How to get into Sydney Dental Dentistry
Your 2027 Entry step-by-step guide
University of Sydney School of Dentistry in Sydney, NSW runs a graduate-entry dentistry program for 2027 entry. Admission tests listed: GAMSAT. Published hurdles: GAMSAT — minimum 50 in each section is a hard eligibility hurdle for standard applicants.
- Interviews (2027 entry)
- No interview (domestic)
- Decisions (2027 entry)
- September 2026 (domestic first round) / October 2026 (international), rolling to January 2027
Photo: Jason Tong · CC BY 2.0 · cropped
Photo: Jason Tong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Sardaka ( talk ) 07:55, 9 July 2014 (UTC) · CC BY 3.0 · Photo: Chris Olszewski · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Sydney Dental expects a bachelor degree with Bachelor's degree of at least 3 years FTE, with at least 2 years FTE completed at the awarding institution, completed by 1 January of the commencement year; UAC Qualifications Assessment Service GPA of at least 5.0/7.0 (4.5 for the rural facilitated-entry scheme), assessed as at 4 June 2026 for 2027 entry; GAMSAT with a minimum of 50 in each section (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants excepted); and the English language requirement.
USyd sets no overall-GAMSAT requirement, and there is no interview for standard domestic applicants — ranking is on GAMSAT section scores. for Dentistry (DDS/DMD) and uses No interview for standard domestic applicants — ranked on GAMSAT section scores (international applicants submit a portfolio and may be interviewed) for interviews in the 2027 Entry cycle.
Entry is graduate-entry and selection uses GAMSAT; applications close through GEMSAS or your state TAC (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, SATAC, TISC), and CSP, BMP and full-fee places are all capped, so treat the standard above as a threshold to clear rather than a target to aim at.
This guide is written for 2027 Entry applicants and updated annually before each GEMSAS / UAC cycle. Sources include University of Sydney School of Dentistry's official course page, GEMSAS, the UCAT-ANZ Consortium, ACER (GAMSAT), and direct conversations with current students. Read time: ~12 minutes.
University of Sydney School of Dentistry's official course page was opened and reconciled with this record on 11 September 2026. Figures the school does not publish on that page remain unconfirmed.
Sydney Dental at a glance
| GPA | Minimum GPA 5.0/7.0 as calculated by UAC's Qualifications Assessment Service, assessed as at 4 June 2026 for 2027 entry |
|---|---|
| GAMSAT | Minimum 50 in each section is a hard eligibility hurdle for standard applicants |
| Interview format | No interview for standard domestic applicants — ranked on GAMSAT section scores (international applicants submit a portfolio and may be interviewed) |
| Interviews (2027 entry) | No interview (domestic) |
| Decisions (2027 entry) | September 2026 (domestic first round) / October 2026 (international), rolling to January 2027 |
Sydney Dental entry requirements
| Pathway | Graduate entry |
|---|---|
| GPA | Minimum GPA 5.0/7.0 as calculated by UAC's Qualifications Assessment Service, assessed as at 4 June 2026 for 2027 entry — a hard hurdle, and the same one the USyd MD applies, not a lower one. The 4.5 figure applies to the Rural Applicants Facilitated Entry Scheme; the Indigenous schemes also work to 4.5, and the IAAG may recommend applicants with a lower GPA who demonstrate improvement over the duration of their tertiary studies. |
| Admission tests | GAMSAT |
| GAMSAT | Minimum 50 in each section is a hard eligibility hurdle for standard applicants. The guide exempts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants from that hurdle, but this is not a blanket waiver of GAMSAT: under the Indigenous Facilitated Entry Scheme for applicants with a bachelor's degree, eligible GAMSAT results must still be submitted and 50 per section is 'preferred', with the Indigenous Admissions Advisory Group able to recommend applicants who score lower. Only the postgraduate-degree and Bachelor of Oral Health Indigenous schemes require no GAMSAT result at all. USyd ranks DMD applicants on individual section scores. For 2027 entry, eligible GAMSAT sittings are September 2024, March 2025, September 2025 and March 2026 only — USyd requires results from the past two years "despite any contrary advice from ACER or GAMSAT", and notes this requirement may change for future cycles. (International applicants may instead submit US DAT or Canadian CDAT results; see the international admission-test note for the current minima.) |
| Interview | No interview for standard domestic applicants — ranked on GAMSAT section scores (international applicants submit a portfolio and may be interviewed) |
| Place types | For 2027 entry USyd anticipates 76 domestic offers — 30 Commonwealth Supported Places (a number that 'includes places reserved for undergraduate Double Degree Dentistry students') and 46 Domestic Fee-Paying places, both marked TBC, with the University reserving the right to make more or fewer at the Dean's discretion. Identical admission criteria apply to both types, and applicants nominate a preference order at the confirmation-page stage. USyd publishes no anticipated number of international offers. Rural and Indigenous applicants are not separate place types but facilitated entry schemes whose ranking lists may differ from the standard pathway, and under which offers may be made to applicants scoring below the standard cut-off. |
| Indigenous pathway | Three separate Indigenous Facilitated Entry Schemes, overseen by the Indigenous Admissions Advisory Group (IAAG): (1) bachelor's degree plus GAMSAT — GPA 4.5 and 50 per section are both 'preferred' rather than required, and an interview may be required; (2) postgraduate master's or PhD completed within three years — no bachelor's degree and no GAMSAT needed, GPA of at least 4.5 subject to IAAG discretion, résumé required and an interview may be required; (3) Bachelor of Oral Health — no GAMSAT, plus a compulsory written assessment and panel discussion. The requirement to have completed two years FTE at the awarding institution is waived across the schemes. No quota is published. |
| Bonded / rural | Rural Applicants Facilitated Entry Scheme: at least 5 consecutive or 10 cumulative years from birth in an ASGS Edition 3 Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote or Very Remote area, certified on a Confirmation of Rural Origin form completed by a registered medical practitioner, dentist, pharmacist, lawyer, school principal or current/former employer. USyd audits these forms by contacting the author; family members cannot complete them and statutory declarations are not accepted. Rural applicants get a lower GPA hurdle (4.5 vs 5.0), their ranking list may differ from the standard pathway, and offers may be made below the standard cut-off. USyd publishes no bonded places for the DMD — the only domestic place types in the 2027 Offer Preferences are Commonwealth Supported and Domestic Fee-Paying. |
Bachelor's degree of at least 3 years FTE, with at least 2 years FTE completed at the awarding institution, completed by 1 January of the commencement year; UAC Qualifications Assessment Service GPA of at least 5.0/7.0 (4.5 for the rural facilitated-entry scheme), assessed as at 4 June 2026 for 2027 entry; GAMSAT with a minimum of 50 in each section (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants excepted); and the English language requirement.
USyd sets no overall-GAMSAT requirement, and there is no interview for standard domestic applicants — ranking is on GAMSAT section scores.
A completed bachelor degree (any discipline) with a competitive GPA is the academic gateway; admission-test performance and interview together carry most of the final ranking.
GAMSAT
GAMSAT is a 5.5-hour written test of Humanities & Social Sciences (Section I), Written Communication (Section II) and Biological & Physical Sciences (Section III). Run by ACER twice a year (March and September). Scores remain valid for ~4 years. Most competitive offer-holders score 60+ overall with each section above 50.
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.
How Sydney Dental selects without an interview
Sydney Dental selection: No interview for standard domestic applicants — ranked on GAMSAT section scores (international applicants submit a portfolio and may be interviewed). For 2027 entry, interviews typically take place in No interview (domestic). Final decisions are released September 2026 (domestic first round) / October 2026 (international), rolling to January 2027.
At Sydney Dental, expect the following from the selection process. Assessment / recorded-interview format - some Australian schools (JCU's Kira Talent recording, Notre Dame Modern Hire) ask one-way recorded responses; others combine panel interviews with practical tasks (group work, written exercises, presentations). Allow 60-90 minutes for a recorded interview or 4-6 hours for a full in-person assessment day.
How Sydney Dental decides without an interview
The Sydney DMD has no interview stage for standard domestic applicants. The 2027 Domestic Admissions Guide sets three eligibility requirements — an eligible bachelor's degree with a UAC-assessed GPA hurdle, GAMSAT with at least 50 in every section, and English — and then ranks applicants on their GAMSAT section scores.
An interview or Situational Judgement Test is held in reserve only to separate applicants who rank equally, with due notice. Interviews do appear elsewhere: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants under the Indigenous Facilitated Entry Schemes may be required to attend one, and the Bachelor of Oral Health variant of that scheme requires a written assessment and panel discussion.
International applicants must submit an Admissions Portfolio (a personal statement of up to 1,500 words plus an optional supporting document) and may be required to attend an interview, selected on their test results and portfolio; USyd states international offers are made on final rankings 'and satisfactory performance in the portfolio and interview', but publishes no format, length or station count for it.
What they assess
What Sydney Dental assessors are scoring: Multi-station assessment lets the school triangulate - assessors compare notes from each station to spot consistent strengths (and red flags).
What actually decides your application
- Group task observation (how you contribute, listen, lead)
- Written ethics scenario
- Panel interview or recorded one-way response
- Portfolio / personal-statement deep dive
- Hot topics in Australian healthcare (Medicare, rural workforce, Indigenous health)
- Academic curiosity questions
Questions to settle before you apply to Sydney Dental
Why dentistry?
Tell us about your work experience.
In a group task, what role did you take and why?
How would you handle disagreement with a senior colleague?
Describe a recent biomedical news story and your view on it.
Where to put your preparation instead
Our panel-interview prep covers ethics frameworks (SPIES, the four pillars), structured behavioural answers (STAR), and live mock interviews with admissions specialists.
Planning around Sydney Dental
Sydney Dental selects without an interview in its standard entry routes, so there is no interview here to rehearse. Put the effort into where else you apply.
Build the rest of your list
Sydney Dental ranks applicants without an interview, so your other choices carry the interview practice. Get a shortlist matched to your scores.
Plan where to applyTalk your choices through with an adviser
A 1-to-1 call on where Sydney Dental fits in your application and which schools to pair it with.
Book a strategy callMonth-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 (late May). GEMSAS applications open 1 May and close 29 May across the ten consortium schools (ANU, Deakin, Griffith, Macquarie, Melbourne, Notre Dame Fremantle, Notre Dame Sydney, UQ, UWA, Wollongong). Sydney, Flinders and Monash are NOT in GEMSAS and need separate direct applications. UCAT-ANZ booking deadline is 15 May.
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 interview offers issued in early September; consortium interviews run September-October. ACER GAMSAT September sitting - too late for this cycle, results land mid-November. JCU QTAC + JCU-portal applications close 30 September. State-TAC medicine preferences close 25-30 September. (Bond's QTAC round does not open until January.)
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 Sydney Dental different
Sydney runs a 4-year graduate-entry Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) co-located with Sydney Dental Hospital. Domestic selection is unusually mechanical: GPA and a minimum of 50 in every GAMSAT section are eligibility hurdles only, and applicants are then ranked on GAMSAT section scores alone — USyd states that overall and average GAMSAT scores will not be used in the assessment and ranking of applications — with no interview for standard domestic applicants; an interview or SJT is held in reserve only to separate equally-ranked applicants. Strong research integration and Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) entry pathway.
Notable research areas
Curriculum (Integrated)
4-year graduate DMD. 4-year graduate-entry DMD (192 credit points). The curriculum is structured around seven integrated themes — clinical sciences and skills; oral and systemic biosciences; evidence-based practice; prevention and health promotion; social and cultural oral health; leadership, communication and professionalisation; and interprofessional collaboration — taught through simulation and practice-based experience. Clinical education runs at the University of Sydney Camperdown campus, the Westmead Centre for Oral Health and Sydney Dental Hospital, with further placements at Nepean Hospital and at local health district dental hospitals in remote, regional and rural NSW including Ballina, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Orange and Armidale.
Location: Sydney, Australia
Founded in 1901. 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.
Read the full Sydney Dental course guide — integrated, 4 years (graduate entry), with placements in Westmead, Surry Hills, other Sydney clinics and rural NSW.
Application statistics for Sydney Dental
Sydney Dental intake
USyd anticipates 76 domestic DMD offers for 2027 entry — 30 Commonwealth Supported (TBC, a number that includes places reserved for undergraduate Double Degree Dentistry students) and 46 Domestic Fee-Paying (TBC) — per the DMD Offer Preferences (August 2026). These are anticipated offers, not a confirmed intake: 'The University reserves the right to make more or less offers than anticipated, at the discretion of the Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health.' International offers are additional and not published.
How Sydney Dental selects, at a glance
Source: University of Sydney School of Dentistry admissions data; GEMSAS / state-TAC published statistics; ACER (GAMSAT) and UCAT-ANZ Consortium decile data; recent FOI responses.
Six mistakes that derail dentistry applications
Sydney Dental — frequently asked questions
Sources for this Sydney Dental guide
Apply to Sydney Dental with confidence
We have helped hundreds of applicants turn their GAMSAT / UCAT-ANZ, portfolio and MMI prep into offers from Sydney Dental and other Australian dentistry schools.