What UCAT-ANZ score do I need for CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU?

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — Contributes 10% of the admission rank; no cut-off published. JCU — does not publish a UCAT-ANZ cut-off (may not use UCAT-ANZ; check the admission-test question above). UCAT-ANZ cut-offs are cohort-dependent, so the headline number from one cycle is not guaranteed for the next — use it as a planning anchor, not a guarantee.

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Australian Medical school comparison

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program is in the Northern Territory while JCU is in Queensland. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones.

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

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU.
Comparison field	CDU / Flinders — NT Medical ProgramDarwin, Northern Territory	JCUTownsville & Cairns', // note: coordinates remain the Townsville campus
Quick comparison
Location	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia	Townsville & Cairns', // note: coordinates remain the Townsville campus, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Admission tests	UCAT-ANZ	None
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.	JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.
Interview format	No interview — ranked on ATAR (90%) and UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%)	Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task). JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.
Post-interview chance	-	JCU does not publish an interview-to-offer conversion rate for Medicine.
Decision date	-	Domestic: a single QTAC January offer round — offers released 14 January 2027, accept or defer by 18 January 2027 (preferences lock 7 January 2027). JCU makes no provisional or conditional offers for Medicine; all decisions rest on actual results with prerequisites met. Accepted Medicine offers may be deferred for one year on request. International offers run earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page.

ATAR	Competitive at 90 or above; 85 or above for First Nations applicants. CDU frames these as competitive levels, not a published floor.	JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.
Contextual ATAR	-	-
GAMSAT	-	-
UCAT-ANZ	Contributes 10% of the admission rank; no cut-off published.	-
CASPer	-	-
ISAT	-	-
GPA	-	-
Prerequisites	-	English, Maths Methods, Chemistry (Units 3/4, C) — all three are true prerequisites that must be completed before an offer is made; JCU issues no conditional offers. Higher maths (e.g. Specialist Mathematics) satisfies the Maths Methods prerequisite, and any Queensland Year 12 English subject (English, EAL, English and Literature Extension, Essential English or Literature) satisfies English. Applicants who did not complete Year 12 in Queensland may still meet the prerequisites and should contact JCU. Applicants who have already finished Year 12 can use the JCU Prep pathway to complete missing prerequisites (not available to students currently in Year 12, and it cannot be used to meet ATAR or GPA requirements). There is no Biology or Physics requirement or recommendation for Medicine — JCU recommends Biology for Dentistry and Veterinary Science only.
Place types	-	Approximately 170 domestic Commonwealth Supported Places across Townsville and Cairns for 2027 entry (~180 in 2026), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and ~5 in Cairns, on JCU's own figures. Nationally, 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be allocated to the Bonded Medical Program; JCU also reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Applicants cannot request whether their offer is a bonded or a standard place, and declining a bonded offer means declining the JCU Medicine offer altogether.
Indigenous pathway	5 of the 12 places are NT First Nations and 2 are national First Nations.	Indigenous Selection Pathway — Medicine only (JCU has no equivalent pathway for Dentistry or Veterinary Science, though it encourages applications). To be considered, applicants must complete all four…
Bonded / rural	NT origin status is an eligibility requirement for the programme.	Bonded places run through the federal Bonded Medical Program: universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth Supported Places in medicine to the Program, in return for a 156-week (3-year)…

Interview window	-	2027 entry (current cycle): round 1 invites 6 November 2026, interviews 24 November - 1 December 2026; round 2 invites 21 December 2026, interviews 6-7 January 2027. Both rounds occur before any offers are determined. International applicants are interviewed earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page for the current dates.
Interview details	Entry is by rank, not interview. Completing the first two years of the Bachelor of Clinical Sciences to the required GPA within the specified time frame guarantees entry into the NT Medical Program fr…	JCU does not require UCAT-ANZ or GAMSAT, and states applicants who sit either 'receive no advantage or improved consideration'. Selection sequence for 2027 entry: apply via QTAC AND separately through…

Specialities	Remote and rural medicine, First Nations health	Tropical Medicine, Rural and Remote Medicine, Indigenous Health, Pacific Health, General Practice
Established	2011	2000
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	-	JCU requires neither UCAT-ANZ nor GAMSAT and states that sitting either confers no advantage — unusual in Australia, though not unique: Bond University also requires neither, substituting its own onli…
Official course page	https://www.cdu.edu.au/study/course/bachelor-clinical-sciences-wcsci1	https://www.jcu.edu.au/courses/bachelor-of-medicine-bachelor-of-surgery

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: -

JCU

Townsville & Cairns', // note: coordinates remain the Townsville campus

Quick comparison

Location: Townsville & Cairns', // note: coordinates remain the Townsville campus, Australia
Entry pathway: Undergraduate
Admission tests: None
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: -
ATAR: JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.
Interview format: Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task). JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.
Post-interview chance: JCU does not publish an interview-to-offer conversion rate for Medicine.
Decision date: Domestic: a single QTAC January offer round — offers released 14 January 2027, accept or defer by 18 January 2027 (preferences lock 7 January 2027). JCU makes no provisional or conditional offers for Medicine; all decisions rest on actual results with prerequisites met. Accepted Medicine offers may be deferred for one year on request. International offers run earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page.

ATAR: JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.
Contextual ATAR: -
GAMSAT: -
UCAT-ANZ: -
CASPer: -
ISAT: -
GPA: -
Prerequisites: English, Maths Methods, Chemistry (Units 3/4, C) — all three are true prerequisites that must be completed before an offer is made; JCU issues no conditional offers. Higher maths (e.g. Specialist Mathematics) satisfies the Maths Methods prerequisite, and any Queensland Year 12 English subject (English, EAL, English and Literature Extension, Essential English or Literature) satisfies English. Applicants who did not complete Year 12 in Queensland may still meet the prerequisites and should contact JCU. Applicants who have already finished Year 12 can use the JCU Prep pathway to complete missing prerequisites (not available to students currently in Year 12, and it cannot be used to meet ATAR or GPA requirements). There is no Biology or Physics requirement or recommendation for Medicine — JCU recommends Biology for Dentistry and Veterinary Science only.
Place types: Approximately 170 domestic Commonwealth Supported Places across Townsville and Cairns for 2027 entry (~180 in 2026), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and ~5 in Cairns, on JCU's own figures. Nationally, 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be allocated to the Bonded Medical Program; JCU also reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Applicants cannot request whether their offer is a bonded or a standard place, and declining a bonded offer means declining the JCU Medicine offer altogether.
Indigenous pathway: Indigenous Selection Pathway — Medicine only (JCU has no equivalent pathway for Dentistry or Veterinary Science, though it encourages applications). To be considered, applicants must complete all four…
Bonded / rural: Bonded places run through the federal Bonded Medical Program: universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth Supported Places in medicine to the Program, in return for a 156-week (3-year)…

Compare different schools

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU - in detail

Admission tests compared

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

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

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.

JCU requires Year 12 ATAR (2024 floor 89.4; Cairns median 97.95, Townsville 97.60) with English + Maths Methods + Chemistry (Units 3/4, C; Physics/Biology desirable). Non-Year-12 GPA floor 5.75. Personal statement (3 set questions, due 30 September) — heavily weighted. Kira-Talent one-way recorded interview (video + typed). No UCAT-ANZ or GAMSAT required.

ATAR. 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. JCU — JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'.

Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry…

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

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses Interview (No interview — ranked on ATAR (90%) and UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%)); JCU uses Panel (Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task).

JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.).

These two formats reward different skills — Interview emphasises academic reasoning and thinking aloud through unfamiliar problems, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

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

Curriculum and teaching style

Intake size: CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — 12 places a year (5 NT resident, 5 NT First Nations, 2 national First Nations).; JCU — 2027 entry: approximately 170 domestic places across Townsville and Cairns combined (JCU's figure; approximately 180 for 2026 entry and approximately 170 for 2025), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and 5 in Cairns.

Domestic places are Commonwealth Supported; nationally 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be Bonded Medical Program places, and JCU reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme (NOT 100% MRBS — MRBS is a closed legacy scheme nationally).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program needs UCAT-ANZ, JCU needs no national admission test. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two.

Check your state of origin before you apply — CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program draws heavily on the Northern Territory applicants and JCU 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

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses UCAT-ANZ. JCU uses no admission 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.

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. JCU — JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle. Selection rank typically includes Educational Access Scheme bonuses, rural-origin uplift, and (where applicable) Indigenous-pathway adjustments — your raw ATAR is rarely the final figure used.

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program uses: No interview — ranked on ATAR (90%) and UCAT-ANZ derived score (10%). JCU uses: Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task). JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.. Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: see school page (CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program); 2027 entry (current cycle): round 1 invites 6 November 2026, interviews 24 November - 1 December 2026; round 2 invites 21 December 2026, interviews 6-7 January 2027. Both rounds occur before any offers are determined. International applicants are interviewed earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page for the current dates. (JCU).

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — place-type breakdown not published. JCU — Approximately 170 domestic Commonwealth Supported Places across Townsville and Cairns for 2027 entry (~180 in 2026), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and ~5 in Cairns, on JCU's own figures. Nationally, 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be allocated to the Bonded Medical Program; JCU also reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Applicants cannot request whether their offer is a bonded or a standard place, and declining a bonded offer means declining the JCU Medicine offer altogether. CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) is the lowest student contribution; BMP (Bonded Medical Program) adds a 1-year return-of-service obligation in a Modified Monash Model 2-7 area after Fellowship; Full-fee places carry no bond but the highest tuition.

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — 5 of the 12 places are NT First Nations and 2 are national First Nations. JCU — Indigenous Selection Pathway — Medicine only (JCU has no equivalent pathway for Dentistry or Veterinary Science, though it encourages applications). To be considered, applicants must complete all four steps: apply through QTAC for the MBBS; identify to QTAC as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; apply directly to JCU; and email an endorsed Confirmation of Indigenous Status (COI) letter to indigenoushealthpathway@jcu.edu.au. The COI letter must be issued by an incorporated Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community organisation, signed by an official delegate and stamped with the common seal; applicants whose circumstances make a COI letter hard to obtain are told to contact the College of Medicine and Dentistry to discuss alternatives. Ongoing academic and pastoral support is available through the JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program — NT origin status is an eligibility requirement for the programme. JCU — Bonded places run through the federal Bonded Medical Program: universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth Supported Places in medicine to the Program, in return for a 156-week (3-year) Return of Service Obligation in eligible regional, rural or remote areas (Department of Health conditions document, December 2025). JCU applicants cannot request a bonded or non-bonded place, and declining the bond means declining the JCU Medicine offer. Separately, a small number of places are reserved under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme for applicants who have lived in an MM2-7 area for 5 consecutive years (60 months) or 10 cumulative years (120 months); 2027 Rural Access Scheme applications close 29 September 2026. MRBS is a closed legacy scheme nationally, replaced by the Bonded Medical Program. JCU does not publish the share of its own intake that is bonded. On graduate outcomes, published research on JCU's first 20 years (Woolley, Sen Gupta & Paton, Rural and Remote Health 2021, article 6642) followed 931 graduates of the 2005-2014 cohorts at PGY5-14 and found 54.0% practising in MMM1 metro, 29.1% in MMM2 regional cities, 14.1% in MMM3-5 rural towns and 2.9% in MMM6-7 remote communities. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.

Yes — AU medical applicants typically lodge preferences across multiple schools via GEMSAS (graduate) or direct-undergraduate portals + state TACs (UAC for NSW, VTAC for VIC, QTAC for QLD, etc.). The two schools' selection mechanics differ enough that listing both is a legitimate diversification strategy. A common mistake is over-indexing on schools with the same test-and-interview profile; CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Where to go next

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical ProgramEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full JCUEntry 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.

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU

Side-by-side comparison

CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU - in detail

Admission tests compared

ATAR and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What admission tests do CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU use?

What UCAT-ANZ score do I need for CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU?

What ATAR do I need for CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program vs JCU?

How do interviews differ between CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU?

What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU offer?

What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU offer?

Does CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program or JCU offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Should I apply to both CDU / Flinders — NT Medical Program and JCU?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons