Skip to main content
NextGen MedPrep logoNextGenMedPrep
Back to Australian Medical School Compare
Australian Medical school comparison

Charles Darwin University vs CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program

Charles Darwin University and CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in the Northern Territory, so the state bonus schemes and clinical-placement networks broadly overlap — the differentiation comes from selection, interview and curriculum.

Charles Darwin University uses no national admission test; CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses UCAT-ANZ. That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. The interview formats diverge — Panel vs Interview — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Charles Darwin University

Darwin, Northern Territory

Quick comparison

Location
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
None
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers).
Interview format
Panel interview, 30 minutes
Post-interview chance
-
Decision date
-

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program

Darwin, Northern Territory

Quick comparison

Location
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
Contributes 10% of the admission rank; no cut-off published.
ATAR
Competitive at 90 or above; 85 or above for First Nations applicants. CDU frames these as competitive levels, not a published floor.
Interview format
No interview — ranked on ATAR (90%) and UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%)
Post-interview chance
-
Decision date
-
Compare different schools

Charles Darwin University vs CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Charles Darwin University — no published cut-off. CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — Contributes 10% of the admission rank; no cut-off 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

Charles Darwin University requires Recent school leavers need an ATAR of 85 or above after the addition of any relevant adjustment factors. Applications go through SATAC (code 113371) and must be accompanied by a CDU Menzies Medical Program Application Pack.

40 Commonwealth Supported Places, allocated NT First Nations 40%, NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, non-NT First Nations 10%, rural and remote 5%. Not available to international students.

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program requires Ranked on Year 12 ATAR (90%) plus a UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%). To be competitive CDU states an ATAR of 90 or above, or 85 or above for First Nations applicants. 12 places a year — 5 NT residents, 5 NT First Nations, 2 national First Nations.

Applicants must demonstrate eligibility for NT origin status. SATAC code 104661.

ATAR. Charles Darwin University — 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers). CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — Competitive at 90 or above; 85 or above for First Nations applicants. CDU frames these as competitive levels, not a published floor.

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

Charles Darwin University uses Panel (Panel interview, 30 minutes); CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses Interview (No interview — ranked on ATAR (90%) and UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while Interview rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

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

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Charles Darwin University needs no national admission test, CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program needs UCAT-ANZ. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two. Both sit in the Northern Territory, so a local applicant gets the same state bonus at each.

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

Charles Darwin University uses no admission test. CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses UCAT-ANZ. 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.

Where to go next

Charles Darwin UniversityEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullCDU / Flinders — NT Medical ProgramEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 13 September 2026.