Skip to main content
Back to Australian Medical School Compare
Australian Medical school comparison

ANU vs UQ

ANU and UQ are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. ANU is in the ACT while UQ is in Queensland. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Both select on GAMSAT, so a single sitting can support both applications.

The interview formats diverge — Panel vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

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

UQ

Herston

Quick comparison

Location
Herston, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 in each of Sections I, II, III (any section below 50 = ineligible). Interview shortlist: 50% unweighted GAMSAT (mean of 3 sections) + 50% GPA, GPA as tiebreaker. Final offer: 25% ATAR/GPA + 25% UCAT/GAMSAT + 50% MMI (Fraser's reconstruction).
UCAT-ANZ
Provisional Entry (school-leaver) only — 2025 intake lowest invited UCAT-ANZ 3110 (non-rural) / 2670 (Rural Access). 25% ATAR + 25% UCAT (cognitive sections only, excluding SJT) + 50% MMI.
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations)
Post-interview chance
~40% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
November-December

ANU vs UQ - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. ANU — no published cut-off. UQ — Provisional Entry (school-leaver) only — 2025 intake lowest invited UCAT-ANZ 3110 (non-rural) / 2670 (Rural Access). 25% ATAR + 25% UCAT (cognitive sections only, excluding SJT) + 50% MMI.

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. UQ — Minimum 50 in each of Sections I, II, III (any section below 50 = ineligible).

Interview shortlist: 50% unweighted GAMSAT (mean of 3 sections) + 50% GPA, GPA as tiebreaker. Final offer: 25% ATAR/GPA…

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.

UQ requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+ with section minima 50+; MMI.

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). UQ — Minimum 5.0/7.0 in key degree. Currency rule: degrees > 10 years before commencement require ≥ 0.50 FTE subsequent coursework at GPA ≥ 5.0.

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

ANU uses Panel (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.); UQ uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations)).

These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

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

Interview windows: ANU interviews in October-November; UQ in October-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: 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-year graduate MD. Years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at the Herston Health Sciences precinct. Years 3-4 clinical placements distributed acros

Intake size: ANU — 2027 cycle: 63 CSP + 26 BMP + up to 30 international + uncapped Indigenous. Total domestic ~89, total cohort ~115-120 (GEMSAS ANU).; UQ — 2027 graduate intake: 107 CSP + 43 BMP + up to 190 international = up to 340 total (reduced from 350).

Plus ~140 Provisional Entry CSP (school-leaver) with 28% reserved for Rural Access Scheme.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

ANU: ~38% interview-to-offer. UQ: ~40% 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.

UQ: UQ runs Australia's largest 4-year graduate-entry MD (~470 places), anchored across the Herston Health Sciences precinct and the Princess Alexandra, Royal Brisbane, Mater, and Gold Coast clinical schools. The Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans offers an internationally co-badged pathway.

Pre-interview ranking is a weighted GAMSAT + GPA composite; the MMI and MSA together carry significant weight in the final offer composite.

Which is right for you?

Check your state of origin before you apply — ANU draws heavily on the ACT applicants and UQ on Queensland, 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

ANU uses GAMSAT. UQ uses GAMSAT. Both schools share the same test stack — your single sitting can support both applications. 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.