BSc Manch 1926, MB ChB 1929, MD 1946; LRCP Lond 1929; FRCS Eng 1932.
Bentley studied at the University of Manchester where he won a number of prizes. He then worked as a demonstrator in anatomy at the University before holding house positions at MRI, St Mark's Hospital London and St Peter's Hospital for Stone London. From 1934 to 1936 he was Mackenzie Mackinnon Research Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons before returning to MRI as first assistant to Professor Morley's Surgical Unit. He later became professor of surgery at University of Durham and Royal Victoria Hospital Newcastle. Bentley was a member of the Medical Research Society, the Physiological Society and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain.