When does each school release decisions?

Adelaide Dental typically releases dentistry offers January. UQ Dental releases dentistry offers January — QTAC offer round 14 January 2027 (UQ: offers to the main offer round in January 2027). AU MD offers run through GEMSAS (graduate consortium) or direct school portals; if one is earlier than the other you may need to defer a decision while waiting for the second.

Australian Dental school comparison

Adelaide Dental vs UQ Dental

Q: What admission tests do Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental use?

Adelaide Dental uses UCAT-ANZ. UQ Dental uses UCAT-ANZ. Both schools share the same test stack — your single sitting can support both applications. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sat in March/September; UCAT-ANZ is undergraduate-leaning and sat in July; some schools (notably Bond and JCU) run their own selection model with no national test.

Q: What UCAT-ANZ score do I need for Adelaide Dental vs UQ Dental?

Adelaide Dental — UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University publishes no cut-off and states it 'will not comment on the competitiveness of your score'. For scale only — these are whole-cohort UCAT-ANZ figures, not an Adelaide threshold — the official UCAT-ANZ 2026 sitting (2027 entry, 17,341 candidates) had a Total Cognitive mean of 1,964/2700, a median of 1,950 and a 9th decile of 2,340. Offers are then ranked Interview 40% + Academic 40% + UCAT-ANZ 20%. UQ Dental — Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. UCAT-ANZ cut-offs are cohort-dependent, so the headline number from one cycle is not guaranteed for the next — use it as a planning anchor, not a guarantee.

Q: What ATAR do I need for Adelaide Dental vs UQ Dental?

Adelaide Dental — Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much higher' but explicitly does not disclose cut-off scores from previous years, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake reports fewer than five ATAR-based offers ('<5' in every cell), so no lowest or median rank is available. No 98-99 figure is published by any primary source. UQ Dental — 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. Selection rank typically includes Educational Access Scheme bonuses, rural-origin uplift, and (where applicable) Indigenous-pathway adjustments — your raw ATAR is rarely the final figure used.

Q: How do interviews differ between Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental?

Adelaide Dental uses: Multi-Mini Interview, domestic applicants (minimum 6 stations × 10 minutes, one interviewer per station, online via Zoom; Adelaide notes the format is reviewed each cycle and may change). UQ Dental uses: No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking. Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: Late November to December 2026 for 2027 entry, plus a separate Northern Community Care stream round in late January 2027 (eligibility notified January 2027). Adelaide lists this stream only in its key-dates table and publishes no eligibility criteria or application route for it. (Adelaide Dental); No interview (UQ Dental).

Q: What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental offer?

Adelaide Dental — Adelaide University does not publish a place count; its student profile shows 76 students commencing the BDS in Semester 1 2026, 29 of them international (roughly 45-47 domestic). ~300 applicants are invited to a domestic interview (minimum 50% of school-leaver invitations to South Australians) and ~100 international applicants. Bachelor of Oral Health (separate program): 28 commencing students in Semester 1 2026, ~90 interviews. UQ Dental — Semester 1, 2026 cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both ATAR/rank and additional criteria were considered, and 24 international (21.6%). The total includes international students, leaving roughly 87 domestic commencers, all in Commonwealth supported places. Domestic places are all Commonwealth supported. QTAC's Feb 2027 intake listing shows a first-year student contribution of $10,140; UQ's own program page gives an indicative annual fee of $11,670 for 2026 and states that 2027 fee information is not yet available. The two official sources are on different bases, so treat both as indicative and check UQ's fee page before quoting a 2027 figure. CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) is the lowest student contribution; BMP (Bonded Medical Program) adds a 1-year return-of-service obligation in a Modified Monash Model 2-7 area after Fellowship; Full-fee places carry no bond but the highest tuition.

Q: What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental offer?

Adelaide Dental — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway — the Adelaide dental program allocates a number of places specifically to this pathway (quota not disclosed). Applicants apply through SATAC with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statutory Declaration uploaded within five working days, and are exempt from UCAT-ANZ. Every eligible applicant is interviewed, by a panel of three to four academics, clinicians and alumni (largely Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander panellists) for around 20 minutes, preceded by an informal yarn. UQ Dental — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who apply through QTAC and identify automatically receive 5 selection-rank adjustments. On UCAT: UQ's program page states that applicants applying via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Scheme are not required to sit UCAT, while UQ's scheme page ties the dentistry exemption specifically to its separate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) admission pathway — complete UQ's admission pathway application form and email it to atsisaltentry@uq.edu.au, with applications closing 1 December in the year before you commence. Because UQ's two pages differ, lodge the pathway form by 1 December and confirm the exemption with UQ Admissions rather than relying on the QTAC application alone. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.

Q: Does Adelaide Dental or UQ Dental offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Adelaide Dental — No bonded places — the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program provides a Commonwealth Supported Place in a medical course only (universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs to it) and has no dental stream. Adelaide University reserves approximately four BDS places for rural-background applicants who have lived in a Modified Monash Model (MMM 2019) MM 2-7 area for at least five consecutive years or ten years cumulatively; they must still sit UCAT-ANZ, apply through SATAC, and upload a Rural Entry Pathway Statutory Declaration within five days of lodgement. UQ Dental — No bonded places and no rural quota for dentistry: UQ states all domestic places are Commonwealth supported, QTAC lists the fee as CSP only, and UQ's Rural Background Sub-quota is offered only to Doctor of Medicine (Provisional Entry) applicants. Rural applicants do get relief, because the 99.0 minimum is an ADJUSTED ATAR — UQ's Rural Access Scheme adds 2 adjustments (each worth 1 rank). For the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours), however, that adjustment is not automatic: you must provide documents proving you lived in a designated rural or remote area for 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively, submitted through QTAC. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.

Q: What curriculum style do Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental use?

Adelaide Dental runs a Integrated curriculum. UQ Dental runs a Integrated curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. Adelaide Dental specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Taught at the Adelaide City Campus (North Terrace), with compulsory clinical placements from first year across hospital-based, community, rural a UQ Dental specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). Students attend both the Herston and St Lucia campuses throughout the five years. Clinical skills begin in the first semester in UQ's simulat

Q: Should I apply to both Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental?

Yes — AU medical applicants typically lodge preferences across multiple schools via GEMSAS (graduate) or direct-undergraduate portals + state TACs (UAC for NSW, VTAC for VIC, QTAC for QLD, etc.). The two schools' selection mechanics differ enough that listing both is a legitimate diversification strategy. A common mistake is over-indexing on schools with the same test-and-interview profile; Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental are both Australian dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Adelaide Dental is in South Australia while UQ Dental is in Queensland. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Both select on UCAT-ANZ, so a single sitting can support both applications.

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Interview — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Adelaide Dental and UQ Dental.
Comparison field	Adelaide DentalAdelaide	UQ DentalHerston & St Lucia
Quick comparison
Location	Adelaide, Australia	Herston & St Lucia, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Admission tests	UCAT-ANZ	UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT	-	-
UCAT-ANZ	UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University publishes no cut-off and states it 'will not comment on the competitiveness of your score'. For scale only — these are whole-cohort UCAT-ANZ figures, not an Adelaide threshold — the official UCAT-ANZ 2026 sitting (2027 entry, 17,341 candidates) had a Total Cognitive mean of 1,964/2700, a median of 1,950 and a 9th decile of 2,340. Offers are then ranked Interview 40% + Academic 40% + UCAT-ANZ 20%.	Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total.
ATAR	Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much higher' but explicitly does not disclose cut-off scores from previous years, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake reports fewer than five ATAR-based offers ('<5' in every cell), so no lowest or median rank is available. No 98-99 figure is published by any primary source.	2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry.
Interview format	Multi-Mini Interview, domestic applicants (minimum 6 stations × 10 minutes, one interviewer per station, online via Zoom; Adelaide notes the format is reviewed each cycle and may change)	No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking
Post-interview chance	Adelaide University does not publish an interview-to-offer rate. As a rough indication only, ~300 domestic interview invitations sit against roughly 45-47 domestic students commencing in Semester 1 2026 — about 15% — but this is a commencement ratio, not an offer rate, and the same interview also covers applicants whose eligible preferences include the Bachelor of Medical Studies or Bachelor of Oral Health.	N/A — no interview.
Decision date	January	January — QTAC offer round 14 January 2027 (UQ: offers to the main offer round in January 2027)

ATAR	Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much higher' but explicitly does not disclose cut-off scores from previous years, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake reports fewer than five ATAR-based offers ('<5' in every cell), so no lowest or median rank is available. No 98-99 figure is published by any primary source.	2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry.
Contextual ATAR	Adjustment factors are applied through SATAC — the Universities Equity Scheme, plus subject adjustment factors under the Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme. The published ATAR profile reports both raw ATAR and Selection Rank (ATAR plus any adjustment factors).	UQ applies adjustments through QTAC and caps them: 'You may be eligible for multiple schemes, up to a maximum of 5 adjustment points in total.' The Rural Access Scheme gives 2 adjustments (1 rank each), the Educational Access Scheme up to 5, the School Opportunity Scheme up to 4, the Subject Incentive Scheme up to 3, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants 5 — but never more than 5 combined, so the lowest unadjusted ATAR that can reach the 99.0 adjusted minimum is 94.0. Important: for Dental Science the rural adjustment is NOT automatic — you must document 5 consecutive or 10 cumulative years of residence in a designated rural or remote area. For Semester 1, 2026 QTAC published a lowest offer of 95.70 excluding adjustment factors and 99.00 including them; these are two separate published statistics, not one applicant's measured adjustment. UQ also lists 'applicants without adjustments will be considered before applicants with adjustments' among the detailed measures it uses when applicants outnumber places.
GAMSAT	-	-
UCAT-ANZ	UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University publishes no cut-off and states it 'will not comment on the competitiveness of your score'. For scale only — these are whole-cohort UCAT-ANZ figures, not an Adelaide threshold — the official UCAT-ANZ 2026 sitting (2027 entry, 17,341 candidates) had a Total Cognitive mean of 1,964/2700, a median of 1,950 and a 9th decile of 2,340. Offers are then ranked Interview 40% + Academic 40% + UCAT-ANZ 20%.	Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total.
CASPer	-	-
ISAT	-	-
GPA	-	-
Prerequisites	-	-
Place types	Adelaide University does not publish a place count; its student profile shows 76 students commencing the BDS in Semester 1 2026, 29 of them international (roughly 45-47 domestic). ~300 applicants are invited to a domestic interview (minimum 50% of school-leaver invitations to South Australians) and ~100 international applicants. Bachelor of Oral Health (separate program): 28 commencing students in Semester 1 2026, ~90 interviews.	Semester 1, 2026 cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both ATAR/rank and additional criteria were considered, and 24 international (21.6%). The total includes international students, leaving roughly 87 domestic commencers, all in Commonwealth supported places. Domestic places are all Commonwealth supported. QTAC's Feb 2027 intake listing shows a first-year student contribution of $10,140; UQ's own program page gives an indicative annual fee of $11,670 for 2026 and states that 2027 fee information is not yet available. The two official sources are on different bases, so treat both as indicative and check UQ's fee page before quoting a 2027 figure.
Indigenous pathway	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway — the Adelaide dental program allocates a number of places specifically to this pathway (quota not disclosed). Applicants apply through SATAC with an Abor…	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who apply through QTAC and identify automatically receive 5 selection-rank adjustments. On UCAT: UQ's program page states that applicants applying via…
Bonded / rural	No bonded places — the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program provides a Commonwealth Supported Place in a medical course only (universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs to it) and has…	No bonded places and no rural quota for dentistry: UQ states all domestic places are Commonwealth supported, QTAC lists the fee as CSP only, and UQ's Rural Background Sub-quota is offered only to Doct…

Interview window	Late November to December 2026 for 2027 entry, plus a separate Northern Community Care stream round in late January 2027 (eligibility notified January 2027). Adelaide lists this stream only in its key-dates table and publishes no eligibility criteria or application route for it.	No interview
Interview details	Adelaide Dental uses an MMI with a minimum of 6 stations × 10 minutes each for domestic applicants (who apply via SATAC). International applicants apply via Adelaide's International Application System…	UQ Dent does not interview. Step 1: applicants must hit adjusted ATAR ≥ 99.00. Step 2: all qualifying applicants are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate; ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator.…

Specialities	Oral Surgery, Orthodontics, Public Dental Health, Indigenous Oral Health, Restorative Dentistry	Oral Surgery, Orthodontics, Paediatric Dentistry, Dental Research, Public Dental Health
Established	1920	1936
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Adelaide runs South Australia's only dental school (est. 1920) as a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Co-located with the Adelaide Dental Hospital — one of Australia's oldest dent…	UQ Dental sits at the very top of the Australian dental entry range: a minimum ADJUSTED ATAR of 99.0, a median adjusted offer rank of 99.95 at the Semester 1, 2026 intake, and no guaranteed-entry scor…
Official course page	https://adelaide.edu.au/study/degrees/bachelor-of-dental-surgery/dom/	https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/programs/bachelor-dental-science-honours-2367

Adelaide Dental

Adelaide

Quick comparison

Location: Adelaide, Australia
Entry pathway: Undergraduate
Admission tests: UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University publishes no cut-off and states it 'will not comment on the competitiveness of your score'. For scale only — these are whole-cohort UCAT-ANZ figures, not an Adelaide threshold — the official UCAT-ANZ 2026 sitting (2027 entry, 17,341 candidates) had a Total Cognitive mean of 1,964/2700, a median of 1,950 and a 9th decile of 2,340. Offers are then ranked Interview 40% + Academic 40% + UCAT-ANZ 20%.
ATAR: Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much higher' but explicitly does not disclose cut-off scores from previous years, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake reports fewer than five ATAR-based offers ('<5' in every cell), so no lowest or median rank is available. No 98-99 figure is published by any primary source.
Interview format: Multi-Mini Interview, domestic applicants (minimum 6 stations × 10 minutes, one interviewer per station, online via Zoom; Adelaide notes the format is reviewed each cycle and may change)
Post-interview chance: Adelaide University does not publish an interview-to-offer rate. As a rough indication only, ~300 domestic interview invitations sit against roughly 45-47 domestic students commencing in Semester 1 2026 — about 15% — but this is a commencement ratio, not an offer rate, and the same interview also covers applicants whose eligible preferences include the Bachelor of Medical Studies or Bachelor of Oral Health.
Decision date: January

ATAR: Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much higher' but explicitly does not disclose cut-off scores from previous years, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake reports fewer than five ATAR-based offers ('<5' in every cell), so no lowest or median rank is available. No 98-99 figure is published by any primary source.
Contextual ATAR: Adjustment factors are applied through SATAC — the Universities Equity Scheme, plus subject adjustment factors under the Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme. The published ATAR profile reports both raw ATAR and Selection Rank (ATAR plus any adjustment factors).
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University publishes no cut-off and states it 'will not comment on the competitiveness of your score'. For scale only — these are whole-cohort UCAT-ANZ figures, not an Adelaide threshold — the official UCAT-ANZ 2026 sitting (2027 entry, 17,341 candidates) had a Total Cognitive mean of 1,964/2700, a median of 1,950 and a 9th decile of 2,340. Offers are then ranked Interview 40% + Academic 40% + UCAT-ANZ 20%.
CASPer: -
ISAT: -
GPA: -
Prerequisites: -
Place types: Adelaide University does not publish a place count; its student profile shows 76 students commencing the BDS in Semester 1 2026, 29 of them international (roughly 45-47 domestic). ~300 applicants are invited to a domestic interview (minimum 50% of school-leaver invitations to South Australians) and ~100 international applicants. Bachelor of Oral Health (separate program): 28 commencing students in Semester 1 2026, ~90 interviews.
Indigenous pathway: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway — the Adelaide dental program allocates a number of places specifically to this pathway (quota not disclosed). Applicants apply through SATAC with an Abor…
Bonded / rural: No bonded places — the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program provides a Commonwealth Supported Place in a medical course only (universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs to it) and has…

UQ Dental

Herston & St Lucia

Quick comparison

Location: Herston & St Lucia, Australia
Entry pathway: Undergraduate
Admission tests: UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total.
ATAR: 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry.
Interview format: No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking
Post-interview chance: N/A — no interview.
Decision date: January — QTAC offer round 14 January 2027 (UQ: offers to the main offer round in January 2027)

ATAR: 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry.
Contextual ATAR: UQ applies adjustments through QTAC and caps them: 'You may be eligible for multiple schemes, up to a maximum of 5 adjustment points in total.' The Rural Access Scheme gives 2 adjustments (1 rank each), the Educational Access Scheme up to 5, the School Opportunity Scheme up to 4, the Subject Incentive Scheme up to 3, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants 5 — but never more than 5 combined, so the lowest unadjusted ATAR that can reach the 99.0 adjusted minimum is 94.0. Important: for Dental Science the rural adjustment is NOT automatic — you must document 5 consecutive or 10 cumulative years of residence in a designated rural or remote area. For Semester 1, 2026 QTAC published a lowest offer of 95.70 excluding adjustment factors and 99.00 including them; these are two separate published statistics, not one applicant's measured adjustment. UQ also lists 'applicants without adjustments will be considered before applicants with adjustments' among the detailed measures it uses when applicants outnumber places.
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total.
CASPer: -
ISAT: -
GPA: -
Prerequisites: -
Place types: Semester 1, 2026 cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both ATAR/rank and additional criteria were considered, and 24 international (21.6%). The total includes international students, leaving roughly 87 domestic commencers, all in Commonwealth supported places. Domestic places are all Commonwealth supported. QTAC's Feb 2027 intake listing shows a first-year student contribution of $10,140; UQ's own program page gives an indicative annual fee of $11,670 for 2026 and states that 2027 fee information is not yet available. The two official sources are on different bases, so treat both as indicative and check UQ's fee page before quoting a 2027 figure.
Indigenous pathway: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who apply through QTAC and identify automatically receive 5 selection-rank adjustments. On UCAT: UQ's program page states that applicants applying via…
Bonded / rural: No bonded places and no rural quota for dentistry: UQ states all domestic places are Commonwealth supported, QTAC lists the fee as CSP only, and UQ's Rural Background Sub-quota is offered only to Doct…

Adelaide Dental vs UQ Dental - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Adelaide Dental — UCAT-ANZ alone ranks applicants for interview invitation (Sections 1-3 equally weighted; the Situational Judgement Test is used only to split tied candidates at the lower end). Adelaide University… UQ Dental — Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator.

UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has…

Timing shapes the choice as much as the score. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sits in March and September; UCAT-ANZ is mostly undergraduate and sits in July. A few schools run their own selection model with no national test at all.

ATAR and academic profile

Adelaide Dental requires Adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00+ for minimum eligibility (Adelaide University states it does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores, and its published ATAR profile for the Semester 1 2026 intake shows '<5' in every cell) plus UCAT-ANZ plus an online MMI; SACE Stage 2 prerequisites are one of Chemistry, Mathematical Methods, Specialist Mathematics or Physics PLUS one of Biology, Earth and Environmental Science, Chemistry or Physics — English is assumed knowledge, not a prerequisite; rural-background (approximately four reserved places) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathways available.

UQ Dental requires Minimum adjusted ATAR 99.0 (or equivalent) plus UCAT ANZ from the year you apply — no interview. Prerequisites (QTAC): English, Literature, English and Literature Extension or English as an Additional Language (Units 3 and 4, C), and Chemistry (Units 3 and 4, C); Biology recommended. Domestic applications go through QTAC only (code 712002; UQ program code 2367).

UQ offers NO guaranteed-entry ATAR for this program — it is listed among UQ's programs with no guarantee — so reaching 99.0 makes you eligible, not admitted.

ATAR. Adelaide Dental — Minimum adjusted ATAR-equivalent selection rank of 90.00 for eligibility (selection rank = ATAR plus any adjustment factors). Adelaide University says the ATAR actually required is 'typically much… UQ Dental — 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95.

ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted…

Read every ATAR figure as a selection rank, not a raw score. Educational access bonuses, rural-origin uplift and Indigenous pathways all adjust it, so the published number is rarely the one that decides your application.

Interview formats

Adelaide Dental uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview, domestic applicants (minimum 6 stations × 10 minutes, one interviewer per station, online via Zoom; Adelaide notes the format is…); UQ Dental uses Interview (No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking).

These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Interview rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Adelaide Dental is the better fit.

Interview windows: Adelaide Dental interviews in Late November to December 2026 for 2027 entry, plus a separate Northern Community Care stream round in late January 2027 (eligibility notified January 2027). Adelaide lists this stream only in its key-dates table and publishes no eligibility criteria or application route for it.; UQ Dental in No interview.

Curriculum and teaching style

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Taught at the Adelaide City Campus (North Terrace), with compulsory clinical placements from fi 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). Students attend both the Herston and St Lucia campuses throughout the five years. Clinical

Intake size: Adelaide Dental — Adelaide University no longer publishes a BDS place count; its mandated student profile (SATAC code ABP116) records 76 students commencing the BDS…; UQ Dental — Semester 1, 2026 commencing cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both….

A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Adelaide Dental: Adelaide University does not publish an interview-to-offer rate.

As a rough indication only, ~300 domestic interview invitations sit against roughly 45-47 domestic students commencing in Semester 1 2026 — about 15% — but this is a commencement ratio, not an offer rate, and the same interview also covers applicants whose eligible preferences include the Bachelor of Medical Studies or Bachelor of Oral Health.

UQ Dental: N/A — no interview.

Post-interview odds give you the clearest signal of how competitive each school is at the final stage — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%, even if the interview thresholds look identical on paper.

What makes each distinctive

Adelaide Dental: Adelaide runs South Australia's only dental school (est. 1920) as a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Co-located with the Adelaide Dental Hospital — one of Australia's oldest dental teaching hospitals.

Adelaide University, formed in January 2026 from the merger of the University of Adelaide and UniSA, now delivers the BDS under SATAC code ABP116; applications for 2027 entry are open (SATAC applications 3 August - 30 September 2026, offers from January 2027).

UQ Dental: UQ Dental sits at the very top of the Australian dental entry range: a minimum ADJUSTED ATAR of 99.0, a median adjusted offer rank of 99.95 at the Semester 1, 2026 intake, and no guaranteed-entry score at all — UQ lists Dental Science (Honours) among its programs with no ATAR guarantee.

(We have not verified against every other Australian dental program that it is the single most ATAR-competitive; no admissions centre publishes that comparison.) No interview — selection runs on the ATAR hurdle + UCAT-ANZ aggregate. Co-located with the Oral Health Centre at Herston — Queensland's largest dental teaching facility.

Which is right for you?

Check your state of origin before you apply — Adelaide Dental draws heavily on South Australia applicants and UQ Dental on Queensland, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

Your preference list should ultimately weight: which admission test you can realistically score well in, whether your state of origin gives you a bonus at either school, and where you'd actually want to live for four to five years.

Common questions