Question 1

What admission tests do La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental use?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental uses no admission test. 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 La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe 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 ATAR do I need for La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental — 2026 intake (most recent completed cycle), ATAR-based offers only, across all offer rounds. Standard code 2100211491 — highest 99.95 ATAR / 99.95 selection rank; median 99.80 / 99.95; lowest 95.85 unadjusted, with the lowest selection rank reported as 99.55 by La Trobe's own Student Profile and ATAR Distribution report (July 2026) and as 99.95 by CourseSeeker and La Trobe's course-page widget. Regional Entry code 2100211501 — highest 99.95 / 99.95; median 95.8–95.90 / 99.95; lowest 83.65 / 99.05. First Nations Australian Entry code 2100213601 — suppressed (fewer than five ATAR-based offers). These are last-cycle outcomes, not published 2027 cut-offs: La Trobe publishes no guaranteed entry rank for this course. 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 4

What GPA do I need for La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe 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 5

How do interviews differ between La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental uses: Academic results only on the standard and Regional Entry codes (no MMI, no interview); First Nations Australian Entry applicants may be required to attend an interview. 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: No formal interview (La Trobe 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 6

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

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental — All three VTAC codes (2100211491 standard, 2100211501 Regional Entry, 2100213601 First Nations Australian Entry) are Commonwealth Supported; international students pay full fees of A$86,000 per 120 credit points for 2027. La Trobe publishes no place quota for either group, but its Student Profile and ATAR Distribution report gives the Semester 1 2026 commencing cohorts: standard code 59 students, of whom 22 (37.3%) were international and 24 (40.7%) were admitted solely on ATAR; Regional Entry 67 students, of whom 54 (80.6%) were admitted solely on ATAR and none were international. (CourseSeeker itself records no student profile for these codes — the data comes from La Trobe's own report.) 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 7

What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental offer?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental — Dedicated entry stream: Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) (First Nations Australian Entry), VTAC code 2100213601, Commonwealth Supported, open only to applicants who are First Nations Australian. It is the one stream where VTAC lists an Interview criterion — 'Applicants may be required to attend an interview' — applied across all five applicant categories, and it also carries the RRSAS regional adjustment. Fewer than five ATAR-based offers were made on this code in 2026, so its ATAR profile is suppressed. Aspire is La Trobe's general early-conditional-offer program, open to current Year 12 students only, with Community, Academic and Everyday streams and no Indigenous stream; La Trobe publishes no Aspire ATAR for this course. 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 8

Does La Trobe Dental or UWA Dental offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental — No bonded or return-of-service scheme applies to this course — La Trobe attaches no bonding condition to any of the three dentistry codes, and the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program covers medical school places, not dentistry. The rural route is the Regional Entry VTAC code 2100211501: eligibility is a principal home address in an ASGS-RA (2021) RA2–RA5 area, and the RRSAS adds 10 / 12.5 / 15 aggregate points for RA2–RA3 / RA4 / RA5. No published ATAR entry floor. Separately, La Trobe's Regional Benefits Program is a scholarship for students enrolling at a regional campus, requiring an unadjusted ATAR of 90 for Dentistry – Regional Entry — it is not an admission threshold and carries no service obligation. 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 9

When does each school release decisions?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe Dental typically releases dentistry offers November. 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 10

What curriculum style do La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental use?

Accepted Answer

La Trobe 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. La Trobe Dental specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). Bendigo is the sole campus for the degree. Indicative tuition for 2027 entry: A$86,000 per 120 credit points for international students (120  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 11

Should I apply to both La Trobe 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; La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Comparison field	La Trobe DentalBendigo	UWA DentalNedlands
Quick comparison
Location	Bendigo, Australia	Nedlands, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Dual (UG + Grad)
Admission tests	None	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	2026 intake (most recent completed cycle), ATAR-based offers only, across all offer rounds. Standard code 2100211491 — highest 99.95 ATAR / 99.95 selection rank; median 99.80 / 99.95; lowest 95.85 unadjusted, with the lowest selection rank reported as 99.55 by La Trobe's own Student Profile and ATAR Distribution report (July 2026) and as 99.95 by CourseSeeker and La Trobe's course-page widget. Regional Entry code 2100211501 — highest 99.95 / 99.95; median 95.8–95.90 / 99.95; lowest 83.65 / 99.05. First Nations Australian Entry code 2100213601 — suppressed (fewer than five ATAR-based offers). These are last-cycle outcomes, not published 2027 cut-offs: La Trobe publishes no guaranteed entry rank for this course.	-
Interview format	Academic results only on the standard and Regional Entry codes (no MMI, no interview); First Nations Australian Entry applicants may be required to attend an interview	MMI, 8 stations × 7 minutes (domestic); two-interviewer panel, ~50 minutes (international)
Post-interview chance	N/A — academic results only.	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	November	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	2026 intake (most recent completed cycle), ATAR-based offers only, across all offer rounds. Standard code 2100211491 — highest 99.95 ATAR / 99.95 selection rank; median 99.80 / 99.95; lowest 95.85 unadjusted, with the lowest selection rank reported as 99.55 by La Trobe's own Student Profile and ATAR Distribution report (July 2026) and as 99.95 by CourseSeeker and La Trobe's course-page widget. Regional Entry code 2100211501 — highest 99.95 / 99.95; median 95.8–95.90 / 99.95; lowest 83.65 / 99.05. First Nations Australian Entry code 2100213601 — suppressed (fewer than five ATAR-based offers). These are last-cycle outcomes, not published 2027 cut-offs: La Trobe publishes no guaranteed entry rank for this course.	-
Contextual ATAR	Rural and Regional Student Access Scheme (RRSAS) via the separate Regional Entry VTAC code 2100211501 — the applicant must reside (principal home address) in an ASGS-RA (2021) RA2–RA5 area; the adjustment is +10 aggregate points for RA2–RA3, +12.5 for RA4 and +15 for RA5. On the standard code 2100211491 the SEAS equity and scholarship adjustment is capped at 10 aggregate points, within La Trobe's overall 20-point cap on combined adjustments. No ATAR entry floor is published for either code. La Trobe's Regional Benefits Program is a separate regional-campus scholarship ($2,000/yr at ATAR 80–94.95, $5,000/yr at 95+) that requires an unadjusted ATAR of 90 for Dentistry – Regional Entry; 85 is its Physiotherapy figure, not a dentistry entry threshold.	-
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	-	-
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	All three VTAC codes (2100211491 standard, 2100211501 Regional Entry, 2100213601 First Nations Australian Entry) are Commonwealth Supported; international students pay full fees of A$86,000 per 120 credit points for 2027. La Trobe publishes no place quota for either group, but its Student Profile and ATAR Distribution report gives the Semester 1 2026 commencing cohorts: standard code 59 students, of whom 22 (37.3%) were international and 24 (40.7%) were admitted solely on ATAR; Regional Entry 67 students, of whom 54 (80.6%) were admitted solely on ATAR and none were international. (CourseSeeker itself records no student profile for these codes — the data comes from La Trobe's own report.)	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	Dedicated entry stream: Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) (First Nations Australian Entry), VTAC code 2100213601, Commonwealth Supported, open only to applicants who are First Nations Australian. I…	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	No bonded or return-of-service scheme applies to this course — La Trobe attaches no bonding condition to any of the three dentistry codes, and the Commonwealth Bonded Medical Program covers medical sc…	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	No formal interview	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	La Trobe Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) selects on academic results only — ATAR for Year 12 applicants, prior academic record for eligible non-Year-12 applicants. No UCAT-ANZ, no GAMSAT, no ISAT…	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	2014	1946
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	La Trobe's sole dental program is a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) at the Bendigo campus — NOT a graduate DDS (no graduate-entry DDS exists at La Trobe per public sources).…	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://www.latrobe.edu.au/courses/bachelor-of-dental-science-honours	https://www.uwa.edu.au/study/courses/doctor-of-dental-medicine

La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental

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La Trobe Dental

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