 / DCS129 / SD86c

NHSBSA Compass report types — schedule of payments, contract performance, and UDA delivery breakdowns.

NASDAL

National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants & Lawyers — the source of the dental industry benchmarks shown in UDA Pulse.

In-app feature chapters

For deep dives on specific features — voice quick-add, widgets, multi-practice, tax & VAT, PMS import, FP17 deadlines and more — open the long-form chapter guide below or download the printable PDF.

• Quick Start — download, set up, log first entry in 2 minutes
• Dashboard — progress ring, today's earnings, year-over-year, multi-practice aggregate
• Logging Treatments — NHS bands, private, Reg 11, FTA, voice entry
• Voice Quick Add — "two Band 2s" / "Band 1 and a crown for 450"
• Home-Screen Widgets — 4 sizes, custom colours, Today / Month / Year
• Session Logging — salaried & locum
• Reports & Analytics — monthly summaries, multi-year trends, shareable cards
• Business Insights & NASDAL Benchmarks — EHR, treatment mix, FTA rate, CPD
• Tax & VAT — income tax, NI, student loan, personal allowance taper, VAT monitoring
• Data Import & Backup — Dentally, EXACT, SFD, automatic cloud backup
• NHSBSA Compass Reports — DCS127, DCS129, SD86c
• FP17 Deadline Tracker — never miss the 62-day window
• Common Mistakes — banding, claims, contract delivery
• Free vs Premium — what's in each tier
• Tips & Shortcuts — undo, batch entry, PMS import