Skip to main content
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, CASPer and MCAT.

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
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

Notre Dame Sydney

Sydney

Quick comparison

Location
Sydney, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT + CASPer + MCAT
GAMSAT
Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
MMI (recorded/asynchronous online); live online panel for international applicants
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
Late October-early November (main round); additional offers November 2026-January 2027

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

GAMSAT cut-offs. Adelaide — not used or not published. Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of…

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.

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 (mandatory — applicants without a Casper score are not considered; last accepted sitting 11 June 2026 for the 2026-27 cycle); recorded/asynchronous online MMI.

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… Notre Dame Sydney — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Adelaide — not applicable or not published. Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum weighted GPA of 5.2/7.0 over three FTE years, with GPA years progressively weighted Final-minus-2 x1, Final-minus-1 x2, Final x3. Notre Dame publishes the average GPA of applicants OFFERED AN…

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 multiple mini interview — a minimum of six stations of 10 minutes each, one interviewer per station, held online over zoom (2027…; Notre Dame Sydney runs mmi (recorded/asynchronous online); live online panel for international applicants. 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-October (GEMSAS: interview offers released early September 2026).

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). Taught at the Adelaide City Campus (Adelaide Health and Medical 4-year graduate MD. Foundation Years 1-2 are delivered principally through Problem Based Learning in small groups led by a clinician; Clinical Years 3

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…; Notre Dame Sydney — 2027 cycle: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 full-fee domestic (via GEMSAS) + up to 35 full-fee international (direct….

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

Post-interview offer rate

Adelaide: 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.

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).

Dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathway with no UCAT ANZ requirement (the former Wirltu Yarlu Access Pathway is not the route into this degree).

The University of Adelaide and UniSA amalgamated into Adelaide University on 1 January 2026, and the program now sits in Adelaide University's College of Health, School of Medicine; applications for 2027 entry opened via SATAC on 3 August 2026 and close 30 September 2026.

New for 2027 entry: a Northern Community Care Stream of up to 20 places (SATAC ABP292 non-bonded, ABP293 bonded) for applicants schooled in Adelaide's northern suburbs, ranked on ATAR or IB plus interview with no UCAT ANZ; applicants with any prior higher education record are excluded from this stream for the 2027 intake.

Notre Dame Sydney: Notre Dame retired its selection Portfolio from the 2024 intake and put Casper in its place as the non-academic component; the interview format was not part of that change.

Casper is 30% of the pre-interview composite — the same weighting Notre Dame Fremantle uses — while Wollongong leans on Casper harder still, ranking for interview on 50% Casper plus 50% UOW admissions bonuses. 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, extending to Werribee Mercy and St John of God Ballarat in Victoria.

Notre Dame also runs entry pathways no other Australian medical school offers: a Priority Entry Pathway reserving MD places for its own Bachelor of Biomedical Science graduates (first Priority Entry in the 2026-27 intake, for students admitted to that degree from 2024 onwards; GPA >=6.0, unweighted GAMSAT >=55, Casper no lower than 1 SD below the mean, Notre Dame preferenced first through GEMSAS), plus facilitated interview pathways reaching the Sydney campus for Notre Dame undergraduate graduates (up to 10 across Fremantle and Sydney), Notre Dame Graduate Diploma or Master of Health and Medical Sciences graduates (up to 25) and ACU Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences graduates (up to 5, Sydney only).

Notre Dame's Pre-Medicine Certificate facilitated pathway is a Fremantle pathway and does not apply at Sydney. 2027 cycle: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 full-fee domestic through GEMSAS, plus up to 35 full-fee international places that are NOT offered through GEMSAS in 2027 — international applicants must apply direct to Notre Dame's International Admissions Office.

GEMSAS notes the numbers are subject to change and that the quota includes the assured and priority pathways.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Adelaide needs UCAT-ANZ, Notre Dame Sydney needs GAMSAT, CASPer and MCAT. 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, CASPer and MCAT. 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 .