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Australian Medical school comparison

Adelaide vs Monash

Adelaide and Monash are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Adelaide is in South Australia while Monash is in Victoria. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Adelaide uses UCAT-ANZ; Monash uses UCAT-ANZ and GAMSAT.

That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. They also recruit at different stages: Adelaide runs school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, Monash runs both undergraduate and graduate entry.

Side-by-side comparison

Adelaide

Adelaide

Quick comparison

Location
Adelaide, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
Strong bonus-region effect: ~2730 SA applicants vs ~3140 interstate (2024-2026 entry on old /3600 scale; MedView aggregator consensus). ~410-point gap (~10th percentile) is the most material datapoint for SA applicants. Adelaide does not officially publish cut-offs. UCAT cognitive subtests drive interview shortlist; Situational Judgement used only as tiebreaker at the lowest rank.
ATAR
Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Successful applicants typically ~99.75 (commonly cited; not officially published). Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs.
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations)
Post-interview chance
~35% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
January

Monash

Clayton

Quick comparison

Location
Clayton, Australia
Entry pathway
Dual (UG + Grad)
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT
GAMSAT
NOT required. Removed from Graduate Entry selection in 2017; never used for Direct Entry.
UCAT-ANZ
Direct Entry only. 2026 entry December round cut-off ~2380/2700 (~94th percentile, post-rebase). 2023 entry on old /3600 scale was ~2990 non-rural / ~2620 rural — not directly comparable due to 2024 UCAT-ANZ rebase.
ATAR
Direct Entry minimum ATAR 90; competitive typically ≥99.45.
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations × 8 min, 2 min reading)
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
December-January

Adelaide vs Monash - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Adelaide — Strong bonus-region effect: ~2730 SA applicants vs ~3140 interstate (2024-2026 entry on old /3600 scale; MedView aggregator consensus). ~410-point gap (~10th percentile) is the most material… Monash — Direct Entry only. 2026 entry December round cut-off ~2380/2700 (~94th percentile, post-rebase).

2023 entry on old /3600 scale was ~2990 non-rural / ~2620 rural — not directly comparable due to 2024…

GAMSAT cut-offs. Adelaide — not used or not published. Monash — NOT required. Removed from Graduate Entry selection in 2017; never used for Direct Entry.

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 Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted) + UCAT-ANZ cognitive + MMI. English and Chemistry prerequisites; Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education Access Pathway for ATSI applicants.

Monash requires Direct Entry: ATAR minimum 90 (competitive typically ≥99.45) + UCAT-ANZ + MMI; VCE English (study score 35 EAL or 30 English) and Chemistry (30) prerequisites.

Graduate Entry: Monash undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Pharmacy Hons, Physiotherapy Hons, designated BSc units, or Federation Uni Bachelor of Biomedical Science via Gippsland Partnership) with WAM ≥ 70 + MMI + SJT. No GAMSAT for grad pathway since 2017.

ATAR. Adelaide — Minimum entry ATAR 90.00 (adjusted selection rank). Successful applicants typically ~99.75 (commonly cited; not officially published). Adelaide explicitly does not publish ATAR cut-offs. Monash — Direct Entry minimum ATAR 90; competitive typically ≥99.45.

Graduate-entry GPA. Adelaide — not applicable or not published. Monash — Graduate Entry: WAM minimum 70. Lowest accepted WAM (2025 cycle, student-reported) 81.179.

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

Both Adelaide and Monash use MMI interviews, so the underlying prep approach is the same — practise ethics frameworks, Australian health-system topics (Medicare, rural workforce, Indigenous health) and (for MMI) structured station responses against a timer.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Adelaide runs multi-mini interview (8 stations); Monash runs multi-mini interview (8 stations × 8 min, 2 min reading). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Adelaide interviews in November-December; Monash in October-December.

Curriculum and teaching style

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: 6-year undergraduate Bachelor of Medical Studies + Doctor of Medicine (BMS/MD; 3 + 3). Years 1-3 foundations and clinical skills at North Terrace. Yea Direct Entry 5-year MD: years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at Clayton; years 3-5 clinical placements across Monash Health, Peninsula, and rural

Intake size: Adelaide — 136 domestic places per year (Adelaide degree finder); ~600 applicants invited to interview annually. Admission offer weighting: Academic 40% + UCAT cognitive 20% + Interview 40%.; Monash — Direct Entry (Clayton): ~264 domestic (234 + 30 ERC). Graduate Entry (Gippsland): ~70 domestic + 30 Rural End-to-End + ~30 international.

Total combined ~390+ (Fraser's Monash MD 2027 guide).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Adelaide: ~35% interview-to-offer. Monash: Not publicly disclosed.

Post-interview odds give you the clearest signal of how competitive each school is at the final stage — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%, even if the interview thresholds look identical on paper.

What makes each distinctive

Adelaide: 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 pipeline via the Rural Clinical School (Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Mount Gambier). Indigenous entry via Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education Access Pathway.

The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia MERGED into "Adelaide University" on 1 January 2026; both predecessor schools stopped accepting applications on 4 August 2025, and all current cycles run under the merged entity.

Monash: Monash runs a dual-pathway MD: Direct Entry (M6011, 5-year BMedSc+MD at Clayton, UCAT-ANZ + ATAR) and Graduate Entry (4-year MD at Gippsland / Churchill campus). Graduate Entry MD requires Monash undergraduate study (closed to external grads since 2017 GAMSAT removal); no GAMSAT required for the graduate pathway.

The Direct Entry December round uses UCAT-only ranking before ATAR is released; the January round uses combined UCAT + ATAR.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Adelaide needs UCAT-ANZ, Monash needs UCAT-ANZ and GAMSAT. 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 Monash on Victoria, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: Adelaide is school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, Monash is both undergraduate and graduate entry. 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

Adelaide uses UCAT-ANZ. Monash uses UCAT-ANZ and GAMSAT. 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.

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 27 August 2026.