UCAT ANZ and medical school entry: an official-first guide
A free guide to UCAT ANZ and medicine and dentistry entry in Australia and New Zealand. Every fact links to the official source and carries the date we checked it, and 2027 details are marked as not yet announced.
Last checked against the official sources.
The UCAT ANZ (the University Clinical Aptitude Test for Australia and New Zealand) is the entry test for medicine, dentistry and clinical science at the UCAT ANZ Consortium universities. It is for final-year school students and above, and each university decides how much it counts. The 2027 dates are not yet announced, so we show 2026 as confirmed and 2027 as expected.
This guide is for students in their last three years of school (Australian Year 10 to 12, which is New Zealand Year 11 to 13) and the adults supporting them. It follows one rule: say what the university or the UCAT ANZ Consortium says, link to the page, and show when we last checked it. We do not predict cut-offs, and we do not say you need a score unless a university publishes it.
Where to start
- New to the test? Read the parents' guide or the page on format and scoring.
- Planning ahead? Use the Year 10 to 12 timeline and the dates page.
- Choosing universities? Open the explorer, then read who needs the UCAT ANZ.
- Preparing? Start with the Consortium's free official preparation materials, then read free versus paid preparation. Our free practice tests (coming soon) are original practice tests from the tutoring business behind this site, not official items, and are only extra volume.
How we handle the facts
- Every fact has an official source and the date we checked it.
- Where we could not confirm a fact on an official page, the row shows "Not confirmed" and links the page to check. We never fill the gap from a third-party site.
- Medical school rules change every year, so each rule shows the year it applies to where the page gives one.
- We never copy official questions or explanations. Facts such as dates, fees and the test format are restated in our own words and layout, with a link to the Consortium's page.
About us
ExamExplained is a free study library. It is not affiliated with the UCAT ANZ Consortium or any university, and it is run alongside a tutoring business (see about us). That does not change what we publish here: the official free materials come first, and we do not guarantee any result.
ExamExplained is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the UCAT ANZ Consortium.
Understand the UCAT
- UCAT ANZ parents' guide: costs, deadlines and how to helpA neutral guide for parents of Australian Year 10 to 12 students (with a note for New Zealand) interested in medicine or dentistry. It covers who can sit the UCAT ANZ, what it costs, the deadlines that matter and how to help without adding pressure, with the free official material first.
- UCAT ANZ format and scoring: four subtests, 300 to 900 eachThe UCAT ANZ has four timed subtests: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement. The three cognitive scores add to a total from 900 to 2700, and the Situational Judgement score is reported on its own.
Medical school entry
- Medicine and dentistry entry explorer: each university's own UCAT ANZ ruleA filterable table of the UCAT ANZ Consortium courses and six well-known courses that are not on the Consortium's list. Rows link the university's page, Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) or the Consortium's list, and show the date we checked. A fact we could not confirm is shown as Not confirmed or Not stated.
- Who needs the UCAT ANZ: the Consortium list and courses not on itThe UCAT ANZ Consortium lists 17 entries (18 universities, since Newcastle and New England share the Joint Medical Program) and 23 courses whose medicine, dentistry or clinical science courses use the test for 2027 entry. Some pathways do not need it, there are no general exemptions, and each university sets how the score counts. Only Sydney and Bond are confirmed as not using it.
- What changes for 2027 and 2028 entry: Auckland and OtagoTwo real changes matter if you are planning ahead: the University of Auckland replaces the UCAT ANZ with Casper for 2028 entry, and the University of Otago says all applicants to medicine must sit the UCAT ANZ from 2028. Curtin's two tests are not new, and we add a short note on when New Zealand applicants sit.
Prepare
- UCAT ANZ timeline: what to do in Year 10, 11 and 12 (Australia)A calm Australian Year 10 to 12 plan for UCAT ANZ and medical school entry, using the 2026 calendar as the template, with a short note for New Zealand. You cannot sit the test before your final year, so earlier years are for choices and habits.
- Free versus paid UCAT ANZ preparation: official materials firstThe UCAT ANZ Consortium offers free official tutorials, question banks and full practice tests that it calls representative of the live test, and says it does not endorse commercial coaching. Here is how to use the free materials first and weigh paid options honestly.
Book and sit
- UCAT ANZ 2027 dates: what is confirmed and what is expectedAs at 7 October 2026 the UCAT ANZ 2027 dates and fees are not announced. This page shows the confirmed 2026 cycle, the 2027 dates we expect from that pattern, and a change log that updates when the Consortium publishes.
- UCAT ANZ fees, concessions, access arrangements and reschedulingThe 2026 UCAT ANZ test fee was 335 Australian dollars in Australia or New Zealand, with a concession fee of 240 dollars for Health Care Card and Pensioner Concession Card holders in Australia. Here are the late fees, access arrangements and rescheduling rules, with 2027 fees not yet announced.
Interviews
- How medical school interviews work in Australia and New ZealandUniversities use different interview formats for medicine: multiple mini-interviews, structured two-interviewer interviews, group assessments and no interview at all. Here is how the published formats compare and how to prepare honestly.
- MMI practice scenarios: ethics and professionalismTen original MMI-style scenarios on honesty, confidentiality, consent, conflicts of interest, fairness, scope of practice, speaking up, small mistakes, social media and gifts, each with a way to think it through, strong points to reach and common traps.
- MMI practice scenarios: communicationTen original MMI-style communication scenarios covering gentle bad news, an angry relative, explaining to a child, an interpreter, a struggling colleague, feedback, refused advice, listening, staff misunderstandings and habit change.
- MMI practice scenarios: teamwork and leadershipTen original MMI-style practice scenarios on teamwork and leadership, each with what the station probes, a thinking framework, strong points and common traps.
- MMI practice scenarios: resilience and self-awarenessTen original reflective MMI-style prompts on resilience and self-awareness, with a situation, action, result and learning approach, strong points and common traps.
- MMI practice scenarios: health policy and societyTen original MMI practice scenarios on health policy and society, each with a framework, strong points and common traps. They are thinking practice, not real stations or a prediction.
- MMI practice scenarios: motivation and insightTen original MMI practice scenarios on motivation and insight, with frameworks for building honest answers from your own experience. They are thinking practice, not real stations.
- UNSW medicine interview: format and datesUNSW interviews domestic medicine applicants face to face, with two interviewers on the Kensington campus (2027 entry). Dates are from UNSW's own page, checked on 7 October 2026.
- UQ medicine interview (MMI): format and datesUQ uses an online multiple mini-interview with 8 stations for school-leaver medicine applicants (2027 entry). Details are from UQ's own pages, checked on 7 October 2026.
- Adelaide medicine interview (MMI): format and datesAdelaide University's medicine interview for Australian and New Zealand school leavers (2027 entry) is an online Multiple Mini Interview with at least six 10-minute stations, held late November to December 2026. Check Adelaide's page for changes.
- Curtin medicine interview (MMI): format and datesCurtin's medicine interview for 2027 entry is a Multiple Mini Interview, mostly face to face, with rounds planned for December 2026 and January 2027. Curtin lists every date as subject to change or to be confirmed.
- UWA medicine and dentistry interview (MMI): format and datesUWA's interview for domestic school leavers (2027 entry) is a Multiple Mini Interview of 8 stations of 7 minutes, planned for 30 November to 11 December 2026 and subject to change. Check UWA's pages for your date.
- Western Sydney University medicine interview (MMI): format and datesWestern Sydney University interviews domestic medicine applicants by Zoom in a multi-mini-station interview in late November (2027 entry). Details are from its own pages, checked on 7 October 2026.
- University of Auckland medicine interview (MMI): format and datesAuckland's MBChB interview is an online, video-recorded Multiple Mini Interview on Kira Talent: 8 stations, 7 scored, 3.5 minutes each. The 2026 MMI was held on 8 September 2026. Rules differ for 2027 and 2028 entry.
- Newcastle and New England Joint Medical Program assessment: format and datesThe Joint Medical Program uses a Multiple Skills Assessment, a circuit of stations, for 2027 entry. Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) and the University of Newcastle differ on when invitations go out, and UAC itself lists two overlapping assessment windows, so check the JMP pages (checked 7 October 2026).
- University of Sydney medicine Assessment Day: format and datesThe University of Sydney's double degree medicine pathway uses an Assessment Day with a group interview and a written assessment, and does not require the UCAT ANZ (2027 entry). Dates may change.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UCAT ANZ?
It is a computer-based, multiple-choice admissions test used by the UCAT ANZ Consortium of universities in Australia and New Zealand to help select applicants for medicine, dentistry and clinical science degrees. It is sat in a Pearson test centre and takes just under two hours.
Are the 2027 dates announced?
Not as at 7 October 2026. The official test cycle page still shows the 2026 dates only. Our dates page lists the 2026 cycle as confirmed and the 2027 dates as expected, based on the 2026 pattern. We update it when the Consortium publishes them, and its change log shows when we last checked.
Can Year 11 students sit the UCAT ANZ?
No. The UCAT ANZ is only for people sitting or who have completed their final year of secondary school, or higher. Australian Year 11 and New Zealand Year 12 students cannot sit it, including Year 11 students taking a Year 12 subject.
Do all medical schools use the UCAT ANZ?
No. Consortium universities (17 entries on the Consortium's list, covering 18 universities, since Newcastle and New England share the Joint Medical Program) require it for most courses on the official list (two medical science entries are marked optional), but some pathways to medicine do not use it, and each university decides how much weight to give the score. The explorer states each university's own published rule where we could read it, and links the university's page, the Universities Admissions Centre, Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) or the Consortium's list.
Is this site run by the UCAT ANZ Consortium?
No. ExamExplained is not affiliated with the UCAT ANZ Consortium or any university. We are run alongside a tutoring business (see our about page), and we say plainly that the Consortium recommends its own free official practice materials first.