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Australian Medical school comparison

Curtin vs Flinders

Curtin and Flinders are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Curtin is in Western Australia while Flinders is in South Australia. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Curtin uses UCAT-ANZ and CASPer; Flinders uses GAMSAT.

That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. They also recruit at different stages: Curtin runs school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, Flinders runs graduate entry. The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Panel — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Curtin

Bentley

Quick comparison

Location
Bentley, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ + CASPer
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
No official Curtin-published cut-off. Curtin ranks total UCAT score, not a fixed threshold. Aggregator-derived competitive score ~2970 for local WA applicants (2024-2026 entry, old /3600 scale). Interview shortlist ratio 35 ATAR : 35 CASPer : 30 UCAT (per MedEntry / Curtin official Q&A — Fraser's 35:35:40 reporting is an error). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are exempt from BOTH the UCAT ANZ and the Casper test.
ATAR
Minimum ATAR (WA applicants) 95.00 (inclusive of bonus points); minimum ATAR (non-WA applicants) 92.00. TISC 2025 (Dec 2024 round) for CUMBS: min rank n/a, lowest n/a — selection is NOT solely on ATAR.
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations)
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
December-January

Flinders

Bedford Park

Quick comparison

Location
Bedford Park, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 in each section. Flinders explicitly does not publish a fixed cut-off — "dependent upon the profile of the applicant pool and places available for each sub-quota, and therefore vary every year". Forum-derived range ~62-67 for CSP.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
45-minute Panel Interview (NOT MMI — distinctive among AU med schools)
Post-interview chance
~38% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
November-December
Compare different schools

Curtin vs Flinders - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Curtin — No official Curtin-published cut-off. Curtin ranks total UCAT score, not a fixed threshold. Aggregator-derived competitive score ~2970 for local WA applicants (2024-2026 entry, old /3600 scale)… Flinders — no published cut-off.

GAMSAT cut-offs. Curtin — not used or not published. Flinders — Minimum 50 in each section. Flinders explicitly does not publish a fixed cut-off — "dependent upon the profile of the applicant pool and places available for each sub-quota, and therefore vary every…

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

Curtin requires ATAR 95.00 (WA-domiciled) / 92.00 (non-WA), plus UCAT-ANZ + CASPer; 35:35:30 shortlist ratio (ATAR : CASPer : UCAT-ANZ).

Flinders requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.00; GAMSAT minimum 50 in each section; 45-minute panel interview; SARM (rural SA) and NTMP (NT) pathways available; Indigenous Entry Stream (IES) available for applicants without a valid GAMSAT.

ATAR. Curtin — Minimum ATAR (WA applicants) 95.00 (inclusive of bonus points); minimum ATAR (non-WA applicants) 92.00. TISC 2025 (Dec 2024 round) for CUMBS: min rank n/a, lowest n/a — selection is NOT solely on… Flinders — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Curtin — not applicable or not published. Flinders — Minimum 5.00 (Flinders MD Admissions Guide 2027). Typical successful ~6.0+ (forum-derived).

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

Curtin uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations)); Flinders uses Panel (45-minute Panel Interview (NOT MMI — distinctive among AU med schools)). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

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

Interview windows: Curtin interviews in October-November; Flinders in September-October.

Curriculum and teaching style

Curtin runs a Integrated curriculum; Flinders runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Curtin delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Flinders centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). Years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at Bentley with early community place 4-year graduate MD with strong PBL backbone — Flinders was one of the first AU schools to adopt PBL in the 1990s. Year 1 foundations and clinical skil

Intake size: Curtin — 2024 intake ~110 places (CSP + BMP combined). Curtin 2024 Domestic Admissions Guide.; Flinders — Bedford Park CSP (~75% reserved for Flinders graduates) + SARM up to 60 + NTMP up to 24 + International separate. Bonded CSP indicative fee AUD $13,241/year (2024)..

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

Post-interview offer rate

Curtin: Not publicly disclosed. Flinders: ~38% 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

Curtin: Curtin is one of the newest Australian medical schools (first intake 2017) and runs a 5-year undergraduate MBBS for outer-metropolitan Perth, rural WA, and Indigenous workforce service. CASPer required alongside UCAT-ANZ and ATAR — one of only 2 AU med schools using CASPer (other: Notre Dame Fremantle/Sydney).

Pre-interview ratio 35 (ATAR) : 35 (CASPer) : 30 (UCAT) per MedEntry/Curtin official. ATSI applicants exempt from CASPer.

Flinders: Flinders runs one of Australia's oldest graduate-entry MDs (est. 1974) with a distinctive Problem-Based Learning curriculum, a 45-minute panel interview (not MMI), and a flagship Northern Territory Medical Program (NTMP). NT government pays course fees for NTMP entrants in exchange for a 4-year NT service commitment post-graduation. NTMP cumulative output >200 graduates; >50% remain in the NT workforce.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Curtin needs UCAT-ANZ and CASPer, Flinders needs GAMSAT. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two. Check your state of origin before you apply — Curtin draws heavily on Western Australia applicants and Flinders on South Australia, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: Curtin is school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, Flinders 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

Curtin uses UCAT-ANZ and CASPer. Flinders uses GAMSAT. 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

CurtinEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullFlindersEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

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