2027 Entry Requirements & Interview Format
Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Northern Territory, NT runs a school-leaver medicine program for 2027 entry. Published hurdles: ATAR — 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers). Charles Darwin University holds a panel interview.
Photo: Michael Coghlan · CC BY 2.0 · cropped
Photo: Stephen Barnett from Darwin, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo: Alex Healing · CC BY 2.0
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Step-by-step: entry requirements, admission-test prep, personal statement, interview format and the key deadlines.
Open the guide →Problem-based learning + Integrated, 5 years (direct entry), placements in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Nhulunbuy and smaller communities.
See the course →The Northern Territory’s own medical school. CDU holds AMC accreditation, to 31 March 2031 with conditions, for the Bachelor of Clinical Science Medicine / Doctor of Medicine (SMED01) and runs it at Casuarina in Darwin, with an intake built around Territory and First Nations representation rather than a national applicant pool.
The AMC and Ahpra list it as the Bachelor of Clinical Sciences / Doctor of Medicine, a name easily confused with CDU’s separate Bachelor of Clinical Sciences (WCSCI1), the first part of a double degree with Flinders University’s NT Medical Program.
All of Years 3–5 are block placements across the Northern Territory; for placements outside Darwin, students live in towns such as Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy. First Nations Culture and Health is one of five themes, with a pass/fail task in every Year 1–2 unit, and research is mentored through Menzies School of Health Research.
The course is built on Western Sydney University’s curriculum, which CDU is adapting for the NT. Study is full time and face to face, and students must live in Darwin. AMC accredited to 31 March 2031 with conditions (decision of 29 November 2024).
PBL curriculum. Five-year direct-entry Bachelor of Clinical Science Medicine/Doctor of Medicine (SMED01, 400 credit points), the CDU Menzies Medical Program. Years 1–2 are on the Casuarina campus in Darwin: four 16-week, 40-credit-point units (MED101, MED112, MED201, MED212) taught through small-group problem-based learning, lectures, labs, bedside teaching with simulated participants and community visits.
Years 3–5 (MED301, MED501, MED512, MED601) are block placements across the NT, about 95 weeks in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Nhulunbuy and smaller communities, with Year 3 blocks of 5–9 weeks and the MD Project in Year 4. The curriculum was bought from Western Sydney University and is being adapted for the NT.
The first cohort of 42 started in February 2026, so the clinical years first run in 2028.
CDU lists no intercalated or Honours year. Students may exit after three years (240 credit points) with a Bachelor of Clinical Science Medicine, and the 2027 Course Catalogue says credit transfer and recognition of prior learning are not available for the course.
Format: Panel interview, 30 minutes
A 30-minute panel interview at CDU’s Casuarina campus, with an online Teams option. 160 candidates are interviewed for the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places. For 2027 entry interviews run 16–20 November 2026.
First cohort (February 2026): 42 students, including two First Nations students, from about 1,900 applications. For the 2027 intake: 40 Commonwealth Supported Places, with 160 candidates interviewed for them, plus 10 onshore international fee-paying places, with 30 international candidates interviewed.
Charles Darwin University was founded in 2022 and is based in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Programmes offered:
These are real recordings of the interviewers you would meet, from a panel of 19 photoreal faces. Speak your answers out loud, get pressed with follow-ups, and receive rubric-scored feedback about two minutes after you finish, with a replay of your answers.
Try the AI interviewer| Entry pathway | Undergraduate (school-leaver) entry |
|---|---|
| ATAR | 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers) |
| Interview format | Panel interview |
| Intake | First cohort (February 2026): 42 students, including two First Nations students, from about 1,900 applications |
| Admission overview | Recent school leavers need an ATAR of 85 or above after the addition of any relevant adjustment factors. Applications go through SATAC (code 113371) and must be accompanied by a CDU Menzies Medical Program Application Pack. 40 Commonwealth Supported Places, allocated NT First Nations 40%, NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, non-NT First Nations 10%, rural and remote 5%. CDU’s statements on international entry conflict: for 2027 entry the course page and the CMMP FAQ list 10 onshore international fee-paying places (applicants in Australia without a student visa) on top of the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places, while the course page’s key-details box, the 2027 Course Catalogue and the FAQ’s eligibility answer say the course is open only to domestic students, and the FAQ’s fees answer and the 2027 Admissions Guide say all places are Commonwealth supported. |
|---|---|
| ATAR | 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers). |
| Prerequisites | No Year 12 subject prerequisites are published. |
| Indigenous pathway | NT First Nations 40% and non-NT First Nations 10% of the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places. |
| Bonded / rural | Quota-based: NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, rural and remote 5%. |
| Specialities offered | Remote and rural medicine, First Nations health, Tropical health |
| Format | Panel interview, 30 minutes |
|---|
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