Three Queensland universities train dentists, through four entry routes. UQ runs a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) and a separate 3.5-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine, and neither has an interview. Griffith University’s route, on the Gold Coast, is a 3-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science followed by a 2-year Master of Dentistry. James Cook University’s 5-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery is taught in Cairns and uses no admission test and no interview.
Overview
Studying dentistry in Queensland
Each Queensland program selects differently. UQ’s Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) sets a minimum adjusted ATAR of 99.0, then ranks eligible applicants on their UCAT-ANZ aggregate. Its students split Years 1 and 2 between St Lucia and the UQ Oral Health Centre at Herston, and final year is a 39-week placement in public and community dental clinics across Queensland. UQ’s Doctor of Dental Medicine, taught at Herston, takes applicants with a bachelor’s degree in health, allied health, physical sciences or biological sciences and a GPA of at least 5.0, then ranks them on the GAMSAT (70%) and the Casper situational judgement test (30%), with no interview. Griffith invites applicants to GUDAP, its recorded online interview, on their UCAT-ANZ Total Score, then ranks them on academic attainment, UCAT-ANZ and GUDAP combined. JCU assesses academic performance, written application statements, Letters of Support and rurality, and its students complete over 2,000 hours of supervised clinical placement across northern Queensland.
Funding + places. Domestic places in UQ’s Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours), Griffith’s Bachelor of Dental Health Science and JCU’s BDS are Commonwealth supported, with HECS-HELP available to eligible students. JCU has approximately 100 domestic Commonwealth supported places in 2027 and reserves a small number under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Griffith sets aside an unpublished number of places for rural applicants under its Rural Priority Access Scheme. UQ does not publish the intake size for its Doctor of Dental Medicine.
Schools
Dental schools in Queensland
4 dental schools in Queensland — click any school for the full profile including admission tests, ATAR, interview format and place types.
Three universities train dentists in Queensland, through four entry routes: the University of Queensland’s 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) and its 3.5-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine; Griffith University’s 3-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science followed by a 2-year Master of Dentistry, on the Gold Coast; and James Cook University’s 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Surgery in Cairns.
UQ’s Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) requires an adjusted ATAR of at least 99.0. Meeting it makes you eligible rather than admitted, because eligible applicants are then ranked on the UCAT-ANZ. Griffith publishes no ATAR threshold for its Bachelor of Dental Health Science, and JCU assesses academic results alongside written application statements, Letters of Support and rurality. UQ’s graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine uses GPA and GAMSAT instead of an ATAR.
Yes. James Cook University’s BDS uses no admission test, and JCU says sitting the UCAT or GAMSAT gives applicants no advantage. UQ’s graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine uses the GAMSAT instead. Griffith’s Bachelor of Dental Health Science requires the UCAT-ANZ, and so does UQ’s Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours), except for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants entering through UQ’s admission pathway.
Griffith’s only dental entry is a 3-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science followed by a 2-year Master of Dentistry, both based on the Gold Coast; there is no direct-entry BDS or DMD. Griffith describes completing the bachelor’s degree as gaining entry to the Master of Dentistry, with additional requirements to meet before you start it, and you may not take more than a year’s leave between the two programs. Entry to the bachelor’s degree is ranked on academic attainment, the UCAT-ANZ and GUDAP, a recorded online interview.
Rurality counts in selection. It is one of the four things JCU assesses, alongside academic performance, written application statements and Letters of Support, and a small number of places are reserved under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. There is no interview. The course trains dentists for tropical, rural, remote and Indigenous communities across northern Australia.
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