Question 1

What admission tests do Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental use?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt 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.

Question 2

What GAMSAT score do I need for Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — does not publish a GAMSAT cut-off (may not use GAMSAT; check the admission-test question above). 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 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. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. GAMSAT results are valid for four years with ACER, but some graduate MD programs accept only the most recent two cycles — verify before relying on an older sitting.

Question 3

What UCAT-ANZ score do I need for Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — UCAT-ANZ is required on both the general and rural pathways; First Nations applicants are exempt, and UAC tells current Charles Sturt students on the internal GPA pathway that they do not need it. No numerical cut-off is published, and Charles Sturt does not publish how it uses the score beyond UAC's statement that applicants may be selected for interview "on the basis of their UCAT score". Note the UCAT-ANZ cognitive total has been out of 2700 (Verbal Reasoning + Decision Making + Quantitative Reasoning) since the 2025 sitting, which fed 2026 entry; the 2024 and earlier sittings included Abstract Reasoning and were scored on the retired /3600 scale. Situational Judgement is reported separately as a band, scaled 300-900. UWA Dental — does not publish a UCAT-ANZ cut-off (may not use UCAT-ANZ; check the admission-test question above). 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.

Question 4

What ATAR do I need for Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — Charles Sturt publishes no minimum ATAR for the BDS and lists the course entry score as "TBA"; its published selection criteria use UCAT-ANZ (or GPA for internal applicants) to select for interview, not ATAR. UAC's ATAR profile for ATAR-based offers in semester 1, 2026 records a lowest ATAR of 97.70, a median of 98.20 and a highest of 99.70 (selection ranks identical). Read that as a description of a very small group, not a bar: UAC's student profile for the same 2026 cohort shows fewer than 5 of 45 commencing students were admitted solely on the basis of ATAR, while 22 (48.89%) entered from prior higher education study and 19 (42.22%) were international. UWA Dental — ATAR data not published in the structured AU requirements; see free-text admission requirements on the school page. 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.

Question 5

What GPA do I need for Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — GPA not published in the structured AU requirements. 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%) and 30% of the final rank (22.5% for rural applicants). Assured Pathway students must also reach a selection GPA of 5.5 within the first two years of the Bachelor of Biomedicine (Specialised) to take up their conditional DMD place. UWA publishes no cohort median GPA on its current course page or in its 2026 admissions guide. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. Many AU graduate MD programs treat the GPA as a hurdle (above the floor, all candidates are weighted equally on GAMSAT and interview) rather than as a sliding-scale rank — confirm each school's specific model.

Question 6

How do interviews differ between Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental uses: In-person panel interview at the Orange campus (late November/early December). Charles Sturt publishes no number of interview days for the current cycle and no longer offers the online-interview fallback that appeared in its 2022 handbook.. UWA Dental uses: MMI, 8 stations × 7 minutes (domestic); two-interviewer panel, ~50 minutes (international). Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: November-December (Charles Sturt Dental); 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. (UWA Dental).

Question 7

What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental offer?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — Commonwealth Supported Places for domestic students (indicative $12,956 per year; Charles Sturt states CSP places in this course are limited), plus a separate international full-fee intake (CRICOS 074610F, indicative A$74,960 per year). Charles Sturt does not publish the annual number of places, though UAC's student profile records 45 students commencing in 2026, 19 of them international. At least 50% of places are reserved each year for the rural/First Nations sub-quota. There is no Bonded Medical Program allocation - that scheme is medicine-only. UWA Dental — 50 domestic and 20 international places per year (UWA 2026 Domestic Health Admissions Guide); up to 50 per cent come from the school-leaver Assured Pathway, so graduate entry accounts for at least half. Domestic students who are not eligible for a Commonwealth supported place are charged full-fee rates. UWA publishes no bonded places for the DMD — the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program applies to medical school places, not dentistry. 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.

Question 8

What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental offer?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — First Nations applicants do not sit UCAT. They must have completed the NSW HSC or a tertiary equivalent, apply through UAC, upload the rural/First Nations supplementary form, and provide confirmation of First Nations identity before interview (a certified confirmation of identity from a registered community organisation with a common seal, or failing that a self-declaration statutory declaration plus either a genealogy document or a letter of support on official letterhead from a recognised community member or organisation). The interview is a culturally appropriate panel with both First Nations and non-First Nations members, which Charles Sturt says will assess the applicant's academic abilities and motivation, the support necessary (if any) to ensure a successful learning experience, and the applicant's suitability to practise as a dentist. UWA Dental — Graduate applicants go through Boola Boola Djinda ('Many, Many Stars'), established in 2025 out of the legacy of the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health (CAMDH, established 1996); school-leaver applicants contact the School of Indigenous Studies or askUWA. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants can enter via either the graduate or the school-leaver Assured Pathway stream, the same arrangement as UWA Medicine. The course page states a minimum ATAR of 90 for the school-leaver Indigenous pathway with UCAT ANZ optional, while UWA's 2026 admissions guide describes it as an approximate ATAR of 90 and notes the School of Indigenous Studies can recommend students with a slightly lower ATAR. Indigenous graduate applicants are ranked on GPA and interview by Boola Boola Djinda rather than the standard GAMSAT/GPA/interview composite, with interview timelines set by Boola Boola Djinda. Note UWA's 2026 admissions guide PDF still refers to CAMDH; the course page is the current authority. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.

Question 9

Does Charles Sturt Dental or UWA Dental offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental — ≥50% of places reserved for applicants with significant rural background or First Nation applicants — the most aggressive rural quota of any dental program in NSW. Rural applicants lodge the rural supplementary form with their UAC application. Note Charles Sturt uses two names for the same document: its pathway text calls it the "Rural and Indigenous Pathway form", while the download itself is titled "Rural and First Nations Applicants Supplementary Form". On it you declare five or more years (consecutive or cumulative) of primary residence in an ASGS RA2-RA5 area. Supporting documents are not submitted with the form but must be brought to interview if you are selected. Rural applicants still sit UCAT-ANZ - only First Nations applicants are exempt - and the form closes with the application on 13 September 2026 for the 2027 intake. No bonded return-of-service attaches to these places. UWA Dental — UWA runs a Rural quota in both the graduate and school-leaver streams, and eligibility is a hard geographic test rather than 'significant rural exposure': the applicant's principal home address must have been in an area rated MM-2 to MM-7 under the Modified Monash Model for five consecutive years or at least 10 years cumulatively, evidenced by UWA's Rural Eligibility Form lodged with the application (via TISC for school leavers). Rural applicants then carry a 25% rurality weighting — graduate: GAMSAT 15%, GPA 22.5%, interview 37.5%; school leaver: ATAR 22.5%, UCAT ANZ 15%, interview 37.5%. There are no bonded dental places; the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program applies to medical school places. TISC lists the school-leaver Assured Pathway (UD056) as n/a / n/a / Limited — composite selection, not solely ATAR-based. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.

Question 10

When does each school release decisions?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental typically releases dentistry offers Not published - Charles Sturt states only that interview invitations go out in the last week of October and interviews run late November/early December; offers are released afterwards through UAC's undergraduate offer rounds, whose dates applicants should check on the UAC site for their cycle.. UWA Dental releases dentistry offers 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).. 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.

Question 11

What curriculum style do Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental use?

Accepted Answer

Charles Sturt Dental runs a Integrated curriculum. UWA Dental runs a Integrated curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. Charles Sturt Dental specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (BDS) at the Orange campus with clinical placements at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Wagga Wagga. Interview is an in-person panel at Orange i UWA Dental specifics: 4-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), 192 points comprising 144 points of taught units plus 48 points of admission credit (UWA Handbook 91860), accredited by the Australian Dental Council.

Question 12

Should I apply to both Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

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; Charles Sturt Dental and UWA Dental differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Comparison field	Charles Sturt DentalOrange	UWA DentalNedlands
Quick comparison
Location	Orange, Australia	Nedlands, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Dual (UG + Grad)
Admission tests	UCAT-ANZ	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	UCAT-ANZ is required on both the general and rural pathways; First Nations applicants are exempt, and UAC tells current Charles Sturt students on the internal GPA pathway that they do not need it. No numerical cut-off is published, and Charles Sturt does not publish how it uses the score beyond UAC's statement that applicants may be selected for interview "on the basis of their UCAT score". Note the UCAT-ANZ cognitive total has been out of 2700 (Verbal Reasoning + Decision Making + Quantitative Reasoning) since the 2025 sitting, which fed 2026 entry; the 2024 and earlier sittings included Abstract Reasoning and were scored on the retired /3600 scale. Situational Judgement is reported separately as a band, scaled 300-900.	-
ATAR	Charles Sturt publishes no minimum ATAR for the BDS and lists the course entry score as "TBA"; its published selection criteria use UCAT-ANZ (or GPA for internal applicants) to select for interview, not ATAR. UAC's ATAR profile for ATAR-based offers in semester 1, 2026 records a lowest ATAR of 97.70, a median of 98.20 and a highest of 99.70 (selection ranks identical). Read that as a description of a very small group, not a bar: UAC's student profile for the same 2026 cohort shows fewer than 5 of 45 commencing students were admitted solely on the basis of ATAR, while 22 (48.89%) entered from prior higher education study and 19 (42.22%) were international.	-
Interview format	In-person panel interview at the Orange campus (late November/early December). Charles Sturt publishes no number of interview days for the current cycle and no longer offers the online-interview fallback that appeared in its 2022 handbook.	MMI, 8 stations × 7 minutes (domestic); two-interviewer panel, ~50 minutes (international)
Post-interview chance	Charles Sturt does not publish interview-to-offer conversion for the BDS - treat any percentage quoted elsewhere as guesswork, not data.	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	Not published - Charles Sturt states only that interview invitations go out in the last week of October and interviews run late November/early December; offers are released afterwards through UAC's undergraduate offer rounds, whose dates applicants should check on the UAC site for their cycle.	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).

ATAR	Charles Sturt publishes no minimum ATAR for the BDS and lists the course entry score as "TBA"; its published selection criteria use UCAT-ANZ (or GPA for internal applicants) to select for interview, not ATAR. UAC's ATAR profile for ATAR-based offers in semester 1, 2026 records a lowest ATAR of 97.70, a median of 98.20 and a highest of 99.70 (selection ranks identical). Read that as a description of a very small group, not a bar: UAC's student profile for the same 2026 cohort shows fewer than 5 of 45 commencing students were admitted solely on the basis of ATAR, while 22 (48.89%) entered from prior higher education study and 19 (42.22%) were international.	-
Contextual ATAR	No course-specific ATAR adjustment applies - ATAR is not part of Charles Sturt's published selection criteria for the BDS, and the course entry score is listed as "TBA" (the university's general adjustment-factor scheme is linked from the page but does not attach to this course's published criteria). The rural/First Nations advantage is a place sub-quota - at least 50% of places each year - not an ATAR concession.	-
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	UCAT-ANZ is required on both the general and rural pathways; First Nations applicants are exempt, and UAC tells current Charles Sturt students on the internal GPA pathway that they do not need it. No numerical cut-off is published, and Charles Sturt does not publish how it uses the score beyond UAC's statement that applicants may be selected for interview "on the basis of their UCAT score". Note the UCAT-ANZ cognitive total has been out of 2700 (Verbal Reasoning + Decision Making + Quantitative Reasoning) since the 2025 sitting, which fed 2026 entry; the 2024 and earlier sittings included Abstract Reasoning and were scored on the retired /3600 scale. Situational Judgement is reported separately as a band, scaled 300-900.	-
CASPer	-	-
ISAT	-	-
GPA	-	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%) and 30% of the final rank (22.5% for rural applicants). Assured Pathway students must also reach a selection GPA of 5.5 within the first two years of the Bachelor of Biomedicine (Specialised) to take up their conditional DMD place. UWA publishes no cohort median GPA on its current course page or in its 2026 admissions guide.
Prerequisites	-	-
Place types	Commonwealth Supported Places for domestic students (indicative $12,956 per year; Charles Sturt states CSP places in this course are limited), plus a separate international full-fee intake (CRICOS 074610F, indicative A$74,960 per year). Charles Sturt does not publish the annual number of places, though UAC's student profile records 45 students commencing in 2026, 19 of them international. At least 50% of places are reserved each year for the rural/First Nations sub-quota. There is no Bonded Medical Program allocation - that scheme is medicine-only.	50 domestic and 20 international places per year (UWA 2026 Domestic Health Admissions Guide); up to 50 per cent come from the school-leaver Assured Pathway, so graduate entry accounts for at least half. Domestic students who are not eligible for a Commonwealth supported place are charged full-fee rates. UWA publishes no bonded places for the DMD — the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program applies to medical school places, not dentistry.
Indigenous pathway	First Nations applicants do not sit UCAT. They must have completed the NSW HSC or a tertiary equivalent, apply through UAC, upload the rural/First Nations supplementary form, and provide confirmation…	Graduate applicants go through Boola Boola Djinda ('Many, Many Stars'), established in 2025 out of the legacy of the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health (CAMDH, established 1996); school-l…
Bonded / rural	≥50% of places reserved for applicants with significant rural background or First Nation applicants — the most aggressive rural quota of any dental program in NSW. Rural applicants lodge the rural sup…	UWA runs a Rural quota in both the graduate and school-leaver streams, and eligibility is a hard geographic test rather than 'significant rural exposure': the applicant's principal home address must h…

Interview window	November-December	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.
Interview details	Charles Sturt Dental runs an in-person panel interview at the Orange campus in late November/early December; applicants are notified in the last week of October and must attend in person. Charles Stur…	Domestic school-leaver and domestic graduate applicants sit the UWA MMI: 8 numbered stations, each 7 minutes — 2 minutes to consider a written question, then 5 minutes responding to the interviewer —…

Specialities	Rural Dentistry, Community Oral Health, Indigenous Oral Health, General Dental Practice	Oral Surgery, Orthodontics, Indigenous Oral Health, Rural Dentistry, Dental Research
Established	2009	1946
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Charles Sturt was established with an explicit rural workforce mission — a dental program built around rural and regional practice, developed in cooperation with the Australian Dental Council, the Aus…	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 teachin…
Official course page	https://study.csu.edu.au/courses/bachelor-dental-science	https://www.uwa.edu.au/study/courses/doctor-of-dental-medicine

Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental

Side-by-side comparison

Charles Sturt Dental

UWA Dental

Charles Sturt Dental vs UWA Dental - in detail

Admission tests compared

ATAR and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

Where to go next

Other dental school comparisons