How to get into dental school in Australia

Read the course title before you apply. Curtin's three-year Bachelor of Science (Oral Health Therapy) trains oral health therapists. They are registered dental practitioners, but this is not a dentistry degree. The Dental Board says a practitioner's division can narrow their scope, and that oral health therapists cannot become dentists simply by completing professional development courses. In Western Australia, the route to registering as a dentist is the University of Western Australia's DMD. Oral health degrees elsewhere, such as Adelaide University's Bachelor of Oral Health, are also separate from dentistry.

Your ATAR is your national rank. Your selection rank is your ATAR plus any adjustment factors, such as points for equity schemes or particular subjects. Offer figures are often quoted both ways, so two numbers can describe one offer. At UQ in semester 1, 2026, the lowest offer was 95.70 before adjustments and 99.00 after them.

The UCAT-ANZ (University Clinical Aptitude Test) is a computer-based test lasting just under two hours, with no negative marking. Three cognitive subtests are each scored from 300 to 900, giving a total from 900 to 2700. The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) gets its own separate score from 300 to 900.

Abstract Reasoning has gone from the test. Older scores out of 3600 came from a different test and cannot be converted to the current scale.

Schools use the result differently. Adelaide counts sections 1 to 3 equally and uses the SJT only to split ties. Griffith's interview invitations rest on the Total Score. UWA sets no minimum: its threshold comes from ranking within each quota each year.

UCAT-ANZ 2027 dates are not published yet. For the 2026 test, bookings opened on 3 March and closed at the standard fee on 15 May, testing ran from 1 July to 5 August, and results reached universities in early September. The standard fee was $335, or $240 for concession holders. Your own score report arrives soon after you sit.

The GAMSAT, run by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), has two testing cycles a year, in March and September. Its three sections are Written Communication (two essays), Humanities and Social Sciences (62 questions) and Biological and Physical Sciences (75 questions). Total test time is 5.25 hours over two sittings.

Scores run from 0 to 100. The overall score counts Biological and Physical Sciences twice, but Sydney ignores the overall score and ranks on individual sections. ACER says results can be used for up to four consecutive years for Australian programs, and universities add rules of their own.

Usually not. Adelaide University says personal statements and references are not considered, and Sydney ranks standard domestic applicants on admissions test results. JCU is the main exception. It needs its own online application by the QTAC closing date, including letters of support, so read JCU's page early for the current requirements.

Rural background usually means five consecutive years, or 10 cumulative years, in a rural area. Schools measure rural differently. Some use the Modified Monash Model, which rates places from MM 1 (metropolitan) to MM 7 (very remote). Others use remoteness areas from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). A town can count under one and not the other, so check each school's definition.

Adelaide University's course page lists no work experience requirement, and UQ's Bachelor and Sydney's DMD rank on academic and test measures alone. JCU asks for letters of support in its own application. Interview schools look for what you learned: Adelaide assesses preparedness for the program, and Charles Sturt explores your motivation for dentistry.

You are not a registered student until you enrol. Ahpra's student register covers people enrolled in approved programs, so anything you do at school is observation only.

Griffith's interview is recorded, so rehearse to a camera. It bans AI tools, notes, phones and support people, and checks your photo ID against the recording. Adelaide's interview criteria do not list manual dexterity. It treats fine motor skills as an inherent requirement of the degree, so tell the university early if an impairment affects your hands or arms.

The Code of conduct, dated 29 June 2022, is shared by 12 National Boards, including the Dental Board. Its 11 principles run from putting patients first through cultural safety, respectful practice and using the health system wisely to professional behaviour. Your answers should fit them.

In a Commonwealth supported place (CSP), the government pays part of the cost and you pay a student contribution. For medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, the maximum is $14,046 for a full-time year in 2027, up from $13,558 in 2026. If you are eligible, you can defer it through a HECS-HELP loan.

A full-fee place costs far more, and you may be able to defer it through FEE-HELP. The HELP loan limit for dentistry courses leading to initial registration is $193,259 in 2027, against $134,558 for most students.

Sydney anticipates 76 domestic DMD offers for 2027 entry: 30 Commonwealth supported, including places reserved for double degree students, and 46 fee-paying, all marked to be confirmed. Melbourne says applicants may be considered for Commonwealth supported places where available.

Budget beyond tuition. Adelaide University warns that textbooks, equipment, immunisations and clearances cost extra. Sydney asks domestic fee-paying students for a $3,000 non-refundable deposit to accept a place, and a student who starts in a fee-paying place cannot later move to a CSP in that course. Sydney says it is sensible to apply for both place types.

You apply to the Dental Board through Ahpra's online portal, up to about three months before you finish your course. You must meet the Board's standards on English language skills and professional indemnity insurance, and declare any criminal history or health impairment that could affect your practice. Your university sends your results directly.

The Board aims to finalise complete applications within two weeks of receiving graduate results. You can start work once your name appears on the Register of practitioners, which is recognised in every state and territory.

The Board's guidance for new graduates lists no intern or supervised year. Medicine works differently: new doctors complete 47 weeks of accredited first-year training on provisional registration before general registration.