UAC Applications Guide for Medical and Dental Entry (2027 Domestic Entry)
Last updated: 10 August 2026. UAC republishes its medicine and dentistry key dates through August and September, and several NSW universities, including Western Sydney, Charles Sturt and the Newcastle/New England JMP, are expected to confirm 2027 entry information over the same period. We review this guide after each update. Always confirm course codes, dates, fees and entry conditions on the official university and UAC pages before you submit.
Overview
TL;DR
- UAC is the only way into every NSW and ACT medical and dental course; you cannot apply to the universities only.
- You get five UAC preferences, which is not enough to cover every medicine and dentistry course in NSW and the ACT, so it is important to be strategic.
- The Newcastle/New England JMP needs a separate direct application on top of your UAC preferences.
- Most medicine and dentistry offers land in the January rounds, with a few released in December.
- EAS adjusts your ATAR, not your UCAT, and medicine is excluded from the Schools Recommendation Scheme.
- Written for domestic Year 12 and gap year students aiming for NSW or ACT medicine or dentistry.
This guide follows the order you would actually work through a NSW application: what UAC does, which courses run through it, how each university selects, the timeline, how to set up and order your preferences, the EAS equity scheme, and what happens once offers start. Each university has its own section, so if you already have a shortlist, jump to those schools.
The ATAR takes years to earn and the UCAT is very competitive. The application that converts these scores into an offer takes far less time, and in New South Wales and the ACT it is the application, not the mark, that sometimes trips students up. UAC gives you five preference slots, and between UNSW, the University of Sydney, the Newcastle/New England Joint Medical Program, Western Sydney and Charles Sturt, every medical and dental course in the state runs through that one list. The catch is that one of those universities wants a second, separate application that has nothing to do with UAC, and a student who lodges a perfect preference list but forgets it will not receive an interview.
This guide lays out every NSW and ACT medical and dental course on its own terms: how each university selects, which tests it weighs, when each deadline falls, where a separate direct application is required, and how to order your preferences so a lower-than-hoped result still leaves you in the running. By the end you should be able to build a preference list with a clear reason behind every line.
Who this applies to
- Year 12 students in NSW, the ACT, or interstate applying for NSW or ACT medicine or dentistry: this guide is written for you.
- Year 11 students planning ahead: all of it applies; treat the timeline as a preview of your next year.
- Gap year and non-standard applicants: the same UAC process applies, and you preference the same course codes.
- Greater Western Sydney applicants: WSU runs lower thresholds for your region; the relevant rule is flagged under Western Sydney University.
- International applicants: you apply directly to each university, not through UAC. The international section explains how your process differs.
What is UAC, and why it matters for medicine and dentistry
The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) is the centralised body that processes applications to undergraduate courses in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Anyone who wants to start an undergraduate course in NSW or the ACT applies through UAC, whether they are a Year 12 student, a gap year student, a current university student, or already in the workforce. This includes interstate applicants, who apply on the same footing as local students. Universities you reach through UAC include UNSW, the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, and many more.
For aspiring medical and dental students, UAC is unavoidable. Every medical and dental school in NSW and the ACT requires you to list your course on your UAC preference list by a set date. One of them, the Newcastle/New England JMP, then requires an additional direct application alongside your UAC preference, which is covered in detail below.
Every NSW and ACT university course carries a six-digit code that you can preference. You can list up to five courses across all NSW and ACT universities, ranked in your order of preference. UAC also handles more than course choices: the Educational Access Scheme (EAS), scholarship applications, and rural applications are lodged in the same place, so each university receives your complete application from a single source.
It is worth noting that in general, NSW universities do not preference in-state students above interstate applicants for spots in medicine and dentistry, making it a unique option for interstate students. There are some notable exceptions such as Western Sydney University, which are explained in this article.
Course by Course Guide
Which medical and dental courses can you apply to through UAC?
University of New South Wales (UNSW Medicine)
UNSW runs a research-integrated medical program primarily at its Kensington campus, with other campuses at Wagga Wagga and Port Macquarie. The course is six years long and students graduate with a Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine (MD). Students spend their first two years learning foundational medical sciences, followed by a third year on clinical placements, a fourth year dedicated to research (a bonus for those interested), before returning for two final years on clinical placements. Entry is based on ATAR (a minimum of 96), the UCAT, and an in-person panel interview.
University of Sydney (Medicine)
There is no direct undergraduate route into medicine at the University of Sydney, because it offers only a postgraduate degree. Instead, school leavers apply to Sydney's provisional double degrees: the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science paired with the Doctor of Medicine, in which approximately 30 places are available. These are provisional, which means that on completing the 3-year undergraduate degree and maintaining the required marks, you progress automatically into the 4-year postgraduate medical degree without sitting the GAMSAT. This pathway is a total of 7 years, the longest of all NSW medical degrees.
Selection runs in two stages. A flawless selection rank of 99.95 determines the interview offer, and an in-person interview is crucial in determining the final course offer. This makes the interview process of utter importance, as all other applicants at this stage have a 99.95 selection rank.
What is the selection rank?
Your selection rank is your ATAR and any adjustment factors combined. Some universities weight certain subjects more heavily and apply bonuses to your ATAR. An EAS application may also lift your selection rank where you have experienced exceptional circumstances, which is covered further down this guide.
The course codes are 513715 (Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Medicine) and 513720 (Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine).
University of Sydney (Dentistry)
The University of Sydney has recently changed the admissions process for its Doctor of Dental Medicine program. In the past, students from Year 12 could earn a guaranteed spot with similar requirements and conditions to the pathway for medicine at USyd.
Now, the pathway is completely postgraduate. Applicants must complete an undergraduate degree with a competitive GPA, as well as a competitive GAMSAT score, to be eligible for the four-year Doctor of Dental Medicine.
For Year 12 students aiming to do dentistry at USyd, any three-year bachelor's degree in Australia will make you eligible.
University of Newcastle / University of New England Joint Medical Program
The University of Newcastle and the University of New England together run an undergraduate Joint Medical Program (JMP), based in either Newcastle or Armidale. The course is five years long and students graduate with a Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine. Entry is based on ATAR (a hurdle of 94.3), the UCAT, and an in-person Multiple Skills Assessment (MSA).
Did you know? A hurdle ATAR is a threshold, not a ranking.
Once you clear a hurdle, everyone above it is treated identically, so a 99.90 and a 95.00 count the same. At the JMP the hurdle is 94.30, and the interview then carries 100% of the weighting on your final application. Western Sydney and Charles Sturt run the same logic with the interview at 75%.
There is also a hurdle UCAT score that interview invites are based on each year. For admission to the JMP, a very competitive UCAT score (approximately 98th percentile in 2026) and an excellent interview performance are required. The in-person MSA requires you to rotate through six stations, each assessing different qualities and skills.
The JMP is now the only NSW program that requires a separate application. In this application, you can preference whether you would like to be at the Newcastle or Armidale campus, although your final location is not guaranteed to follow your preference. Alongside placing the course on your UAC preference list, you must submit a direct application to the JMP, which typically closes around the 30 September deadline. Both steps are mandatory: a UAC preference without the direct application will not get you an interview.
The course code is 785000.
Western Sydney University (Medicine)
Western Sydney University (WSU) offers a five-year undergraduate medical program at its Campbelltown campus, the Bachelor of Clinical Science (Medicine) and Doctor of Medicine. Entry is based on ATAR, the UCAT, and an online MMI, with the interview weighted at 75% and the UCAT at 25% in the final selection.
Similar to the JMP, WSU uses an ATAR hurdle system (see below for scores). This makes your UCAT and interview even more important.
WSU treats the UCAT differently from other universities. It weights Verbal Reasoning more heavily than the other subtests, though it does not publish the exact formula it uses to decide interview eligibility. A VR-strong UCAT is therefore worth more at WSU than almost anywhere else in the country.
WSU specifically targets applicants who live in the Greater Western Sydney (GWS) region, who face lower thresholds than non-GWS applicants. The ATAR hurdles below are published by the university. The UCAT figures are drawn from Contour's experience with recent cohorts rather than a published threshold, so treat them as a guide rather than a cut-off.
- GWS applicants: ATAR hurdle of 93.5; competitive applicants typically sit around 760 per subsection.
- Non-GWS local applicants: ATAR hurdle of 95.5; competitive applicants typically sit around 800 per subsection.
- Interstate applicants: ATAR hurdle of 95.5; competitive applicants typically sit around 850 or above per subsection.
The course code is 725505.
Charles Sturt University (Medicine and Dentistry)
Charles Sturt University (CSU) previously delivered a Joint Medical Program in partnership with Western Sydney University. From 2026 it delivers a newly accredited, independent undergraduate program. Based in Orange, the course is five years long and graduates earn a Bachelor of Clinical Science (Medicine) and Doctor of Medicine. Entry is based on ATAR (a hurdle of 95.5), the UCAT, and an MMI. Weighting is the same as WSU, with the UCAT making up 25% and the interview 75%.
CSU also runs a five-year dentistry course in Orange. Entry into the Bachelor of Dental Science is based on ATAR, the UCAT, and an in-person panel interview. Cut-off scores for CSU are notoriously difficult to find. Indications are that, given 50% of CSU's dentistry places go to rural and First Nations students, a metropolitan applicant needs a UCAT in the top percentiles.
The final date to preference both CSU medicine and dentistry is earlier than the usual UAC early bird deadline, so list them in early. CSU medicine closes 25 September and CSU dentistry closes 12 September. The dentistry course code is 214738 and the medicine course code is 214478.
University of Notre Dame (Priority Pathway)
There is no direct undergraduate route into medicine at the University of Notre Dame (UNDS), because it offers medicine only as a postgraduate program. In the past, school leavers applied to Notre Dame's Assured Pathway into the Doctor of Medicine. This was a provisional pathway: on completing an undergraduate degree (the Bachelor of Biomedical Science or the Bachelor of Advanced Biomedical Science (Honours)) and maintaining a prescribed GPA, you progressed into the Doctor of Medicine without sitting the GAMSAT.
School leavers are no longer eligible for this pathway. Instead, UNDS runs a priority pathway for Bachelor of Biomedical Science students. UNDS allocates a specified quota of places in the Doctor of Medicine to graduates of that degree. Applicants have to perform outstandingly, with a GPA of 6.0 or above, a GAMSAT of 55 or above and a Casper (situational judgement online exam) score in the second quartile or above, though this can be more lenient than other postgraduate entry options.
Macquarie University (Clinical Science pathway)
Macquarie University offers medicine only as a postgraduate program. Its undergraduate route is a two-year Bachelor of Clinical Science, designed to fast-track students toward the postgraduate Doctor of Medicine. Students who finish in the top 30 of their cohort and meet the minimum MD requirements are guaranteed an interview for the Macquarie Doctor of Medicine.
This is not a standard provisional pathway. Students still compete for their place in the postgraduate MD during their undergraduate studies, so a place in the Bachelor of Clinical Science does not guarantee medicine. All domestic Macquarie MD places are full-fee, which means significantly higher costs than the Commonwealth Supported Places at the other universities above, with total fees reaching over $300,000 AUD. The Bachelor of Clinical Science course code is 300676.
International applicants
International applicants follow a separate process. Rather than applying through UAC, you apply directly to each university, and many international students nominate an education agent to lodge applications on their behalf and keep details accurate and on time. Students finishing Year 12 in Australia still apply through UAC.
Entry requirements differ too: universities may consider the ISAT (International Student Admissions Test) instead of the UCAT, there are usually a set number of reserved international places, and an ATAR equivalent plus an English proficiency certificate is generally required. Confirm the specific requirements with each university's international admissions team before applying.
Place type: CSP vs BMP
When applying to NSW medical/dental, it is vital to understand that there are two different types of places that you can receive.
- CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) is the standard government-subsidised place. You pay the normal student contribution through HECS-HELP, with no obligations attached once you graduate.
- BMP (Bonded Medical Place) is the same degree, taught alongside CSP students, but you sign a Deed of Agreement committing to a Return of Service Obligation, working in a regional or rural area of workforce shortage for three years within 18 years post-graduation. Because there are no obligations post graduation, CSPs are given to the highest ranking applicants, with BMPs provided to students once all the CSPs have been assigned.
University-specific data matrix
A side-by-side view of how each NSW course selects. Figures are hurdles or minimums rather than offer-making cut-offs, which typically sit higher.
Timeline & Applying
The critical UAC timeline for 2027 entry
There is a December offer round, but most medicine and dentistry offers come in the January rounds. Medicine and dentistry deadlines are among the earliest of any course, and some universities close earlier than the standard early bird date.
Early bird applications
A UAC early bird application is simply a standard application lodged by the 30 September deadline. Lodge by that date and the application fee is $82. For most NSW medicine and dentistry options, this date is final.
The "midnight" rounds
For every UAC offer round, there is a deadline to change your preferences that falls at midnight a couple of days before the round. Lock your preferences in by that midnight deadline and you are guaranteed to be considered in the upcoming round. In sequence: the midnight deadline passes, UAC and the universities process your application, and offers are released a couple of days later. Note that for medicine and dentistry courses in NSW, USyd medicine is the only course that will allow you to apply after 30 September.
When interview offers are released
Interview offers go out on different dates for each university.
When medicine and dentistry offers are released
Most medicine and dentistry offers across Australia are released in the January round. In NSW and the ACT, some universities release offers earlier, in December. The split is below.
For every other course, each offer round can give you only one offer. UAC works down your preference list and makes you the single highest offer you qualified for: it considers your first preference, then your second if you missed the first, and so on. You receive the highest course on your list whose requirements you met.
Step-by-step: setting up your UAC application
The mechanics are straightforward. The care goes into matching your details to what your school holds, and into remembering the separate application that the JMP requires.
- Create your UAC account. Enter your personal details, with your name exactly as your school records it, or UAC may not align with the data your school sends. Add your citizenship or visa details and your Unique Student Identifier (USI), then your address and contact details.
- Add your history. Log in to your UAC account, then enter your education history and your UCAT candidate details, since the UCAT ID is what links your score to your application.
- Find your course codes. Use UAC Course Search to locate each course by name or code, then add it. For example, to add the UoN/UNE JMP, search 785000 and the course appears on your preference list. Verify codes each cycle, since they can change.
- Order, pay, and submit. Use the arrows or drag each course to reorder your list, and use the cross to remove a preference. Pay the $82 early bird fee and submit by 30 September.
- Complete the extra applications. If you are preferencing UNSW, complete the Medical Applications Form through UAC. If you are preferencing the JMP, lodge the direct JMP application. Missing either one removes you from contention regardless of your preference list.
Preferencing & Equity
Preferencing strategy
This is the part students often get wrong, and the part that can cost them a place. UAC lets you list five preferences, which is not enough to cover every NSW medical and dental course you are eligible for, especially if you want room left for a genuine backup. The order you choose matters less than most students fear, but it is important to do it the correct way.
How UAC turns preferences into an offer
Understanding the mechanism removes most of the anxiety:
- At each offer round, every university tells UAC whether you met the requirements it set that year.
- UAC then makes you a single offer: the highest course on your list that you qualified for.
- Universities cannot see where you ranked them, so your order never affects your competitiveness.
- Preferencing has no bearing on interview offers either; universities send those out regardless of where they sit on your list.
Suppose a student lists UNSW first and the JMP second. If their scores fall short for UNSW but clear the JMP, UAC offers the JMP. If they qualify for both in the same round, UAC offers only the higher one, UNSW. The lesson is to preference by genuine desire, strongest want first. Even if you suspect your UCAT, ATAR, or interview was not competitive enough, a later-round offer is still possible, but only if the course sits high on your list. If it were your last preference, you may never know that you were competitive enough to get an offer.
The "check and change" strategy
You can check your UAC account and change your preference list whenever you like, and still be eligible for offers, as long as you make the change before the round deadline at midnight a couple of days prior. This is what makes NSW preferencing forgiving: if results land differently from what you expected, you reorder. The one constraint is that there are short blackout periods just before each offer round when changes are locked, so make your edits with time to spare. Keep in mind that you cannot add preferences that were not already on your list after 30 September, other than USyd.
Interstate strategy
The same principle holds across states. Preference the course you most want in each state first, because applying to medical schools in other states does not reduce your chances in NSW. State admissions centres operate independently, so a UAC list sits alongside a VTAC (VIC), QTAC (QLD), or SATAC (SA) list without interference. Many strong applicants end up choosing between several offers around the country.
UNSW Gateway Entry Scheme
The UNSW Gateway Admission Pathway is an early entry scheme aimed at students who are underrepresented at university, including those who live in a low socioeconomic area, identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, attend a UNSW Gateway partner school, or hold an eligible visa. Successful applicants receive ATAR adjustments.
Because UNSW medicine is so competitive, the Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine is not covered by the standard Gateway Admission Pathway. Eligible students instead apply through the Gateway Entry Scheme, which lowers the requirements to a minimum ATAR of 91.00 (without adjustment) and a minimum UCAT ANZ at the 50th percentile overall to proceed to interview. Up to around 10 places in the medical program are allocated to Gateway applicants, who are ranked separately from standard local applicants using the same selection algorithm: academic rank, UCAT ANZ score, and interview score assessed separately rather than averaged.
EAS: the Educational Access Scheme
What EAS does
The Educational Access Scheme (EAS) is a set of equity schemes for students who have faced significant educational challenges during their senior schooling that may have affected their ATAR. It lets a university take those circumstances into account when selecting applicants. It does not guarantee an offer, and it does not exempt you from a course's prerequisites: the minimum 96 ATAR for UNSW medicine, for example, must be met regardless of any EAS adjustment.
The eight categories
The circumstances universities consider under EAS fall into eight broad categories:
- Financial support
- Health and disability
- Difficult circumstances at home
- Caring for yourself or others
- Refugee and humanitarian background
- English language
- Distance education or regional school
- Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA)
Each category has its own supporting documentation requirements. Check UAC's EAS categories and documents list for the specifics that apply to you.
How EAS affects your ATAR
On receiving your ATAR and your EAS application, each university uses the UAC EAS assessment and calculates a selection rank. That selection rank, not your raw ATAR, is what determines your competitiveness for an interview offer or a final course offer.
Consider two students, both with a 99.00 ATAR. Student 1 has no EAS, so their ATAR equals their selection rank: 99.0. Student 2 experienced difficult family circumstances at home throughout senior school and applied for EAS, so after consideration of those circumstances they received a higher selection rank. Because each university applies its own EAS guidelines, it is entirely reasonable for Student 2 to receive a 99.50 selection rank from one university and a 99.30 from another for the same circumstances.
Can EAS boost my UCAT?
No. EAS adjusts only the ATAR component. It can lift your ATAR into a higher selection rank, but it does nothing for your UCAT, which still has to be competitive on its own at the universities that use it.
After the application
Schools Recommendation Scheme (SRS)
The Schools Recommendation Scheme (SRS) is an early entry scheme that can deliver course offers using criteria beyond the ATAR alone, such as your preliminary Year 11 studies, your school's rating of your aptitudes, or your EAS application. It is useful for many courses. Medicine and dentistry, however, are not part of SRS, so do not rely on it for a medical or dental offer.
Offers and accepting
Because there is more than one offer round, a first-round result is not your last chance. If you receive an offer you are not certain about while waiting on a higher preference, accept it and enrol with the university to secure a place, then use the check-and-change window to keep your higher preferences above it for later rounds. Accepting one university's offer through UAC does not affect offers coming through another state's centre. Once you have settled on a final offer, enrol with the university directly, since accepting through UAC is only the first step.
Insider data: Contour student offers, NSW, 2026 cycle
Across the 2026 cycle, Contour students received 185 medicine and dentistry offers from NSW universities: 88 from UNSW, 38 from the Newcastle/New England JMP, 42 from the Western Sydney and Charles Sturt programs, and 17 from the University of Sydney (Contour MedPrep, 2026 cycle).
Nationally, Contour students received 867 medicine and dentistry offers across more than 500 students in the 2026 cycle (Contour MedPrep, 2026 cycle).
These are offers received by Contour students, not university intake totals, cut-offs, or a prediction for any individual applicant.
How to stand out
Case study: The type of applicant that NSW is perfect for
Wendy is an illustrative composite, not a real student. Her scores and decisions reflect patterns we see across many NSW applicants.
Student profile: Wendy Chen, Year 12 in Greater Western Sydney, NSW
UCAT: 2520
ATAR: predicted at 96.00
Preferences:
It is October, and Wendy is apprehensively expecting to hear back about NSW interviews for medicine. She has always wanted to study medicine, and has been keen to get into one of the highly regarded undergraduate programs in her home state. Last month, she finished putting in all her applications in NSW through UAC, completing the UNSW form, and applying to the JMP directly as well.
Wendy lives in the Greater Western Sydney area and goes to school there, so her primary goals are WSU and UNSW. Wendy achieved an excellent score of 2520 in her UCAT, which she was pleased with. However, Wendy is very worried about her upcoming exams, as she has had a tricky year academically compared to Year 11. After discussing it with her careers counsellor, she managed to get a predicted ATAR calculated at 96.00. This worried her, as she had always heard that for medicine you need an ATAR of 99 or above, or you would not get any offers. Wendy decided to focus on studying for exams to see if she could improve that score.
Fast forward to November, and Wendy is wrapping up her final Year 12 exams. She has now received 3 interviews in NSW, which she was very happy about. She is about to start preparing for her WSU, JMP and CSU interviews. She is still feeling down, as she thinks she will be beaten by other applicants with much higher ATAR scores.
Wendy is feeling apprehensive about her interviews, as she knows that performance is critical for a place at these three universities, which weigh the interview heavily (JMP at 100%, WSU and CSU at 75%). Throughout November, she prepares rigorously with friends, and with online resources in simulated situations and practice scenarios, as well as learning key content she expects to come up in interviews.
Wendy makes it through her three interviews and is now waiting for her ATAR to be released in December. The day finally comes and she is very upset, as she receives an ATAR of 95.80, below where she had hoped. She is now ready to consider backup options, as she believes her chances of medicine are low this year.
What Wendy does not understand is the hurdle system many NSW medical schools employ. The JMP's hurdle is 94.3, WSU's is 93.5 (for GWS locals) and CSU's is 95.5. She knew these were the minimum scores required, but not that this meant she would be considered the same as someone with a 99.95. In January, Wendy knows she has been rejected by UNSW, but to her surprise she receives an offer for WSU medicine. Little does Wendy know that with a good interview performance, she may have been eligible for all three offers. As UAC only gives out your highest option that produces an offer, she enrols in WSU and begins her medical journey.
The takeaway is that many NSW medical schools have much more forgiving ATAR requirements, but they have exceptionally high UCAT requirements and interview weighting. For an applicant who receives a 98th or 99th percentile UCAT score and is unsure of their ATAR, WSU, CSU and the JMP should not be discounted, and interview preparation is essential.
The details most applicants miss
The headline rules are easy to find. These are the smaller points that decide outcomes for NSW applicants every year.
- The JMP needs a second application. It closes on 30 September, and missing it removes you from contention regardless of your scores.
- You only get five preferences. UAC caps you at five, fewer than Victoria's eight, so every slot counts. Cover the courses you are eligible for first and keep one genuine backup.
- WSU rewards Greater Western Sydney status and Verbal Reasoning. GWS applicants face lower thresholds, and WSU weights VR more heavily than other universities, so a VR-strong UCAT is worth more here than elsewhere.
- Some universities close early. CSU dentistry and medicine lock preferences before the standard 30 September early bird date, so a late list can miss them even if it is in time for everyone else.
- EAS adjusts your ATAR, not your UCAT, and never waives a prerequisite. The UNSW minimum of 96 stands even after an EAS adjustment, and each university calculates your adjustment under its own guidelines.
- Medicine and dentistry are excluded from SRS. The Schools Recommendation Scheme can deliver early offers for many courses, but not these ones.
- Accepting on UAC is only step one. Enrol in programs directly with universities to secure your spot.
Frequently asked questions
Conclusion and next steps
New South Wales rewards applicants who stay on top of separate applications and early due dates, and who preference correctly. Whether or not you are from NSW, it offers very competitive cut-offs at high quality universities.
Action points:
- Map your courses: list the NSW and ACT programs you are eligible for, noting WSU's Greater Western Sydney thresholds if they apply to you.
- Lodge the separate application: complete the direct JMP application alongside your UAC preferences, both before 30 September.
- If you have faced hardship, lodge EAS and document each circumstance against the relevant category.
- Verify every course code, fee, and date in UAC Course Search and on UAC's key dates page before you submit.