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Australian Medical school comparison

Adelaide vs Notre Dame Sydney

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

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, Notre Dame Sydney runs 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

Notre Dame Sydney

Sydney

Quick comparison

Location
Sydney, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT + CASPer
GAMSAT
Minimum 52 overall, 50 in each subsection. UNDA averages the three sections rather than using the overall weighted GAMSAT. 2023 intake average successful GAMSAT ~66.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
MMI (asynchronous online via Modern Hire)
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
November-December

Adelaide vs Notre Dame Sydney - 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… Notre Dame Sydney — no published cut-off.

GAMSAT cut-offs. Adelaide — not used or not published. Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum 52 overall, 50 in each subsection. UNDA averages the three sections rather than using the overall weighted GAMSAT. 2023 intake average successful GAMSAT ~66.

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.

Notre Dame Sydney requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.2/7.0 (weighted from 3 years FTE); GAMSAT 52 overall + 50 in each subsection; CASPer; MMI (Modern Hire asynchronous).

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. Notre Dame Sydney — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Adelaide — not applicable or not published. Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum 5.2/7.0 weighted from 3 years FTE. 2023 intake average successful GPA 6.70; competitive target ≥6.3.

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 Notre Dame Sydney 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); Notre Dame Sydney runs mmi (asynchronous online via modern hire). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Adelaide interviews in November-December; Notre Dame Sydney in September-November.

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 4-year graduate MD. Years 1-2 foundations with clinical immersion; years 3-4 hospital and rural placements. Mandatory medical ethics thread runs acros

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%.; Notre Dame Sydney — 2027 cycle: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 Full-fee domestic + up to 35 international = ~149 total (Fraser's Notre Dame MD 2027 Guide; GEMSAS Notre Dame Sydney)..

A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Adelaide: ~35% interview-to-offer. Notre Dame Sydney: 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.

Notre Dame Sydney: Notre Dame Sydney replaced its portfolio + panel system with CASPer from the 2024 intake — one of the heaviest CASPer weightings in Australian medicine (30% of pre-interview composite). Catholic ethos shapes the curriculum (medical ethics, end-of-life care, social justice) but the program is open to applicants of all faiths and none.

Strong placement network in Sydney Catholic and public hospitals. 2027 cycle: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + 57 FFP + 35 international = ~149 total.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Adelaide needs UCAT-ANZ, Notre Dame Sydney needs GAMSAT and CASPer. 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 Notre Dame Sydney on New South Wales, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: Adelaide is school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, Notre Dame Sydney is 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. Notre Dame Sydney uses GAMSAT and CASPer. 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 25 August 2026.