Deakin and Macquarie are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in England, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy.
| Comparison field | DeakinGeelong | MacquarieSydney |
|---|---|---|
Quick comparison | ||
| Location | Geelong, Australia | Sydney, Australia |
| Entry pathway | Graduate | Graduate |
| Admission tests | GAMSAT | GAMSAT |
| GAMSAT | Minimum 50 in each section + 50 overall. Aggregated average accepted GAMSAT (Fraser's): 66 (2024), 62 (2023), 68.4 (2022), 66.9 (2021). General-stream interview shortlist: GPA + GAMSAT + adjustments equally weighted. | Minimum 50 overall, 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight (alongside 50% GPA) for interview shortlist. 2024 intake average successful GAMSAT ~66. |
| UCAT-ANZ | - | - |
| ATAR | - | - |
| Interview format | Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations) | Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations) |
| Post-interview chance | ~38% interview-to-offer. | ~56% (2024 cycle: 125 offers from 223 interviews — 79 domestic, 46 international) |
| Decision date | November-December | November |
Geelong
Quick comparison
Sydney
Quick comparison
Deakin requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+ with section minima; MMI; rural pathway available.. Macquarie requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 60+; MMI; English prerequisites.. Both demand the same A-Level grade band, so academic prediction is unlikely to differentiate your application between them — provided you meet the required subject combination at each.
Both Deakin and Macquarie use MMI interviews, so the underlying prep approach is the same — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot-topic answers and (for MMI) structured station responses against a timer. Interview windows: Deakin interviews in September-October; Macquarie in September-October.
Deakin runs a PBL curriculum; Macquarie runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Deakin leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Macquarie uses a more traditional lecture-led structure. Specifics: 4-year graduate MD with problem-based learning. Years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at Waurn Ponds. Year 3 Rural Community Clinical School — stu 4-year MD with hospital-integrated placements from year 1 at Macquarie University Hospital. Years 3-4 expand to broader Sydney clinical school network Intake size: Deakin — 2027: ~160 total (up to 100 CSP + 45 BMP + 15 international + 30 RTS reserved subset). Maximum 220 interview offers; implied interview-to-place ratio ≈ 1.6:1 (GEMSAS Deakin page; Fraser's Deakin 2027 guide).; Macquarie — 2027: ~60 full-fee domestic + ~20 international. No CSP/BMP at Macquarie (full-fee program; no Commonwealth-mandated bonded allocation).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.
Deakin: ~38% interview-to-offer.. Macquarie: ~56% (2024 cycle: 125 offers from 223 interviews — 79 domestic, 46 international). 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.
Deakin: Deakin was established as a rural-focused graduate-entry MD and remains one of the strongest pipelines into Victorian rural practice. The program partners closely with the Rural Workforce Agency Victoria and GP Education programs. A substantial proportion of places are reserved for rural-origin applicants, with bonded service options. Year 3 includes the distinctive Rural Community Clinical School experience. Macquarie: Macquarie is Australia's first fully full-fee graduate MD (no CSP places) and is co-located with Macquarie University Hospital — students train alongside private practice from year 1. Small cohort (~60) gives a high-touch teaching model. GAMSAT and prior clinical exposure are weighted heavily.
Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Deakin; if you prefer lecture-led foundations, the other suits better. Your firm/insurance choice should ultimately weight: where your UCAT and predicted grades sit relative to each school's threshold, which interview format you can prepare for most credibly, and where you'd actually want to live for five or six years.
