UQ Dental
2027 Entry Requirements & Interview Format
University of Queensland School of Dentistry in Herston & St Lucia, QLD runs a school-leaver dentistry program for 2027 entry. Admission tests listed: UCAT-ANZ. Published hurdles: ATAR — 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments).
- Location
- Herston & St Lucia, Australia
- Established
- 1936
- Interviews (2027 entry)
- No interview
- Decisions (2027 entry)
- January — QTAC offer round 14 January 2027 (UQ: offers to the main offer round in January 2027)
Photo: The University of Queensland · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
Photo: Kgbo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo: Kgbo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo: Kgbo · CC BY-SA 3.0
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How to get into UQ Dental dentistry
Step-by-step: entry requirements, admission-test prep, personal statement, interview format and the key deadlines.
Open the guide →Prepare for the UQ Dental interview
Format breakdown, school-specific sample questions, FAQs and prep tips from tutors who interviewed here.
Read the guide →What the UQ Dental course is like
Case-based learning, 5 years (undergraduate entry), placements in Brisbane, Dalby, St George and other Queensland public clinics.
See the course →About UQ Dental
UQ runs a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Hons) (BDSc), co-located with the Oral Health Centre at Herston. It is the most ATAR-competitive dental program in Australia. Selection ranks applicants on the UCAT, and there is no interview.
What makes UQ Dental different
UQ Dental sits at the very top of the Australian dental entry range: a minimum ADJUSTED ATAR of 99.0, a median adjusted offer rank of 99.95 at the Semester 1, 2026 intake, and no guaranteed-entry score at all — UQ lists Dental Science (Honours) among its programs with no ATAR guarantee.
(We have not verified against every other Australian dental program that it is the single most ATAR-competitive; no admissions centre publishes that comparison.) No interview — selection runs on the ATAR hurdle + UCAT-ANZ aggregate. Co-located with the Oral Health Centre at Herston — Queensland's largest dental teaching facility.
UQ Dental course & teaching
Integrated curriculum. 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). Students attend both the Herston and St Lucia campuses throughout the five years.
Clinical skills begin in the first semester in UQ's simulation clinics and labs; students move into clinics treating patients in third year as part of UQ's oral health alliance with Metro North Hospital and Health Service; and the final year includes a 39-week placement at dental clinics throughout Queensland.
Supervised clinical practice spans a range of settings including the UQ Oral Health Centre — which UQ describes as Australia's most advanced tertiary oral health facility — as well as Queensland government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service clinics. No interview — final selection is ATAR threshold + UCAT-ANZ aggregate.
UQ Dental research strengths
UQ Dental is strong in these research areas:
- Oral cancer
- Dental materials
- Craniofacial development
- Periodontal disease
How the UQ Dental interview runs
Format: No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking
UQ Dent does not interview. Step 1: applicants must hit adjusted ATAR ≥ 99.00. Step 2: all qualifying applicants are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate; ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator.
UQ's published rule is precise: the UCAT aggregate is the first selection measure, applicants on the same aggregate are ranked by their UCAT ANZ section 4 score, and if that is also tied, by section 1. UQ also lists, among the detailed measures it applies when applicants outnumber places, that applicants without adjustments are considered before applicants with adjustments.
Note that UQ specifies 'the aggregate score from all 4 sections' for dentistry (versus 'the first 3 section scores' for Provisional Medicine); the current UCAT ANZ has four subtests — VR, DM, QR and Situational Judgement — so it is unclear whether UQ's dentistry aggregate now includes SJT.
UQ has not published a clarification, so confirm with UQ Admissions before targeting a specific total. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are not required to sit UCAT ANZ, with the dentistry exemption tied by UQ's scheme page to its separate admission pathway.
UQ Dental intake
Semester 1, 2026 commencing cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both ATAR/rank and additional criteria were considered, fewer than 5 admitted on other criteria only, higher-education-study entrants not published, and 24 international (21.6%). The 111 includes international students, so domestic commencers number roughly 87. International indicative tuition AUD $99,600 per year for 2027 — UQ's 'approximate yearly cost of tuition (16 units)', not a whole-of-program fee. UQ notes fees vary with study load and are reviewed each year and may increase, so the five-year total is not simply five times this figure. UQ also lists additional costs including dental instruments and equipment, practice teeth and annual CPR re-certification.
Where UQ Dental is
University of Queensland School of Dentistry was founded in 1936 and is based in Herston & St Lucia.
Programmes offered:
- Oral Surgery
- Orthodontics
- Paediatric Dentistry
- Dental Research
- Public Dental Health
What you need to apply to UQ Dental
UQ Dental at a glance
| Entry pathway | Undergraduate (school-leaver) entry |
|---|---|
| ATAR | 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments) |
| UCAT-ANZ | For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340 |
| Intake | Semester 1, 2026 commencing cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total |
| Admission overview | Minimum adjusted ATAR 99.0 (or equivalent) plus UCAT ANZ from the year you apply — no interview. Prerequisites (QTAC): English, Literature, English and Literature Extension or English as an Additional Language (Units 3 and 4, C), and Chemistry (Units 3 and 4, C); Biology recommended. Domestic applications go through QTAC only (code 712002; UQ program code 2367). UQ offers NO guaranteed-entry ATAR for this program — it is listed among UQ's programs with no guarantee — so reaching 99.0 makes you eligible, not admitted. |
|---|---|
| ATAR | 2026 entry: lowest rank offered 95.70 (unadjusted) → 99.00 (with adjustments); median rank offered 99.30 (unadjusted) → 99.95 (with adjustments); highest rank offered 99.95. ATAR floor 99.00 adjusted for QLD Year 12 — one of the highest in Australian dentistry. |
| Contextual ATAR | UQ applies adjustments through QTAC and caps them: 'You may be eligible for multiple schemes, up to a maximum of 5 adjustment points in total.' The Rural Access Scheme gives 2 adjustments (1 rank each), the Educational Access Scheme up to 5, the School Opportunity Scheme up to 4, the Subject Incentive Scheme up to 3, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants 5 — but never more than 5 combined, so the lowest unadjusted ATAR that can reach the 99.0 adjusted minimum is 94.0. Important: for Dental Science the rural adjustment is NOT automatic — you must document 5 consecutive or 10 cumulative years of residence in a designated rural or remote area. For Semester 1, 2026 QTAC published a lowest offer of 95.70 excluding adjustment factors and 99.00 including them; these are two separate published statistics, not one applicant's measured adjustment. UQ also lists 'applicants without adjustments will be considered before applicants with adjustments' among the detailed measures it uses when applicants outnumber places. |
| UCAT-ANZ | Mandatory. All applicants at/above the ATAR floor are ranked directly on UCAT-ANZ aggregate — ATAR acts as a hurdle, not a differentiator. UCAT section scores may separate tied applicants. UQ has never published a UCAT cut-off or percentile for this program, and no Tier-1 source supports one — QTAC says only that 'entry to this course is highly competitive' and that 'UCAT scores are used for selection'. For calibration, official UCAT ANZ 2026 (2027-entry) Total Cognitive Scaled Scores are out of 2700: median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220, 9th decile 2,340. Treat any quoted 'UQ Dental UCAT percentile' as an estimate, never a published threshold — and note that UQ's published rule aggregates 'all 4 sections' of the UCAT, which it has not reconciled with the current three-subtest cognitive total. |
| Place types | Semester 1, 2026 cohort (QTAC/UQ Student Profile): 111 students in total — 72 (64.9%) from recent secondary education admitted where both ATAR/rank and additional criteria were considered, and 24 international (21.6%). The total includes international students, leaving roughly 87 domestic commencers, all in Commonwealth supported places. Domestic places are all Commonwealth supported. QTAC's Feb 2027 intake listing shows a first-year student contribution of $10,140; UQ's own program page gives an indicative annual fee of $11,670 for 2026 and states that 2027 fee information is not yet available. The two official sources are on different bases, so treat both as indicative and check UQ's fee page before quoting a 2027 figure. |
| Indigenous pathway | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who apply through QTAC and identify automatically receive 5 selection-rank adjustments. On UCAT: UQ's program page states that applicants applying via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Scheme are not required to sit UCAT, while UQ's scheme page ties the dentistry exemption specifically to its separate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) admission pathway — complete UQ's admission pathway application form and email it to atsisaltentry@uq.edu.au, with applications closing 1 December in the year before you commence. Because UQ's two pages differ, lodge the pathway form by 1 December and confirm the exemption with UQ Admissions rather than relying on the QTAC application alone. |
| Bonded / rural | No bonded places and no rural quota for dentistry: UQ states all domestic places are Commonwealth supported, QTAC lists the fee as CSP only, and UQ's Rural Background Sub-quota is offered only to Doctor of Medicine (Provisional Entry) applicants. Rural applicants do get relief, because the 99.0 minimum is an ADJUSTED ATAR — UQ's Rural Access Scheme adds 2 adjustments (each worth 1 rank). For the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours), however, that adjustment is not automatic: you must provide documents proving you lived in a designated rural or remote area for 5 years consecutively or 10 years cumulatively, submitted through QTAC. |
| Specialities offered | Oral Surgery, Orthodontics, Paediatric Dentistry, Dental Research, Public Dental Health |
Working towards the UCAT score UQ Dental expects? Build a week-by-week plan from your test date — free for the first two weeks.
How UQ Dental interviews applicants
| Format | No interview — ATAR threshold then UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking |
|---|---|
| Interview window (2027 entry) | No interview |
| Decision date (2027 entry) | January — QTAC offer round 14 January 2027 (UQ: offers to the main offer round in January 2027) |
| Post-interview chances | N/A — no interview. |
UQ Dental has no interview — selection is the 99.00 adjusted ATAR hurdle plus UCAT-ANZ aggregate ranking. That makes UCAT preparation the single highest-leverage activity for serious applicants once the ATAR threshold is in sight. Section scores can break ties at the very top. ATSI Admissions Scheme applicants are exempt from UCAT.
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UCAT-ANZ Tutoring
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Learn morePersonal statement help
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Learn moreWhere UQ Dental's figures come from
Checked field-by-field against University of Queensland School of Dentistry's official course page on 11 September 2026.
UQ Dental — frequently asked questions
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