How Will Medical Schools Use UCAT? Here's a Summary

3 months ago by Rob
A common question asked by medicine hopefuls is how UCAT will be used to select applicants into medical school.
Most universities use a combination of three factors when selecting students into medicine or dentistry. These include:
- UCAT ANZ scores (either cognitive subtests* only, or all UCAT subtests)
- Medical interview performance
- Academic performance (ATAR / IB or GPA)
*UCAT cognitive subtests include UCAT Verbal Reasoning, UCAT Decision Making, UCAT Quantitative Reasoning and UCAT Abstract Reasoning
Each university is different, and some universities change their medical entry requirements at short notice. Further, they are often not transparent about the weightings of various subtests of UCAT, UCAT/ATAR weighting for interview selection, and UCAT/ATAR/Interview score weighting for final offers.
Please note that cut-off ATAR/UCAT scores are substantially lower for rural students. Some Universities also have lower thresholds for other categories such as those from low socio-economic status schools, those from under-represented schools, etc. What is given below is a general guideline and you should check with each university regarding your specific circumstances.
Here’s a summary of how universities select students for entry into medicine:
Course |
How is UCAT used? |
How is UCAT weighted? |
How are students selected for interview? |
How are students selected for a place? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adelaide University Medicine |
Cognitive subtests only |
20% UCAT |
Based on UCAT |
20% UCAT 40% interview 40% ATAR |
Auckland University Medicine |
All five subtests combined |
15% UCAT |
Based on GPA/CST |
15% UCAT 25% interview 60% GPA/CST |
Charles Darwin University Bachelor of Clinical Sciences |
All five subtests combined |
10% UCAT |
No interview |
10% UCAT 90% ATAR |
Curtin University Medicine |
Approx 90th+ percentile required for standard applicants |
30% UCAT 35% ATAR 35% Casper (To be selected for interview) |
Based on UCAT + ATAR + Casper (1st round interviews requires predicted ATAR) |
20% UCAT |
Flinders University Medicine |
All five subtests combined |
10% UCAT |
No interview |
10% UCAT 90% ATAR |
Griffith University Dental Science |
Approx 90th+ percentile required for standard applicants | 20% UCAT | Based on UCAT |
20% UCAT |
Monash University Medicine |
Approx 90th+ percentile required for standard applicants |
33% UCAT |
December round: Based on UCAT only (scores of approx 3000+ required) |
33% UCAT 33% Interview 33% ATAR |
Newcastle University / Medicine |
Cognitive subtests only |
100% UCAT (to be selected for JMP assessment) |
100% UCAT |
Joint Medical Program Assessment (Personal Qualities Assessment + MSA interview) |
University of New South Wales Medicine |
Overall cognitive subtest score; |
33% UCAT |
Based on UCAT + ATAR |
33% UCAT 33% Interview 33% ATAR |
Otago University Medicine |
Minimum score in each |
Mininmum threshold requirement only |
No interview |
GPA |
University of Queensland Medicine |
Cognitive subtest score; |
25% UCAT |
UCAT (3030 required in 2023; 2560 for rural category) |
25% ATAR 25% UCAT 50% Interview |
University of Tasmania Medicine |
Cognitive subtests only (cut off 50th percentile) |
Minimum threshold requirement only |
No interview |
ATAR |
University of Western Australia Medicine |
Approx 80th+ percentile required for standard applicants |
20% for standard applicants; 15% for rural |
UCAT |
20% UCAT 30% ATAR 50% Interview; (Rural: 15% UCAT 22.5% ATAR 27.5% Interview 25% Rurality Rating) |
Western Sydney University / Medicine |
Approx 90th+ percentile required Interview selection not determined by overall UCAT score, individual subtests may be subject to weighting |
100% UCAT (to be selected for interview) |
100% UCAT (once minimum academic threshold requirement is met) |
75% Interview 25% UCAT |
Note: Please ensure you check the relevant university website for the latest information, as changes can occur frequently and without notice.
Comprehensive admissions information relating to all courses (including dentistry and postgraduate medicine) can be found at https://www.medentry.edu.au/universities/university-admissions-guide
The Medical Entry Handbook has additional information.