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Adelaide vs Charles Darwin University

Q: What admission tests do Adelaide and Charles Darwin University use?

Adelaide uses UCAT-ANZ. Charles Darwin University uses no admission test. The test mismatch means you may need to prep two assessments simultaneously, or you can pick the school whose admission test you're stronger in. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sat in March/September; UCAT-ANZ is undergraduate-leaning and sat in July; some schools (notably Bond and JCU) run their own selection model with no national test.

Q: What UCAT-ANZ score do I need for Adelaide vs Charles Darwin University?

Adelaide — UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and Section 4 (Situational Judgement, reported separately on 300–900 and not part of the /2700 cognitive total) separates only lower-ranked candidates with equal totals across the other three. UCAT ANZ then carries 20% of the final domestic offer ranking, alongside Interview 40% and Academic 40%. Adelaide publishes no cut-off and will not comment on score competitiveness; the South Australian advantage is structural — a minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations must go to South Australian applicants — not a published score gap. For national calibration only (not an Adelaide threshold), the official UCAT ANZ 2026 sitting used for 2027 entry had a total cognitive mean of 1,964, median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220 and 9th decile 2,340 across 17,341 candidates. Charles Darwin University — does not publish a UCAT-ANZ cut-off (may not use UCAT-ANZ; check the admission-test question above). UCAT-ANZ cut-offs are cohort-dependent, so the headline number from one cycle is not guaranteed for the next — use it as a planning anchor, not a guarantee.

Q: What ATAR do I need for Adelaide vs Charles Darwin University?

Adelaide — Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores from previous years'. Its published ATAR profile for Semester 1 2026 (ABP171 and ABP271) suppresses every figure as '<5', because almost all offers are made on ATAR plus additional criteria rather than ATAR alone — so no median, lowest or guaranteed selection rank exists in the public record, and figures such as 99.75 are unsourced. Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs. Charles Darwin University — 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers). Selection rank typically includes Educational Access Scheme bonuses, rural-origin uplift, and (where applicable) Indigenous-pathway adjustments — your raw ATAR is rarely the final figure used.

Q: How do interviews differ between Adelaide and Charles Darwin University?

Adelaide uses: Multiple Mini Interview — a minimum of six stations of 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held online over Zoom (2027 entry; Adelaide states there is no in-person, telephone or alternative-platform option).. Charles Darwin University uses: Panel interview, 30 minutes. Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: November-December (Adelaide); see school page (Charles Darwin University).

Q: What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do Adelaide and Charles Darwin University offer?

Adelaide — Two Commonwealth Supported Place types with separate SATAC codes — non-bonded (ABP171) and Bonded Medical Program (ABP271, carrying a Return of Service Obligation); the split is not published. Adelaide publishes no annual place count; its official student profile shows 160 students commencing the program in Semester 1 2026, of whom 28 (17.5%) were international — a commencement count, not a place allocation. Indicative international tuition is AUD $103,000 per year. The previously cited 136 does not appear on any current Adelaide University page. Charles Darwin University — place-type breakdown not published. CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) is the lowest student contribution; BMP (Bonded Medical Program) adds a 1-year return-of-service obligation in a Modified Monash Model 2-7 area after Fellowship; Full-fee places carry no bond but the highest tuition.

Q: What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do Adelaide and Charles Darwin University offer?

Adelaide — Entry is via the School of Medicine's own Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway, documented on the Bachelor of Medical Studies page — not via the old Wirltu Yarlu Access Pathway, whose URLs now redirect to Adelaide University's First Nations page, which lists the Bachelor of Medical Studies among degrees with their own dedicated entry routes rather than under the general Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pathway. Applicants apply through SATAC with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statutory Declaration uploaded within five working days and are not required to sit the UCAT ANZ. A number of places are reserved — Adelaide does not publish the count — and all eligible applicants are invited to interview: a panel of three to four people (academics, clinicians and alumni, largely Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander), around 20 minutes long, preceded by an informal yarn. The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences no longer exists; the program sits in the College of Health, School of Medicine. Charles Darwin University — NT First Nations 40% and non-NT First Nations 10% of the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.

Q: Does Adelaide or Charles Darwin University offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Adelaide — Bonded Medical Program places sit under their own SATAC code (ABP271) with a Return of Service Obligation in eligible regional, rural or remote areas; the count is not published. Separately, approximately 41 places are reserved for the Rural Background pathway, open to applicants who lived in a Modified Monash Model (MMM 2019) MM 2–7 area for at least five consecutive years or ten years cumulatively, with a Rural Entry Pathway Statutory Declaration uploaded to SATAC within five days; interview places are filled in four priority categories (MM 2–7 applicant at an SA rural school, then at any SA school, then at a rural school in any state, then anywhere in Australia) and ranked on UCAT ANZ within each. All Commonwealth Supported students must complete at least four weeks of rural placement, and 30% of domestic students must spend a full clinical year rurally — allocated by random ballot if not filled voluntarily. A minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations go to South Australians. Charles Darwin University — Quota-based: NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, rural and remote 5%. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.

Q: Should I apply to both Adelaide and Charles Darwin University?

Yes — AU medical applicants typically lodge preferences across multiple schools via GEMSAS (graduate) or direct-undergraduate portals + state TACs (UAC for NSW, VTAC for VIC, QTAC for QLD, etc.). The two schools' selection mechanics differ enough that listing both is a legitimate diversification strategy. A common mistake is over-indexing on schools with the same test-and-interview profile; Adelaide and Charles Darwin University differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Adelaide and Charles Darwin University are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Adelaide is in South Australia while Charles Darwin University is in the Northern Territory. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Adelaide uses UCAT-ANZ; Charles Darwin University uses no national admission test.

That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Panel — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Adelaide and Charles Darwin University.
Comparison field	AdelaideAdelaide	Charles Darwin UniversityDarwin, Northern Territory
Quick comparison
Location	Adelaide, Australia	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Admission tests	UCAT-ANZ	None
GAMSAT	-	-
UCAT-ANZ	UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and Section 4 (Situational Judgement, reported separately on 300–900 and not part of the /2700 cognitive total) separates only lower-ranked candidates with equal totals across the other three. UCAT ANZ then carries 20% of the final domestic offer ranking, alongside Interview 40% and Academic 40%. Adelaide publishes no cut-off and will not comment on score competitiveness; the South Australian advantage is structural — a minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations must go to South Australian applicants — not a published score gap. For national calibration only (not an Adelaide threshold), the official UCAT ANZ 2026 sitting used for 2027 entry had a total cognitive mean of 1,964, median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220 and 9th decile 2,340 across 17,341 candidates.	-
ATAR	Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores from previous years'. Its published ATAR profile for Semester 1 2026 (ABP171 and ABP271) suppresses every figure as '<5', because almost all offers are made on ATAR plus additional criteria rather than ATAR alone — so no median, lowest or guaranteed selection rank exists in the public record, and figures such as 99.75 are unsourced. Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs.	85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers).
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interview — a minimum of six stations of 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held online over Zoom (2027 entry; Adelaide states there is no in-person, telephone or alternative-platform option).	Panel interview, 30 minutes
Post-interview chance	Not published by Adelaide, and no admissions centre or Medical Deans report gives an interview-to-offer rate for this program. The only Tier-1 figures are approximately 600 domestic applicants invited to interview and 160 students commencing in Semester 1 2026 (28 of them international) — enough to show that a ~35% domestic conversion is unsupported, but not enough to state a rate, since commencements are not offers and the same interview also covers Dentistry and Oral Health applicants.	-
Decision date	January	-

ATAR	Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores from previous years'. Its published ATAR profile for Semester 1 2026 (ABP171 and ABP271) suppresses every figure as '<5', because almost all offers are made on ATAR plus additional criteria rather than ATAR alone — so no median, lowest or guaranteed selection rank exists in the public record, and figures such as 99.75 are unsourced. Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs.	85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers).
Contextual ATAR	Adjustment factors for the Bachelor of Medical Studies are available only under the Universities Equity Scheme — the medicine program does not consider subject adjustment factors, so the Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme does not apply. A minimum 50% of school-leaver applicants invited to interview will be from South Australia (an interview-invitation quota, not an offer quota).	-
GAMSAT	-	-
UCAT-ANZ	UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and Section 4 (Situational Judgement, reported separately on 300–900 and not part of the /2700 cognitive total) separates only lower-ranked candidates with equal totals across the other three. UCAT ANZ then carries 20% of the final domestic offer ranking, alongside Interview 40% and Academic 40%. Adelaide publishes no cut-off and will not comment on score competitiveness; the South Australian advantage is structural — a minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations must go to South Australian applicants — not a published score gap. For national calibration only (not an Adelaide threshold), the official UCAT ANZ 2026 sitting used for 2027 entry had a total cognitive mean of 1,964, median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220 and 9th decile 2,340 across 17,341 candidates.	-
CASPer	-	-
ISAT	-	-
GPA	-	-
Prerequisites	-	No Year 12 subject prerequisites are published.
Place types	Two Commonwealth Supported Place types with separate SATAC codes — non-bonded (ABP171) and Bonded Medical Program (ABP271, carrying a Return of Service Obligation); the split is not published. Adelaide publishes no annual place count; its official student profile shows 160 students commencing the program in Semester 1 2026, of whom 28 (17.5%) were international — a commencement count, not a place allocation. Indicative international tuition is AUD $103,000 per year. The previously cited 136 does not appear on any current Adelaide University page.	-
Indigenous pathway	Entry is via the School of Medicine's own Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway, documented on the Bachelor of Medical Studies page — not via the old Wirltu Yarlu Access Pathway, whose URLs no…	NT First Nations 40% and non-NT First Nations 10% of the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places.
Bonded / rural	Bonded Medical Program places sit under their own SATAC code (ABP271) with a Return of Service Obligation in eligible regional, rural or remote areas; the count is not published. Separately, approxima…	Quota-based: NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, rural and remote 5%.

Interview window	November-December	-
Interview details	Adelaide runs a Multiple Mini Interview with a minimum of six stations lasting 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held entirely online over Zoom — there is no in-person, telephone or altern…	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 Novembe…

Specialities	Rural Medicine, Clinical Research, Reproductive Medicine, Indigenous Health, General Practice	Remote and rural medicine, First Nations health, Tropical health
Established	1885	2003
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Adelaide runs South Australia's oldest medical school (est. 1885) as a 6-year undergraduate BMS+MD (3+3). Admission offer weighting: Academic 40% + UCAT cognitive 20% + Interview 40%. Strong rural pip…	-
Official course page	https://adelaide.edu.au/study/degrees/bachelor-of-medical-studies/dom/	https://www.cdu.edu.au/study/course/bachelor-clinical-science-medicinedoctor-medicine-smed01

Adelaide

Quick comparison

Location: Adelaide, Australia
Entry pathway: Undergraduate
Admission tests: UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and Section 4 (Situational Judgement, reported separately on 300–900 and not part of the /2700 cognitive total) separates only lower-ranked candidates with equal totals across the other three. UCAT ANZ then carries 20% of the final domestic offer ranking, alongside Interview 40% and Academic 40%. Adelaide publishes no cut-off and will not comment on score competitiveness; the South Australian advantage is structural — a minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations must go to South Australian applicants — not a published score gap. For national calibration only (not an Adelaide threshold), the official UCAT ANZ 2026 sitting used for 2027 entry had a total cognitive mean of 1,964, median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220 and 9th decile 2,340 across 17,341 candidates.
ATAR: Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores from previous years'. Its published ATAR profile for Semester 1 2026 (ABP171 and ABP271) suppresses every figure as '<5', because almost all offers are made on ATAR plus additional criteria rather than ATAR alone — so no median, lowest or guaranteed selection rank exists in the public record, and figures such as 99.75 are unsourced. Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interview — a minimum of six stations of 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held online over Zoom (2027 entry; Adelaide states there is no in-person, telephone or alternative-platform option).
Post-interview chance: Not published by Adelaide, and no admissions centre or Medical Deans report gives an interview-to-offer rate for this program. The only Tier-1 figures are approximately 600 domestic applicants invited to interview and 160 students commencing in Semester 1 2026 (28 of them international) — enough to show that a ~35% domestic conversion is unsupported, but not enough to state a rate, since commencements are not offers and the same interview also covers Dentistry and Oral Health applicants.
Decision date: January

ATAR: Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR cut-off scores from previous years'. Its published ATAR profile for Semester 1 2026 (ABP171 and ABP271) suppresses every figure as '<5', because almost all offers are made on ATAR plus additional criteria rather than ATAR alone — so no median, lowest or guaranteed selection rank exists in the public record, and figures such as 99.75 are unsourced. Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs.
Contextual ATAR: Adjustment factors for the Bachelor of Medical Studies are available only under the Universities Equity Scheme — the medicine program does not consider subject adjustment factors, so the Universities Language, Literacy and Mathematics Scheme does not apply. A minimum 50% of school-leaver applicants invited to interview will be from South Australia (an interview-invitation quota, not an offer quota).
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and Section 4 (Situational Judgement, reported separately on 300–900 and not part of the /2700 cognitive total) separates only lower-ranked candidates with equal totals across the other three. UCAT ANZ then carries 20% of the final domestic offer ranking, alongside Interview 40% and Academic 40%. Adelaide publishes no cut-off and will not comment on score competitiveness; the South Australian advantage is structural — a minimum 50% of school-leaver interview invitations must go to South Australian applicants — not a published score gap. For national calibration only (not an Adelaide threshold), the official UCAT ANZ 2026 sitting used for 2027 entry had a total cognitive mean of 1,964, median 1,950, 8th decile 2,220 and 9th decile 2,340 across 17,341 candidates.
CASPer: -
ISAT: -
GPA: -
Prerequisites: -
Place types: Two Commonwealth Supported Place types with separate SATAC codes — non-bonded (ABP171) and Bonded Medical Program (ABP271, carrying a Return of Service Obligation); the split is not published. Adelaide publishes no annual place count; its official student profile shows 160 students commencing the program in Semester 1 2026, of whom 28 (17.5%) were international — a commencement count, not a place allocation. Indicative international tuition is AUD $103,000 per year. The previously cited 136 does not appear on any current Adelaide University page.
Indigenous pathway: Entry is via the School of Medicine's own Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway, documented on the Bachelor of Medical Studies page — not via the old Wirltu Yarlu Access Pathway, whose URLs no…
Bonded / rural: Bonded Medical Program places sit under their own SATAC code (ABP271) with a Return of Service Obligation in eligible regional, rural or remote areas; the count is not published. Separately, approxima…

Charles Darwin University

Darwin, Northern Territory

Quick comparison

Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Entry pathway: Undergraduate
Admission tests: None
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: -
ATAR: 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers).
Interview format: Panel interview, 30 minutes
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: -

Compare different schools

Adelaide vs Charles Darwin University - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Adelaide — UCAT ANZ alone decides who is interviewed (except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway and Northern Community Care Stream applicants, who do not sit it): Sections 1–3 carry equal weight, and… Charles Darwin University — no published cut-off.

Timing shapes the choice as much as the score. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sits in March and September; UCAT-ANZ is mostly undergraduate and sits in July. A few schools run their own selection model with no national test at all.

ATAR and academic profile

Adelaide requires Adjusted ATAR / selection rank of 90.00 minimum (an eligibility floor, not a cut-off) + UCAT ANZ + MMI. The prerequisite is any ONE of SACE Stage 2 Biology, Chemistry or Mathematical Methods (or equivalent); high proficiency in written and spoken English is assumed knowledge, not a prerequisite.

The medicine program does not apply subject adjustment factors — only the Universities Equity Scheme.

Separate routes: a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway (no UCAT ANZ; all eligible applicants interviewed), a Rural Background pathway (approximately 41 places), a Northern Community Care Stream (up to 20 places, no UCAT ANZ, SATAC codes ABP292 non-bonded / ABP293 bonded), a Higher Education pathway (minimum 10 places, open only to applicants whose sole tertiary record is at Adelaide University or an antecedent institution, with 1–2 years completed at a credit average / GPA 5.0), and a Work and Life Experience route via a competitive STAT score.

Adelaide notes entry requirements for this degree are provisional and subject to change.

Charles Darwin University requires 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%. Not available to international students.

ATAR. Adelaide — Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Adelaide states that 'the actual ATAR required for entry is typically much higher' than the 90.00 eligibility floor but 'does not disclose ATAR… Charles Darwin University — 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers).

Read every ATAR figure as a selection rank, not a raw score. Educational access bonuses, rural-origin uplift and Indigenous pathways all adjust it, so the published number is rarely the one that decides your application.

Interview formats

Adelaide uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interview — a minimum of six stations of 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held online over Zoom (2027 entry; Adelaide states there is no in-person, telephone or alternative-platform option).); Charles Darwin University uses Panel (Panel interview, 30 minutes).

These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Charles Darwin University may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Adelaide is the better fit.

Curriculum and teaching style

Intake size: Adelaide — Adelaide does not publish a total place count, though it publishes sub-pathway reservations (approximately 41 Rural Background, up to 20 Northern Community Care Stream, minimum 10 Higher Education). Its official student profile shows 160 students commencing in Semester 1 2026 (28 international, 17.5%; 96 admitted on ATAR plus additional criteria; 33 through the Higher Education pathway).

Approximately 600 domestic and 160 international applicants are invited to interview each cycle. Domestic offer weighting: Academic 40% + UCAT ANZ 20% + Interview 40%.; Charles Darwin University — 40 Commonwealth Supported Places; 160 candidates interviewed.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Adelaide needs UCAT-ANZ, Charles Darwin University needs no national admission test. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two. Check your state of origin before you apply — Adelaide draws heavily on South Australia applicants and Charles Darwin University on the Northern Territory, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

Your preference list should ultimately weight: which admission test you can realistically score well in, whether your state of origin gives you a bonus at either school, and where you'd actually want to live for four to six years.

Common questions