UNSW Medical School

UNSW medical school, in the Faculty of Medicine & Health, teaches medicine as a six-year combined degree. Students enter the Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine (BMed/MD) and graduate with both awards. This page covers that degree, the domestic UNSW medicine application, and the UNSW medicine interview. Closing dates, fees, and the ranks that receive an interview or an offer change every cycle. Read them on UNSW's degree page and the domestic applicants page before you apply.

What the UNSW medical school degree includes

The UNSW Doctor of Medicine is the second award of this combined program. Everyone starts at the beginning of the six years and receives the Bachelor of Medical Studies and the Doctor of Medicine together at the end. The program code is 3805, the UAC code is 428000, and the published length is six years of full-time study, 288 units of credit. UNSW also says a Flex-Semester calendar from 2028 may change how that length falls for students who start before 2028, while the degree structure stays in place. Check the degree page for the intake you are entering. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine.

The Australian Medical Council accredits UNSW's Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine (BMedMD), with accreditation listed to 30 March 2030. Source: AMC, accredited medical schools. UNSW states that graduates are eligible for provisional registration with the Medical Board of Australia so they can apply for an approved intern position, and that students are registered with the Board from the start of Year 1. The faculty organises that first registration. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine. What happens from internship through to general registration is covered in how to become a doctor in Australia .

Three phases, with research in fourth year

UNSW splits the six years into three phases of two years.

Phase 1 is scenario-based. You learn basic medical sciences against the human life cycle, with social, ethical, and legal issues in health care, and clinical and communication skills start in this phase. Most teaching is at the campus you are allocated to: lectures, small groups, tutorials, and laboratory practicals, plus clinical sessions in hospitals. Students from different years work together later in the phase, so you are both a learner and a mentor.

Phase 2 begins with more time in hospital. In third year, UNSW describes three days a week on placement and the other two days in lectures, small groups, tutorials, and practicals. Fourth year is the research year: an Independent Learning Project or the Medicine Honours program, plus 12 units of credit of general education from outside Medicine & Health.

Phase 3 is clinical. UNSW describes ten eight-week courses, including medicine, surgery, psychiatry, primary care, obstetrics and gynaecology, children's health, and an emergency or selective term. Teaching is almost entirely in hospitals: bedside tutorials, ward rounds, and clinics. UAC also states that Phase 3 clinical experience must include at least four weeks in a rural location. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine. Source: UAC, course 428000.

A redesigned program is planned to launch in 2028, subject to approval from the Australian Medical Council and the UNSW Academic Board. UNSW's plan keeps the BMed/MD awards, the six-year length, the entry pathways, and clinical work in the same core disciplines. Planned changes include a general practice longitudinal placement beside the research project in fourth year, a longer rural placement in fifth year for Sydney-based students, and a stronger pre-internship term in sixth year. Students who start in 2026 or 2027 are planned to move into that curriculum part-way through. The redesign FAQ sets out which year that happens. Source: UNSW, medicine program redesign FAQ.

After you have started the degree, UNSW also offers a General Practice Stream for students interested in general practice or rural generalism. It runs across the same six-year program. The expression of interest opens after commencement. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Kensington, Port Macquarie, and Wagga Wagga

Teaching for the degree is based at Kensington, Port Macquarie, and Wagga Wagga. Which of those you are offered depends on the entry scheme, covered with offers below. Clinical teaching uses a wider set of hospitals. In Sydney, UNSW lists Prince of Wales Hospital and Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick, the Royal Hospital for Women, St George Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital, Liverpool Hospital, and Sutherland Hospital. Outside Sydney it lists Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, Albury Base Hospital, Wodonga Regional Health Service, Port Macquarie Base Hospital, and Coffs Harbour Hospital. You are expected to travel to these sites. In Phases 2 and 3 they become the main place you learn. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine.

Hospital placements also require NSW Health compliance, including immunisation documents. UNSW asks students to start that paperwork early because it takes weeks. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

UNSW is one of the undergraduate medical schools in the national list. The short profile of every school, and the comparison across states, stays on Australian medical schools . How Australian medical degrees are ranked sits on the MD ranking page.

The UNSW medicine application

A domestic UNSW medicine application has three parts. Sit UCAT ^® ANZ, lodge a UAC application that includes course 428000 and the Medicine Application Form, and attend an interview if you are ranked high enough. Offers come back through UAC. Source: UAC, course 428000. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

A completed degree changes which results UNSW reads. You still enter this six-year BMed/MD from the first year. How graduate-entry schools weight GAMSAT ^® and GPA is on graduate-entry medical school requirements .

UNSW publishes the on-time close for the UAC preference and the Medicine Application Form, the interview weeks, and the offer rounds on its domestic applicants page. UAC publishes the same preference deadline on the course listing. Those dates move. Use the pages for the cycle you are in.

Domestic places in this course are Commonwealth supported. UNSW's full-fee places are for international students. The degree page publishes the current student contribution for a Commonwealth supported place, and the indicative international fee. Both are revised. Read them there rather than relying on a dollar figure from a previous year. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine.

You apply through one scheme: general entry, the Rural Entry Admission Pathway, or the Gateway Entry Scheme. Indigenous applicants use the Indigenous Entry Scheme. You can change scheme until UNSW's published close, and a change means submitting the Medicine Application Form again. If you will be under 16 when Year 1 starts, email mh.admissions@unsw.edu.au before you lodge anything. UNSW does not consider it appropriate for children under 16 to take part in clinical training. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

General entry, by the study you have already done

General entry uses three pictures of your study. The floors below are UNSW's published minima for consideration. They are not the rank that received an offer last year. The degree page lists the previous cycle's lowest ATAR by pathway, and UNSW says that figure is only a guide.

School leavers with an HSC or an equivalent secondary qualification need an ATAR or equivalent of 96.00, without Educational Access Scheme adjustments, a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 50 or above, and an interview if selected. UNSW will use SAT or ACT results only when you have no other assessable secondary qualification.

If you have completed 0.75 full-time equivalent or more of one degree in the year you apply, UNSW reads both your secondary results and your tertiary results. You need an ATAR or equivalent of 96.00, a GPA of at least 5.5 on a 7.0 scale, a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 50 or above, and an interview if selected. Once both academic floors are met, UNSW applies a best-of rule and uses the qualification with the higher selection rank.

If you will have finished a degree before the end of the year you apply, only that tertiary qualification is used. You need a GPA of at least 5.5 on a 7.0 scale, a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 50 or above, and an interview if selected. Your ATAR is no longer part of the rank. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

There is no separate quota for applicants who left school in an earlier year. Recent and non-recent school leavers are ranked together inside the same scheme. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

UNSW has no subject prerequisites. Assumed knowledge is English Standard. English as a Second Language and Fundamentals of English are not treated as suitable preparation. Chemistry is recommended, and UAC also lists Biology as a recommended study. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants. Source: UAC, course 428000.

Educational Access Scheme adjustments are considered only after you have already met the minimum selection criteria without them, and only if you have not started tertiary study. If illness or other circumstances affected secondary or tertiary study you have already undertaken, UNSW points you to Special Consideration for Applicants with Tertiary Studies. That application is also considered only after the minima are met. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Rural, Gateway, and Indigenous entry

The Rural Entry Admission Pathway is for an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident, who has lived in a Modified Monash Model 2–7 area for at least five years in a row, or ten years in total, between the ages of 5 and 18. Time in a rural area outside Australia does not count. UNSW asks you to check the address on the Health Workforce Locator using the Modified Monash Model 2023 classification. On the Medicine Application Form you put Kensington, Port Macquarie, and Wagga Wagga in the order you prefer them. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Rural academic floors are lower than general entry. School leavers need an ATAR or equivalent of 91.00 without adjustment points, and a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 40 or above. University students who have completed 0.75 full-time equivalent or more of one degree need that same ATAR floor, a GPA of at least 4.8 on a 7.0 scale, and a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 40 or above, with the same best-of rule once both academic floors are met. Graduates need a GPA of at least 4.8 and a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 40 or above. An interview follows if you are selected. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

The Gateway Entry Scheme is for an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or New Zealand citizen who is completing an Australian Year 12 qualification for the first time, attends a Gateway school and/or lives in a low-socioeconomic area on the 2021 SEIFA Index of Education and Occupation, and has not attempted post-secondary study. The academic floor is an ATAR or equivalent of 91.00 without Educational Access Scheme adjustments, with a UCAT ^® ANZ percentile of 50 or above, and an interview if selected. Lodge this through UAC's main application portal. UNSW says about 20 offers are made to Gateway applicants. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

The Indigenous Entry Scheme does not use UCAT ^® ANZ. Applicants provide proof of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage, evidence of academic capability, evidence of communication and interpersonal skills, and a demonstrated commitment to Indigenous health. The path includes the three-week Pre-Medicine & Health Program through Nura Gili. Applicants also complete a UAC application. UNSW invites applicants to an interview for the pre-program, and an offer to enrol may follow successful completion. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Two further routes sit on the same applicants page. Lateral entry is only for domestic students already in UNSW's own Bachelor of Medical Science. That science degree is a different course, and its rules stay on the university page. Transfer from another Australian medical school is rare: it requires exceptional circumstances that began after you started that degree, a UAC application, and a letter from the dean. A transfer early in the program starts again at Phase 1, without credit for prior medicine. A domestic student at an overseas medical school applies as a commencing student. UNSW does not take a transfer from an overseas medical school. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants. Source: UAC, course 428000.

The UCAT ^® ANZ result UNSW uses

Domestic applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ. UNSW accepts the sitting from the year before the intake only. Its own example is that a 2026 result is the one used for a 2027 start. Which Australian programs ask for UCAT ^®, and where this degree sits among them, is covered in UCAT ^® for medicine .

For selection, UNSW uses the UCAT ^® ANZ overall score and leaves the situational judgement mark out. How UCAT ^® scores are reported explains the score itself. The percentile floors above are minimums for consideration. Interview and offer cut-offs are a combined rank, they change every year, and UNSW does not publish the formula. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

International applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ or the ISAT, and they include the registration number on the application. Once one of those tests has been submitted, a later result from the other test is not added. An applicant sitting an Australian or New Zealand high school qualification applies through UAC. An applicant who is not sitting one of those qualifications, or who has completed all or part of a tertiary degree, uses UNSW's Apply Online portal. International interviews are held online. The degree page publishes the current window. Source: UNSW, Bachelor of Medical Studies / Doctor of Medicine.

The UNSW medicine interview

The UNSW medicine interview is a structured interview with two interviewers. They are academic staff, medical practitioners, or community representatives, and the conversation covers a wide range of topics. Your Medicine Application Form is shared with them beforehand. Domestic interviews are in person. If you are shortlisted, you need to be free for the interview period. Missing the interview ends the application. Once a time is set, UNSW does not offer a reschedule. If you are unfit before the day, contact the team named for your scheme. Another time depends on availability. Bring photo identification, such as a passport or a driver or learner licence. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

The multiple mini interview format used widely in Australian medical admissions is covered in the guide to MMIs . UNSW describes its own interview as different from the interviews at other medical schools. It does not endorse commercial UCAT ^® or interview courses, and it says interviewers have found obviously coached answers a disadvantage. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Who is invited, and where it is held

For general entry and the Gateway Entry Scheme, interview invitations use selection rank and UCAT ^® ANZ overall score only. UNSW invites the applicants with the highest combined ranking on those two measures. A strong result on one does not make up for a weak result on the other. UNSW publishes about 350 interview places for general entry and about 60 for Gateway. Those counts can change. General and Gateway interviews are face to face at Kensington. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Rural invitations use the UCAT ^® ANZ cut-off together with the rural eligibility rules. Academic results are reviewed after ATARs are released, so an interview invitation does not confirm that the academic floor has already been met. Rural interviews are face to face at the closest rural clinical campus to your home address: Wagga Wagga, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, or Albury. The week itself is on the domestic applicants page. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants. Source: UAC, course 428000.

Applicants whose results are finalised in time are considered for the earlier interview round, whether they live in NSW or elsewhere. Later results are considered for the later round. UNSW sets a last day after which updated results are no longer read. That day is published with the other cycle dates. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

How an offer is made

After the interviews, UNSW ranks applicants inside their scheme on three measures: academic rank, UCAT ^® ANZ overall score, and interview score. Offers go to the highest combined rank. Again, a high score on one measure does not repair a low score on another, and the formula is not published. UNSW does not give interview feedback. The first offers are released in UAC January Round 1. Applicants ranked close to the line may be offered in a later round if places remain. That later offer is not promised. Accept, decline, or defer exactly as the offer instructs. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

General, Gateway, and lateral-entry offers are allocated to Kensington. Rural offers are allocated to Port Macquarie or Wagga Wagga, with a small group allocated to Kensington. You receive one offer for one campus. The rural allocation uses your preference and the places left, and UNSW says the decision is final. A rural student who accepts Kensington for Year 1 is expected to spend Phases 2 and 3, years 3 to 6, at a rural campus. Other rural students are expected to complete all six years at a rural campus. Indigenous Entry Scheme offers may be at Kensington, Port Macquarie, or Wagga Wagga. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Australian citizens and permanent residents are considered for both a bonded and an unbonded Commonwealth supported place. Unbonded places go to the highest-ranked applicants until they are filled. Bonded places fill the rest. You cannot ask for that allocation to be reviewed. Bonded places are not available to New Zealand citizens, and they are not offered through the Indigenous Entry Scheme or the Gateway Entry Scheme. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

A bonded place is still a Commonwealth supported place. Participating universities allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth supported places in medicine to the Bonded Medical Program. In return, the participant completes a return-of-service obligation of 156 weeks, worked in an eligible regional, rural, or remote area, or an area of workforce shortage, within 18 years of finishing the medical course. The curriculum at UNSW is the same for bonded and unbonded students. The obligation is managed through the Australian Government's Bonded Return of Service System. Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, how to apply for the Bonded Medical Program. Source: UNSW, domestic applicants.

Frequently asked questions about UNSW medical school

What degree do you leave UNSW medicine with?

You graduate with two awards from one six-year program: the Bachelor of Medical Studies and the Doctor of Medicine (BMed/MD), program 3805. Both are conferred at the end of that program. The Australian Medical Council lists the combined program as accredited to 30 March 2030, and UNSW says graduates can apply for provisional registration and an approved internship.

How do you apply for medicine at UNSW?

Domestic applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ, then lodge course 428000 with UAC and complete the Medicine Application Form in the UAC portal. An interview follows if your rank is high enough, and offers are released through UAC. Choose one scheme: general entry, rural, Gateway, or the Indigenous Entry Scheme. The closing date, interview weeks, and fees are on UNSW's domestic applicants page and change each cycle.

What academic results does UNSW medicine ask for?

For general entry, school leavers need an ATAR or equivalent of 96.00 without adjustment factors. Students with at least 0.75 full-time equivalent of one degree need that ATAR floor and a GPA of 5.5 out of 7.0, and UNSW then uses the stronger of the two ranks. Graduates are ranked on a GPA of 5.5 out of 7.0 only. Rural school leavers need an ATAR of 91.00. Rural university students need an ATAR of 91.00 and a GPA of 4.8 out of 7.0. Rural graduates are ranked on a GPA of 4.8 out of 7.0. These are floors for consideration. The combined rank that wins an interview or an offer changes each year, and UNSW does not publish the formula.

Does UNSW medicine use the UCAT?

Domestic applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ, and only the previous year's result counts for that intake. UNSW uses the overall score and leaves the situational judgement mark out. The published floor is the 50th percentile for general entry and Gateway, and the 40th percentile for the Rural Entry Admission Pathway. Indigenous Entry Scheme applicants do not sit UCAT ^® ANZ. International applicants sit UCAT ^® ANZ or the ISAT.

What happens in the UNSW medicine interview?

It is a structured, in-person interview with two interviewers, and they see your Medicine Application Form first. General and Gateway invitations depend on academic selection rank and UCAT ^® ANZ overall score together. Rural invitations depend on the UCAT ^® cut-off and rural eligibility, with academic results checked later. Bring photo identification. If you miss the interview, the application stops.

Can you apply to UNSW medicine after you have started university?

Yes. Recent and non-recent school leavers are ranked together in the same scheme. Once you have completed at least 0.75 full-time equivalent of one degree, both your ATAR and your GPA are read, and the stronger rank is used if both meet the floor. A finished degree replaces the ATAR. You still sit UCAT ^® ANZ, attend an interview if invited, and enter the six-year BMed/MD.

Which UNSW medicine campus will you be offered?

General and Gateway offers are at Kensington. Rural offers are at Port Macquarie or Wagga Wagga, with a small number at Kensington, and you receive one campus only. A rural student who starts at Kensington is expected to move to a rural campus for years 3 to 6. Clinical placements also run at Sydney teaching hospitals and at Albury, Wodonga, and Coffs Harbour.

Are there full-fee medicine places for Australian students at UNSW?

No. Domestic applicants are offered Commonwealth supported places only, either unbonded or bonded. Bonded places go to applicants after the unbonded places are filled, and they carry a 156-week return-of-service obligation. New Zealand citizens are not offered a bonded place. International places are full fee, at the rate on the current degree page.