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Australian Medical school comparison

Curtin vs Griffith

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

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. Curtin publishes no UCAT-ANZ cut-off, minimum or competitive band in any year — the 2027 guide contains no quartile, decile or percentile figure. Note the scale change: UCAT-ANZ dropped Abstract Reasoning at the UCAT ANZ 2025 sitting (2026 entry), so the cognitive total is now out of 2700, not 3600, and Curtin's 2027 guide ranks on the "UCAT ANZ score (out of 2700)". Any figure in the 2900-3000 range comes from the retired /3600 scale and exceeds the current maximum, so it is neither achievable nor comparable. For orientation only, the official all-candidate UCAT ANZ 2026 statistics (the sitting that feeds 2027 entry) show a mean cognitive total of 1,964, a 3rd quartile of 2,170 and a 9th decile of 2,340 — national figures for every test-taker, not a Curtin applicant profile. Interview shortlist ratio 35 ATAR : 35 Casper : 30 UCAT-ANZ, per Curtin's own guide.. Interview shortlist ratio 35 ATAR : 35 CASPer : 30 UCAT (per MedEntry / Curtin official Q&A — Fraser's 35:35:40 reporting is an error).
ATAR
Minimum ATAR 95.00 for every school-leaver applicant, WA and interstate alike — Curtin publishes one figure with no domicile split, and adjustment points are added on top of it rather than included in it. The 92.00 figure is the minimum notional ATAR for the non-school-leaver (graduate) pathway only; Curtin course switchers are assessed on a course weighted average of 80 instead. Rural or StepUp adjustment points (up to 5, from one scheme only) apply on top, capped at an adjusted 99.95. TISC 2026 Admission Ranks (Main Round, December 2025) for CUMBS: minimum rank for consideration n/a, lowest selection rank offered n/a — selection is NOT solely on ATAR.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interview (station count not published)
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
December-January

Griffith

Gold Coast

Quick comparison

Location
Gold Coast, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 in each section AND 50 overall. Interview shortlist rank: 50:50 unweighted GPA (as %) + overall GAMSAT (out of 100). Final offer rank: 50% interview-selection rank + 50% GUMSAA interview score. Minimum GAMSAT 50 in each section (Griffith MD 5099 page), with GEMSAS additionally requiring an overall score of at least 50; scores must be no more than four years old at the time of application. Griffith does not publish an intake average — it publishes the median GAMSAT for a GUMSAA interview invitation, which was 69 for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 intakes. GEMSAS: 'there is no discrete cut-off point for GAMSAT.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
GUMSAA — an asynchronous, one-way recorded online MMI delivered on the SAMMI (Scalable Automated Multiple Mini Interviews) platform, self-scheduled within a set window. Griffith's 2026-27 SAMMI applicant guide specifies 6 pre-recorded scenario questions with a 60-second break between each and roughly 1 hour allowed end to end (including sound/Wi-Fi checks and an upload of up to 15 minutes). There is no live interviewer. The guide gives the response time inconsistently (an overview stating 'up to 5 minutes' per question and a later page stating the station 'will last 4 minutes'), so treat per-question timing as approximately 4-5 minutes and check the guide issued for your own cycle.
Post-interview chance
Griffith publishes the ratio rather than a conversion rate: around 200 candidates are interviewed at GUMSAA for approximately 110-120 places (2027 cycle). Note places are not offers — top-up offers are made in later rounds to cover declines — and the final rank is a 50:50 combination of interview score and GPA/GAMSAT selection rank, so this is a cohort ratio, not an individual applicant's odds. The ~38% figure is not published by Griffith or GEMSAS.
Decision date
November

Curtin vs Griffith - 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. Curtin publishes no UCAT-ANZ cut-off, minimum or competitive band in any year — the 2027 guide contains no… Griffith — no published cut-off.

GAMSAT cut-offs. Curtin — not used or not published. Griffith — Minimum 50 in each section AND 50 overall. Interview shortlist rank: 50:50 unweighted GPA (as %) + overall GAMSAT (out of 100). Final offer rank: 50% interview-selection rank + 50% GUMSAA interview…

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 Minimum ATAR 95.00 for all school leavers, WA and interstate alike, plus an ESSENTIAL Chemistry prerequisite (approximately 220 hours), met by ONE of: Chemistry ATAR with a final scaled score of 50 or higher; IB Chemistry HL/SL grade 4 or higher; NCEA Level 3 Chemistry with 24 achieved credit points; or TWO first-year AQF Level 7 university Chemistry units at 60 or higher in both — bridging units are explicitly not equivalent (the international guide additionally accepts GCE A-Level Chemistry at grade E or above).

STAT is not accepted except for English competency. UCAT-ANZ + Casper required for domestic applicants; 35:35:30 interview shortlist ratio (ATAR : Casper : UCAT-ANZ). Graduates enter on a minimum notional ATAR of 92, Curtin course switchers on a course weighted average of 80.

Griffith requires Bachelor/key degree with a minimum unweighted GEMSAS-schema GPA of 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT 50+ overall and 50+ in each section (valid 4 years) or MCAT 123+ in every section (valid 2 years); plus GUMSAA — an online MMI in Griffith's own terminology, but delivered as a self-scheduled recorded assessment rather than a live in-person station circuit.

Apply via GEMSAS (domestic) or direct to Griffith (international).

ATAR. Curtin — Minimum ATAR 95.00 for every school-leaver applicant, WA and interstate alike — Curtin publishes one figure with no domicile split, and adjustment points are added on top of it rather than included… Griffith — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Curtin — not applicable or not published. Griffith — Minimum 5.0/7.0. Griffith explicitly states "a GPA required for interview selection is likely to be significantly higher than 5.0". Minimum eligibility is an unweighted GEMSAS-schema GPA of 5.0/7.0…

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

Both Curtin and Griffith use MMI 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: Curtin runs multiple mini interview (station count not published); Griffith runs gumsaa — an asynchronous, one-way recorded online mmi delivered on the sammi (scalable automated multiple mini interviews) platform, self-scheduled within a set…. Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Curtin interviews in December-January (domestic); July-August (international full-fee); Griffith in Late September. For 2027 entry, a self-scheduled slot between 9am Mon 21 and 5pm Fri 25 September 2026 (AEST) — a single five-day window, not a September-October season. GEMSAS describes the window as tentative, so confirm before booking travel or leave.

Offers of interview must be accepted by 9am Friday 4 September 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: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). The first three years are delivered at Curtin Perth (Bentley) with occasional v 4-year graduate MD run in phases: Phase 1 Foundations (1.5 years) and Phase 2 Transitions (1.5 years) before the final clinical phase. Years 1-2 (Phas

Intake size: Curtin — 2027 intake: approximately 110 domestic places (CSP, inclusive of Bonded Medical Places), plus 10-15 international full-fee places; Griffith — 2027 cycle: 208 domestic places (148 CSP + 60 BMP), of which about 80 are reserved for Griffith and UniSC Bachelor of…. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Curtin: Not publicly disclosed. Griffith: Griffith publishes the ratio rather than a conversion rate: around 200 candidates are interviewed at GUMSAA for approximately 110-120 places (2027 cycle).

Note places are not offers — top-up offers are made in later rounds to cover declines — and the final rank is a 50:50 combination of interview score and GPA/GAMSAT selection rank, so this is a cohort ratio, not an individual applicant's odds. The ~38% figure is not published by Griffith or GEMSAS.

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 — Casper required alongside UCAT-ANZ and ATAR.

Curtin is not one of only two Australian Casper users — Casper is also required by the graduate-entry MD programmes at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle and Sydney) and the University of Wollongong, per those universities' own admission pages, and the list may not be exhaustive. Of the programmes confirmed, Curtin is the only direct-entry undergraduate course.

Pre-interview ratio 35 (ATAR) : 35 (Casper) : 30 (UCAT-ANZ), per Curtin's own 2027 Domestic Admissions Guide. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are exempt from BOTH the UCAT-ANZ and Casper and apply directly to Curtin Medical School rather than through TISC.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are exempt from BOTH the Casper Test and the UCAT-ANZ, and apply directly to Curtin Medical School rather than through TISC.

Griffith: Griffith's 4-year graduate MD is based at the Gold Coast campus (next to Gold Coast University Hospital) or the Sunshine Coast Health Institute at Birtinya.

A new Toowoomba teaching location carries 10 unencumbered CSPs from 2027, but it is not selectable at application — students who have already accepted Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast offers are invited to transfer in early November 2026. Early clinical contact in Phase 1 is through the General Practice Longitudinal Program and community placements; hospital rotations start in Year 3.

Strong rural (GURPAS) and First Peoples pathways — but neither is a separate interview stream. GURPAS gives competitive rural applicants priority access to the MD and does not itself make a place bonded; First Peoples applicants sit no GAMSAT and no GUMSAA at all, going instead to a dedicated panel interview.

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

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: Curtin needs UCAT-ANZ and CASPer, Griffith 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 Griffith on Queensland, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

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

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