UCAT Medicine: Undergraduate Entry Requirements

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If you are applying to undergraduate medicine in Australia or New Zealand, the UCAT ^® medicine pathway is usually mandatory: your UCAT ^® score sits alongside ATAR and interview performance as one of the core UCAT requirements for medicine. This guide covers where the exam fits in admissions, which universities that accept UCAT for medicine, typical score benchmarks, timelines, and what to do if you miss the cut-off — without duplicating graduate-entry advice (see UCAT ^® vs GAMSAT ^® ).

For exam overview, current four-subtest format, 2026 dates, and scoring mechanics, see what is the UCAT ^®, UCAT ^® structure, UCAT ^® 2026, and UCAT ^® scores.

UCAT Requirements for Medicine

The UCAT ^® or the University Clinical Aptitude Test is a computer-based standardised test designed as an essential criterion for medical school entry via the undergraduate pathway. Your UCAT ^® score is used by the Australia and New Zealand consortium of universities for medical, dental and sometimes clinical science degree programmes. Dentistry applicants should see our UCAT ^® dentistry guide. The test is designed to assess aspiring medical and dental students and select those with the most appropriate abilities and behaviours required to succeed in these professions.

The UCAT ^® exam is one of the mandatory entry requirements for many undergraduate-entry medical schools in Australia. To successfully earn a spot, candidates generally need to have displayed excellence in three separate avenues.

• Academics: This is most commonly the ATAR score that you receive at the end of your secondary education, but academic excellence can also be measured via a GPA score or Course Weighted Average score (WAM) if you've commenced tertiary study. This pillar of the entry requirements exists to assess whether candidates can deal with the high workload and lifelong learning requirements inherent in a medical or dental profession. It is important to note that many undergraduate universities are placing less emphasis on this section and are focusing more on the UCAT and medical school interviews process.

• UCAT ^® Exam: This entry exam is an aptitude test designed to check whether candidates have the skills and techniques required by healthcare professionals. This ranges from reading comprehension, mental mathematics, pattern recognition and logical reasoning.

• Interview: The interview requires candidates to respond to various styles of questions, most often in a face-to-face setting. It can be structured in many different ways from a 30 minute panel interview to a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format where candidates may need to cycle between 5-10 short stations (approximately 8-10 minutes per station). Overall, the interview is designed to assess the professionalism and ethics of aspiring medical students.

Note that the undergraduate pathway is not the only pathway into medical school - The Graduate pathway (which uses the GAMSAT ^® exam ) is another option. For further details, see UCAT ^® vs GAMSAT ^® and pathways to medicine.

Undergraduate Medicine and the UCAT

The UCAT ^® is the standard aptitude test for undergraduate medicine entry in Australia and New Zealand. It does not replace ATAR or interview requirements — universities combine all three pillars using their own weightings.

Where does the UCAT Exam fit into the medical admissions process?

As mentioned previously, the UCAT ^® exam is a computerised assessment that students complete in their final year of secondary education (i.e. year 12) or in their early university years. It is one of the three important components of the process of getting into medical school, alongside academics and interview. The way that these components work together differs from university to university and are summarised in the table below.

How Hard is the UCAT exam?

Considering the value of your performance on the UCAT ^® exam as essentially representing ⅓ of the medical entry criteria, it’s often recommended that students approach the UCAT ^® exam with an extensive amount of preparation equivalent to how they’d approach the ATAR in year 12. In fact, as more universities place more emphasis on the UCAT than academics, your preparation should be focused even more so on the UCAT. This is coupled with the fact that you cannot sit the UCAT ^® exam earlier in year 11 as a practice run. The exam is only available to students in their final year of secondary education, or to those who have completed year 12.

Many tutors recommend starting your preparation for the UCAT ^® exam 6-9 months prior to the actual exam. Since exams are generally scheduled annually in July, this would mean that you should consider commencing your preparation around December of the previous year. This provides you with plenty of time to improve your skills through consistent UCAT ^® study. Don’t fret though if you’re starting later than this, you can make up for this by increasing your frequency of study. For further tips, review our guide to preparing for the UCAT ^® exam.

Universities That Accept UCAT for Medicine

The UCAT ^® exam is a key admissions requirement for undergraduate-entry medicine. A long list of universities in Australia and New Zealand use the UCAT ^® exam as part of the entry criteria. Note that each university applies your UCAT ^® score differently, with further details in the requirements table below.

New South Wales

• Charles Sturt University

  • Dental Science

  • Medicine (Joint program in medicine)

• The University of Newcastle

  • Joint Medical Program with University of New England

• University of New England

  • Joint Medical Program with University of Newcastle

• The University of New South Wales

  • Medicine

• University of Western Sydney

  • Medicine (Joint program in medicine)

Victoria

• Monash University

  • Medicine

Western Australia

• Curtin University

  • Medicine

• The University of Western Australia

  • Medicine (Direct Pathway)

  • Dental Medicine (Direct Pathway)

Queensland

• Central Queensland University

  • Medical Science (regional medical pathway with provisional entry to UQ)

• Griffith University

  • Dental Health Science

• The University of Queensland

  • Medicine (provisional entry pathway)

  • Dental Science

South Australia

• The University of Adelaide

  • Medicine

  • Dental Surgery

  • Oral Health

• Flinders University

  • Clinical Sciences

  • Medicine

Tasmania

• University of Tasmania

  • Medicine

New Zealand

• The University of Auckland

  • Medicine

• University of Otago

  • Medicine

  • Dentistry

Which Universities don’t require the UCAT?

Students often wonder how to get into medicine without sitting the UCAT ^® exam, or with a low UCAT ^® score, since the exam is challenging. There are only a handful of universities which do not require the UCAT ^® exam.

• University of Sydney

• Bond University

• James Cook University

• Melbourne University

UCAT Graduate Entry Medicine — Do You Need the UCAT?

The UCAT graduate entry medicine question comes up often: the UCAT ^® is not required for standard graduate-entry medicine in Australia. That pathway uses the GAMSAT ^® exam after an undergraduate degree. If you are weighing which exam applies to you, read UCAT ^® vs GAMSAT ^® and our pathways to medicine overview — this page focuses on undergraduate UCAT medicine admissions only.

For students with a low UCAT ^® score who already hold or plan to complete a degree, the graduate pathway is an alternative. See what is the GAMSAT ^® and medical school pathways for detail; do not treat this page as a GAMSAT admissions guide.

UCAT Medicine Admissions Timeline

UCAT ^® ANZ is usually sat in July each year, with results delivered to universities by early September, ahead of the following year's undergraduate medicine intake. Registration, booking deadlines, concession schemes, and exact testing windows change each cycle.

For the current year's key dates and medicine application deadlines, see UCAT ^® 2026 — do not rely on historical date tables on third-party sites.

The UCAT ^® exam is usually set during the month of July every year, in preparation for the medical admissions cycle in the following year.

UCAT Medical Schools — Admission Requirements

The table below summarises historical UCAT ^® percentile guides and university weightings. The current UCAT ANZ format has four subtests (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, and Situational Judgement) with a cognitive total of 900–2700 — Abstract Reasoning is no longer tested. Some rows reference older section numbering; always confirm current rules on each university's website and our UCAT ^® scores guide.

UCAT Entry Pathways

What UCAT Score Do I Need for Medicine?

The current UCAT ANZ exam has four subtests . Your cognitive UCAT ^® score is the sum of Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning (300–900 each), giving a total of 900–2700 . Situational Judgement is reported separately. See UCAT ^® structure for subtest details and UCAT ^® scores for percentile conversion. A rough guide to medicine cut-offs is in the table above. For standard (non-rural) pathways, aim for around the 90th percentile or above on the cognitive total — competitive cut-offs vary by university, ATAR, and interview performance.

For more detail on score reporting and test statistics, see our UCAT ^® scores and results guide.

What are My Options to Study Medicine If I Got a Low UCAT Score?

There are many options for prospective students. One option offered by some universities (such as Curtin University) is the ability to transfer courses into medicine. This course transfer involves the completion of 200 credits within one year, a course weighted average of 80% and a completed UCAT ^® ANZ test. Successful students will transfer directly into undergraduate medicine in the first year. See the above table - UCAT ^® Entry Pathways for more information

Another option is to take a gap year and then re-attempt the UCAT ^® ANZ. This is preferred for those students that performed well in the ATAR but poorly in the UCAT ^® exam. Since UCAT ^® exam results are only valid for one year, repeating the UCAT ^® exam is a highly regarded option for these candidates. Depending on your medical school of interest, you can also commence a different undergraduate degree, and sit the UCAT ^® exam in your first year of university - That way you’ll also have a back-up option if you’re unsuccessful. Note that this depends on the medical schools you’re interested in as some do not permit entry once you’ve commenced any tertiary study.

Finally there is also the graduate pathway to consider — it uses the GAMSAT ^® exam instead of UCAT ^®. Compare UCAT ^® vs GAMSAT ^® and review our guide to medical pathways.

Undergraduate Medical Interviews

Alongside the UCAT ^® exam, students will generally need to go through undergraduate medical interviews before they can finally be accepted into medical school. Undergraduate medical interviews are split into multiple different types that differ between each university. There are multiple different formats such as the MMI (multiple mini interview) , multiple skills assessment and long form semi-structured traditional panel format.

An MMI is a multiple mini interview, where candidates will travel between multiple stations answering questions on multiple scenarios or questions. This provides assessors with a view of all the qualities possessed by aspiring candidates and gives them a good idea as to which candidates they should choose to be their next batch of future doctors.

The following table showcases the typical layout of interviews for each university

To excel in an interview, candidates require 2 key qualities; Professional Behaviour and Ethical Behaviour. Each case or question requires thinking in both a professional manner and an ethical one. A candidate needs to demonstrate their thinking and attributes that would make them a valuable asset as a medical student and future doctor.

Undergraduate Medicine Place Types

Now that you understand the importance of the UCAT ^® exam for the undergraduate medical school application process,it’s important to review the different types of undergraduate medicine places so you can take this into consideration while choosing between medical schools.

• Bonded Medical Place (BMP)

• Unbonded / Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)

• Full Fee-Paying Place (FFP)

• Direct Undergraduate Entry

• Assured Pathway Entry

Bonded Medical Place (BMP)

The Bonded Medical Program offers bonded medical places to students, which often have lower entry scores and are therefore ‘easier’ to get. In return, bonded participants commit to work in an eligible regional, rural and remote area for 3 years after they complete their course. This is called a ‘return of service obligation’. In line with funding requirements, these places make up 28.5% of overall domestic places for Medicine. For further details, it’s highly recommended you review the Australian Government guidelines here

Unbonded / Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)

These Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) make up most domestic places for undergraduate medicine. Like a BMP place, these are substantially subsidised by the Australian Government, so students only pay a contribution, but there is no return of service obligation. It’s important to note that the Student Learning Entitlement was introduced from the start of 2022, limiting students to 7 years of full-time subsidised study in Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP). Australian citizens and permanent residents may utilise HECS-HELP to pay their upfront fees

Full Fee-Paying Place (FFP)

These are places which are not subsidised by the Australian government and require the student to pay the entirety of the fees upfront. FFPs are generally only available for international students or postgraduate entries, with some exceptions such as Bond University.

Direct Undergraduate Entry

Direct entry into undergraduate medicine is where candidates will enter their medical degree in their first year of tertiary study. Often these courses are shorter in total length but require candidates to start medicine from day 1 of university. For some, it’s the preferred option due to shorter total length.

The universities offering these places include:

• Charles Sturt University

• Curtin University

• James Cook University

• University of Newcastle and University of New England

• University of New South Wales

• University of Tasmania

• Western Sydney University and Charles Sturt University

• Bond University

Assured Pathway (Provisional) Entry

On the other hand, the Assured Pathway entry, also called Provisional entry, is where candidates essentially “reserve” their spot in medicine as a graduate student. They must complete an undergraduate degree of a minimum 3 years bachelor and then are able to complete a graduate medical degree, provided that they maintain a certain level of grades, often in the form of a minimum GPA. These “reservations” are generally based on your UCAT ^® score, ATAR and interviews at the time of application following the completion of your secondary education.

The universities offering these places include:

• University of Sydney

• University of Western Australia

• University of Queensland and Central Queensland University

• University of Melbourne

• Griffith University

• Flinders

Further Reading

Now that you understand UCAT ^® medicine admissions, these guides cover exam mechanics, preparation, and related pathways:

1. What is the UCAT ^®?

   Meaning, who needs UCAT ANZ, registration overview, and how the exam fits undergraduate applications.

2. UCAT ^® format and structure

   Four subtests, question counts, subtest times, and scoring overview (900–2700 cognitive total).

3. UCAT ^® 2026 dates and fees

   Booking windows, concessions, and the 2026 testing period.

4. UCAT ^® scores

   Scaled totals (900–2700), percentiles, and what universities treat as competitive.

5. How to prepare for the UCAT ^®

   UCAT preparation strategy, study plan, timelines, and tips across all four current subtests.

6. Free UCAT ^® preparation materials

   Free practice and reading links to start without a paid course.

7. UCAT ^® Verbal Reasoning

   Question types, timing, and preparation tips for the first subtest.

8. UCAT ^® Decision Making

   Question types, timing, and preparation tips for the second subtest.

9. UCAT ^® Quantitative Reasoning

   Numerical reasoning strategy, timing, and practice approach.

10. UCAT ^® Situational Judgement

    Scenario-based judgement questions and how SJT is scored separately (300–900).

11. UCAT ^® vs GAMSAT ^®

    Which exam applies to undergraduate vs graduate medicine entry.

12. UCAT ^® dentistry

    Dentistry admissions using UCAT^® (separate from medicine requirements).

13. Australian medical schools overview

    Undergraduate and graduate medical schools, courses, and entry criteria.

14. Pathways to medicine

    How to become a doctor in Australia, including undergraduate and graduate routes.