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Australian Medical school comparison

ANU vs Bond

ANU and Bond are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. ANU is in the ACT while Bond is in Queensland. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. ANU uses GAMSAT; Bond uses Bond-Test.

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

Side-by-side comparison

ANU

Canberra

Quick comparison

Location
Canberra, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 overall + 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight for interview-ranking composite (alongside 50% GPA). Median offer-holder GAMSAT not officially published; aggregator estimates ~65-68.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Online interview covering a range of topics and scenarios (50% of final offer score). Domestic interviews run early-to-mid September; international interviews are held over Zoom in mid-July. ANU does not publish the station format.
Post-interview chance
~38% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
November-December

Bond

Gold Coast

Quick comparison

Location
Gold Coast, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
Bond-Test
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
Undergraduate (Year 12): ATAR 96+ / IB 38+ / OP 1-3. Graduate: cumulative GPA ≥ 6.0/7.0 from recognised tertiary program.
Interview format
Bond psychometric assessment + Multiple Mini Interview (in person at Gold Coast)
Post-interview chance
~35% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
24-26 March 2026 (Round 1 offers); rolling intakes May + September (no February intake)

ANU vs Bond - in detail

Admission tests compared

GAMSAT cut-offs. ANU — Minimum 50 overall + 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight for interview-ranking composite (alongside 50% GPA). Median offer-holder GAMSAT not officially published; aggregator estimates ~65-68. Bond — not used or not published.

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

ANU requires Bachelor degree with minimum weighted GPA 5.0/7.0 (final year weighted x3, prior year x2, two years prior x1); GAMSAT 50 overall with a minimum of 50 in each section, or MCAT with at least 125 in each section for international applicants; online interview (format not published by ANU); rural and Indigenous pathways available.

A weighted GPA of 6.0 with GAMSAT 60+ (or MCAT 515+) guarantees an interview. Domestic applications go through GEMSAS.

Bond requires Undergraduate (Year 12) ATAR 96+ / IB 38+ / OP 1-3, OR Graduate cumulative GPA ≥ 6.0/7.0 from recognised tertiary program. English (Units 3/4, C) or equivalent prerequisite. Bond psychometric test (~$346.50 inc. GST, 2025) + MMI in person at Gold Coast.

Lateral entry available from Bond BBiomedSci PHP / MOT / DPT / MNDP / MHI with GPA ≥ 3.00/4.00 (Bond scale) → Year 2 BMedSt.

ATAR. ANU — no published cut-off. Bond — Undergraduate (Year 12): ATAR 96+ / IB 38+ / OP 1-3. Graduate: cumulative GPA ≥ 6.0/7.0 from recognised tertiary program.

Graduate-entry GPA. ANU — Minimum weighted GPA 5.0 (latest guidelines; 5.6 historically quoted as practical interview threshold). ANU uses weighted GPA (most recent results weighted heaviest). Bond — not applicable or not published.

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 ANU and Bond use Panel 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: ANU runs online interview covering a range of topics and scenarios (50% of final offer score). domestic interviews run early-to-mid september; international interviews are held over zoom in mid-july. anu does not publish the station format.; Bond runs bond psychometric assessment + multiple mini interview (in person at gold coast).

Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: ANU interviews in October-November; Bond in Early March (MMI; 2026 cycle); psychometric testing 7-12 Feb 2026; MMI invitations 21 Feb 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: 4-year graduate Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (MChD). Years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at Acton (Canberra) with early Canberra Hospital imme ~4.5-year accelerated Bachelor of Medical Studies (BMedSt) + Doctor of Medicine (MD) on a three-semester (Jan/May/Sep teaching) calendar — though inta

Intake size: ANU — 2027 cycle: 63 CSP + 26 BMP + up to 30 international + uncapped Indigenous. Total domestic ~89, total cohort ~115-120 (GEMSAS ANU).; Bond — Up to ~180 places/year across two intakes (May + September), 80% undergraduate / 20% graduate. Full-fee only — does NOT participate in BMP..

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

Post-interview offer rate

ANU: ~38% interview-to-offer. Bond: ~35% interview-to-offer.

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

ANU: ANU runs a 4-year graduate-entry MChD (Doctor of Medicine and Surgery) with a distinctive research-intensive identity — mandatory research project woven through the program, leveraging ANU's broader research powerhouse status. The Rural Clinical School operates across Goulburn, Cooma, Bega, and Eurobodalla, giving one of the largest rural footprints relative to cohort size in Australia. Predominantly CSP intake.

Pre-interview ranking weights GAMSAT and GPA; the MMI carries substantial weight in the final composite.

Bond: Bond is Australia's only private medical school with two intakes per year (May, September — NO February intake) on an accelerated calendar (~3 semesters/year, 14 semesters total, about 4 years 8 months end to end). No UCAT-ANZ or GAMSAT — Bond runs its own psychometric test (Clinical Personality + Emotional Intelligence).

All places are full-fee (no CSP, FEE-HELP eligible for domestic; no BMP). 2026 fees: $33,610/semester × 14 = ~$470,540 total program.

ELIGIBILITY: direct entry is limited to Australian citizens and permanent residents, Australian Humanitarian visa holders, and New Zealand CITIZENS (not NZ permanent residents) — it is NOT open to international students applying for a student visa, who must instead complete a prerequisite Bond degree and enter at Year 2.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: ANU needs GAMSAT, Bond needs Bond-Test. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two. Check your state of origin before you apply — ANU draws heavily on the ACT applicants and Bond on Queensland, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: ANU is graduate entry, Bond is school-leaver (undergraduate) 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

ANU uses GAMSAT. Bond uses Bond-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.

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 25 August 2026.