How to get into Griffith Dental DentistryYour 2027 Entry step-by-step guide
Applying to Dentistry (BDS/DMD) at Griffith Dental for 2027 Entry is competitive - the undergraduate pathway has limited CSP, BMP and full-fee places and the bar is high. Griffith Dental expects BDHS school-leaver ATAR competitive floor 99.85 + UCAT-ANZ + GUDAP interview; English + one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Maths Methods (Units 3/4, C) prerequisites. BDHS is the entry point; DMD is the postgraduate continuation. No direct-entry BDS. and uses GUDAP — Griffith University Dental Admissions Process (multi-station scenario interview, online via SAMMI) for interviews. This guide walks through every step of the application - UCAT-ANZ preparation, personal statement, interview prep, and the GEMSAS preferences and state-TAC (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, SATAC, TISC) deadlines - with the dates and thresholds specific to Griffith Dental dentistry.
This guide is written for 2027 Entry applicants and updated annually before each GEMSAS / UAC cycle. Sources include Griffith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health's official course page, GEMSAS, the UCAT-ANZ Consortium, ACER (GAMSAT), and direct conversations with current students. Read time: ~12 minutes.
Griffith Dental at a glance
| ATAR / GPA | BDHS |
|---|---|
| Interview | MMI |
| Interviews | 20-26 November (2025 cycle) |
| Decisions | January |
Entry requirements
Griffith Dental selects on BDHS school-leaver ATAR competitive floor 99.85 + UCAT-ANZ + GUDAP interview; English + one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Maths Methods (Units 3/4, C) prerequisites. BDHS is the entry point; DMD is the postgraduate continuation. No direct-entry BDS.. Year 12 ATAR (or equivalent international qualification) plus the admission test are the academic gateway; interview performance then determines the final offer.
Australian admission profile
UCAT-ANZ
UCAT-ANZ is a 2-hour computer-based aptitude test (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, and a separately-banded Situational Judgement Test). Sat between July and early August. The UCAT-ANZ Consortium operates separately from the UK UCAT — scores are NOT interchangeable.
Written submissions
Australia has no equivalent of the UK's single UCAS personal statement. GEMSAS graduate-entry applications use GAMSAT + GPA without a written component; most state-TAC undergraduate applications use ATAR + UCAT-ANZ without a written component. The schools that DO require written content (JCU portfolio, Notre Dame Sydney/Fremantle questionnaire, Wollongong short answers, Bond essays) each ask different, school-specific questions. Treat each school's prompt set as a discrete short-answer test - do not recycle a single document across multiple schools.
Limits are school-specific. JCU portfolio responses: typically 250-500 words per question. Notre Dame questionnaire: 250-400 words per response. Wollongong short answers: ~300 words each. Bond essays: 500 words. Read the current cycle's prompt brief for each school carefully - limits and prompts shift cycle-to-cycle.
Five things that win
Four things that lose
Worked-example opener (do not copy — for shape only)
"During my work-experience week at a community dental practice, I watched a hygienist coach a nervous teenager through her first scale and polish. The clinical work took ten minutes; the trust-building took the other twenty. That ratio - slow patient-facing care woven through technical skill - is what made me commit to dentistry…"
Notice: a specific scene rather than a cliché, a precise detail (the nine-minute conversation), and a closing sentence that bridges to the next paragraph. We have a step-by-step written-submissions service if you want a tutor to help shape yours.
The MMI interview at Griffith Dental
Griffith Dental uses GUDAP — Griffith University Dental Admissions Process (multi-station scenario interview, online via SAMMI). Interviews typically take place in 20-26 November (2025 cycle). Final decisions are released January.
Multiple Mini Interviews - typically 6-10 stations of 5-8 minutes each, often with reading time before each station. Stations rotate; assessors do not see your performance at previous stations, so a poor station does not derail the rest. Most Australian MMIs run in October-December, in person or via video link (Modern Hire / Zoom).
What they assess
MMI assessors score against a structured rubric for each station - usually a 4-5 point scale per skill (communication, empathy, ethical reasoning, scientific knowledge). You don't need to be perfect; you need to demonstrate you can think on your feet, listen, and reflect honestly.
Common station / question themes
- Motivation for dentistry (why this career, why now, why this school)
- Ethical scenarios (consent, capacity, end-of-life care, Medicare resource allocation)
- Role play (often with an actor - break difficult news, support a distressed peer)
- Communication & teamwork (describe a time you led, follow instructions to assemble something)
- Data interpretation (read a graph, justify a clinical decision)
- Personal portfolio / written-submission deep dive at one station
- Awareness of the Australian healthcare system (Medicare, rural workforce, Indigenous health outcomes)
- Manual dexterity tasks (model-making, instrument handling)
Sample questions you might face at Griffith Dental
Why dentistry rather than another health-care career?
Describe a time you worked in a team - what was your contribution?
A patient refuses life-saving treatment. How would you respond?
Discuss a current issue affecting rural or remote healthcare in Australia.
Walk me through what you observed during your clinical experience and what you learned.
What attracts you to dentistry over medicine?
Tell me about a non-academic interest and what it has taught you.
What concerns you about a career in dentistry in Australia?
Model-answer guidance: “Why dentistry?”
Our MMI prep programme covers ethics frameworks (SPIES, the four pillars), structured behavioural answers (STAR), and live mock interviews with admissions specialists.
Practise the Griffith Dental interview
Rehearse the real format before the day — on demand with our AI interviewers, or live with a tutor.
Sit a mock with photoreal AI interviewers — any time
A timed MMI circuit or panel interview on video, with interviewers who listen, react and press with follow-ups. Rubric-scored feedback and a replay the moment you finish.
Live mocks with a tutor who’s been in the room
A full Griffith Dental-style mock with a medic or dentist tutor — honest scoring against real marking criteria, a station-by-station debrief and a written action plan.
Book a mock interviewMonth-by-month timeline for 2027 Entry
The cycle runs roughly January 2025 (start of prep) through GEMSAS preference lock and state-TAC deadlines in September 2026, MMIs in October-December 2026, to first-round offers in December 2026 and course start in late January / early February 2027. Here are the milestones you cannot miss.
Decide and start work / clinical experience
Confirm medicine or dentistry as your career direction. Start banking clinical exposure (hospital volunteering, GP shadowing, aged-care or disability-support roles) and non-clinical experience (research assistant, peer tutoring, leadership). Australian schools weight reflection over hours - track what each placement taught you.
Begin UCAT-ANZ / GAMSAT prep
Open your prep window 6-9 months before the test sitting. UCAT-ANZ candidates focus on the 4 sub-tests (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement). GAMSAT candidates focus on Section I (Humanities), Section II (Written Communication) and Section III (Sciences) - the Section III sciences gap is the most common reason graduates under-perform.
GAMSAT March sitting
ACER GAMSAT March test date. Scores released early May. Most graduate-entry applicants sit GAMSAT in March of their apply year so results are available before GEMSAS preferences open.
UCAT-ANZ registration + GEMSAS portal info
UCAT-ANZ registration opens (test sat in July). GEMSAS portal information released for graduate-entry medicine. ATAR-tracking begins for current Year 12 applicants.
GEMSAS portal opens + UCAT-ANZ booking
GAMSAT March results released. GEMSAS application portal opens for graduate-entry medicine across the 8 consortium schools (Sydney, Melbourne, UQ, Wollongong, Notre Dame Sydney, Notre Dame Fremantle, Deakin, Flinders, ANU). UCAT-ANZ booking opens - book your July slot early.
GEMSAS preference entry opens
Rank up to 6 preferences across the 8 GEMSAS schools. ACER GAMSAT September registration window opens (a second sitting option for applicants who under-performed in March).
UCAT-ANZ test window
Take UCAT-ANZ between early July and early August. There is one sitting per cycle - no retake until the following year. Results are released to state TACs (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, SATAC, TISC) in October. State TACs (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, SATAC, TISC) accept undergraduate medicine preferences from July onwards.
GEMSAS preferences lock + direct apps close
GEMSAS preferences lock mid-September - no changes after this date without withdrawing the entire application. ACER GAMSAT September sitting (test date). JCU direct application closes; Bond direct application closes. Notre Dame Sydney + Fremantle portfolio submissions close.
MMI invitations issued
Most graduate-entry consortium schools issue MMI invitations through October. Bond runs its structured interview cycle. UCAT-ANZ results released to state TACs for undergraduate ranking. State TAC preference changes typically close late October.
MMIs run + ATAR results
MMIs run across consortium schools, Bond, JCU and Macquarie through October-December. ATAR results released to state TACs for school-leaver undergraduate applicants. GAMSAT September results released for applicants who sat the second window.
First-round offers
First-round offers released by GEMSAS, state TACs and direct-application schools. Acceptance deadlines are typically within 10 days of offer - reply on time or forfeit the place. Some schools release a second offer round in early January.
Late offers + course start
Late-round offers released through January. Deferral requests due. Orientation week is scheduled by most schools for late January or early February, with first-year teaching commencing late January / early February.
What makes Griffith Dental different
Griffith offers a single integrated dental pathway: 3-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science (BDHS) → 2-year graduate Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD). Direct-entry BDS not currently offered (any historical BDS-direct route is not in current QTAC course offerings). Co-located with Gold Coast University Hospital and the Griffith Health Centre 117-chair dental clinic. ATAR floor 99.85 (school-leaver competitive) — the second-most ATAR-competitive dental program in Australia.
Notable research areas
Curriculum (Integrated)
Integrated pathway: 3-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science (BDHS) → 2-year graduate Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD). Direct-entry BDS not currently offered. All pathways anchored at the Gold Coast (Southport) campus and Griffith Health Centre 117-chair dental clinic, with clinical placements across Gold Coast Health, Logan, and rural Queensland dental sites.
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Founded in 2004. Whether the city suits you matters - five or six years is a long commitment. Visit on an open day if you can; current students will be the most honest assessors of culture and clinical placement quality.
Application statistics for Griffith Dental
Intake
2025 BDHS intake 69 admitted (QTAC). BDHS → DMD integrated pathway (3+2 years).
Selection at a glance
Source: Griffith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health admissions data; GEMSAS / state-TAC published statistics; ACER (GAMSAT) and UCAT-ANZ Consortium decile data; recent FOI responses.
Six mistakes that derail dentistry applications
Griffith Dental — frequently asked questions
Related authoritative sources
Apply to Griffith Dental with confidence
We have helped hundreds of applicants turn their GAMSAT / UCAT-ANZ, portfolio and MMI prep into offers from Griffith Dental and other Australian dentistry schools.