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Australian Dental school comparison

Adelaide Dental vs UWA Dental

Adelaide Dental and UWA Dental are both Australian dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Adelaide Dental is in South Australia while UWA Dental is in Western Australia. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones.

Adelaide Dental uses UCAT-ANZ; UWA Dental uses GAMSAT, UCAT-ANZ, ISAT, MCAT and DAT. That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. They also recruit at different stages: Adelaide Dental runs school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, UWA Dental runs both undergraduate and graduate entry.

Side-by-side comparison

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

UWA Dental

Nedlands

Quick comparison

Location
Nedlands, Australia
Entry pathway
Dual (UG + Grad)
Admission tests
GAMSAT + UCAT-ANZ + ISAT + MCAT + DAT
GAMSAT
Graduate DMD: minimum GAMSAT overall 55 with no section score below 50 (same minimum for domestic and international applicants). Shortlisting for interview ranks GAMSAT (or equivalent) and GPA weighted 40%/60%. Final ranking for non-rural domestic applicants is GAMSAT 20%, GPA 30%, interview 50%; for rural applicants GAMSAT 15%, GPA 22.5%, interview 37.5% and rurality rating 25%; Indigenous graduate applicants are ranked on GPA and interview through Boola Boola Djinda. GAMSAT results are valid for four years as at the application closing date (for 2028 commencement UWA accepts test dates from September 2023 to March 2027), and an applicant holding more than one valid score may use their best, not necessarily the most recent. UWA publishes no GAMSAT median or cut-off for successful DMD applicants on its current course page or in its 2026 Domestic Health Admissions Guide; 55 is a minimum eligibility threshold, not a competitive score.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
MMI, 8 stations × 7 minutes (domestic); two-interviewer panel, ~50 minutes (international)
Post-interview chance
UWA does not publish interview numbers or an interview-to-offer conversion rate for the DMD — neither the course page, the 2026 Domestic Health Admissions Guide nor TISC's application/offer statistics report interviews. What is published: the interview carries 50% of the final rank for non-rural applicants (37.5% alongside a 25% rurality rating for rural applicants), making it the single largest weighted component in both the graduate and school-leaver streams.
Decision date
Domestic graduate offers commence in November and cannot be deferred. School-leaver Assured Pathway offers are released on TISC timelines — TISC main round is December, second round January. International graduate offers commence late May (main round) and early August (second round).

Adelaide Dental vs UWA 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… UWA Dental — no published cut-off.

GAMSAT cut-offs. Adelaide Dental — not used or not published. UWA Dental — Graduate DMD: minimum GAMSAT overall 55 with no section score below 50 (same minimum for domestic and international applicants). Shortlisting for interview ranks GAMSAT (or equivalent) and GPA…

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.

UWA Dental requires Two routes. Graduate entry: a recognised bachelor degree with selection GPA (sGPA) of at least 5.5, GAMSAT overall 55+ with no section below 50, and the UWA MMI. School-leaver Assured Pathway (TISC UD056): minimum ATAR 98 (90 for the Indigenous school-leaver pathway), a valid UCAT ANZ score sat in the year of application, and an interview.

The Assured Pathway is not direct entry to the DMD — it awards a conditional DMD place at Year 12 that is taken up only after completing UWA's Bachelor of Biomedicine (Specialised) with the Integrated Dental Sciences major and reaching a selection GPA of 5.5 within the first two years (3+3). There are no mandatory prerequisite subjects in either stream.

Rural and Indigenous pathways run in both streams.

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… UWA Dental — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Adelaide Dental — not applicable or not published. UWA Dental — Graduate DMD: minimum selection GPA (sGPA) of 5.5 on UWA's 7-point scale — an eligibility floor, not a competitive score. GPA carries 60% of the pre-interview shortlisting rank (against GAMSAT 40%)…

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

Both Adelaide Dental and UWA Dental use MMI interviews, so the underlying prep approach is the same — practise ethics frameworks, Australian health-system topics (Medicare, rural workforce, Indigenous health) and (for MMI) structured station responses against a timer.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Adelaide Dental runs multi-mini interview, domestic applicants (minimum 6 stations × 10 minutes, one interviewer per station, online via zoom; adelaide notes the format is…; UWA Dental runs mmi, 8 stations × 7 minutes (domestic); two-interviewer panel, ~50 minutes (international). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

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.; UWA Dental in Domestic graduate: late September/early October.

Domestic school leaver: 30 November–11 December 2026 for the 2027 intake. International graduate: main round May, second round late July/early August. International school leaver: late July/early August..

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 4-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), 192 points comprising 144 points of taught units plus 48 points of admission credit (UWA Handbook 918

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…; UWA Dental — 50 domestic places and 20 international places per year, with up to 50 per cent of places filled from the school-leaver Assured….

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.

UWA Dental: UWA does not publish interview numbers or an interview-to-offer conversion rate for the DMD — neither the course page, the 2026 Domestic Health Admissions Guide nor TISC's application/offer statistics report interviews.

What is published: the interview carries 50% of the final rank for non-rural applicants (37.5% alongside a 25% rurality rating for rural applicants), making it the single largest weighted component in both the graduate and school-leaver streams.

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).

UWA Dental: UWA Dental runs a 4-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) — Western Australia's only graduate-entry dental program. Clinical teaching is based at the Oral Health Centre of WA, a dental teaching hospital at 17 Monash Avenue, Nedlands, on UWA's Health Campus next to the QEII Medical Centre — not the Crawley teaching campus.

Shortlisting for interview ranks GAMSAT and GPA 40%/60%; the MMI then carries 50% of the final rank against GPA 30% and GAMSAT 20%. Strong rural and Aboriginal Health pathways.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Adelaide Dental needs UCAT-ANZ, UWA Dental needs GAMSAT, UCAT-ANZ, ISAT, MCAT and DAT. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two.

Check your state of origin before you apply — Adelaide Dental draws heavily on South Australia applicants and UWA Dental on Western Australia, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar. They suit different stages too: Adelaide Dental is school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, UWA Dental is both undergraduate and graduate entry.

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

Adelaide Dental uses UCAT-ANZ. UWA Dental uses GAMSAT, UCAT-ANZ, ISAT, MCAT and DAT. The test mismatch means you may need to prep two assessments simultaneously, or you can pick the school whose admission test you're stronger in. 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.

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed .