The ICRP have recently recommended that for general purposes in personnel dosimetry the skin dose should be assessed as a mean value between depths of 5 and 10 mg cm^-1. A direct measurement of skin dose to conform with this requirement can be made using a 5 mg cm^-2 detector, such as a thermoluminescent phosphor covered with a 5 mg cm^-2 tissue-equivalent window. A device consisting of a layer of thermoluminescent material only 5 mg cm^-2 thick is likely to suffer from fragility and lack of sensitivity. To overcome these problems an ultra-thin bonded (UTB) dosemeter was developed which consists of a 6 mg cm^-2 (30 mu m) LiF-Teflon disc thermally bonded to a thick ( approximately 0.2 mm) Teflon base. A 40 mu m thick Melinex window simulates the overlying tissue necessary to complete compliance with the ICRP recommendation. Data on the response of the UTB dosemeter to beta radiation is presented.