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Australian Medical school comparison

Deakin vs Tasmania

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

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

Side-by-side comparison

Deakin

Geelong

Quick comparison

Location
Geelong, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
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.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations)
Post-interview chance
~38% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
November-December

Tasmania

Hobart

Quick comparison

Location
Hobart, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Graduate stream only: minimum 50 in each section.
UCAT-ANZ
No fixed domestic threshold; 2025 indicative cut-off ~2530/2700 (5th decile; Matrix Education). Competitive range observed 70th-85th percentile UCAT total. International applicants need ≥50th percentile cognitive subtests.
ATAR
Non-rural / non-Tasmanian: minimum 95, typical competitive 99.95. Rural or Tasmanian: minimum 95, typical competitive 99.45 (some sources 99.44). Flat since at least 2022.
Interview format
No interview — ATAR-first ranking with UCAT-ANZ tiebreaker
Post-interview chance
N/A — no interview.
Decision date
January

Deakin vs Tasmania - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Deakin — no published cut-off. Tasmania — No fixed domestic threshold; 2025 indicative cut-off ~2530/2700 (5th decile; Matrix Education). Competitive range observed 70th-85th percentile UCAT total. International applicants need ≥50th…

GAMSAT cut-offs. Deakin — 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… Tasmania — Graduate stream only: minimum 50 in each section.

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

Deakin requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+ with section minima; MMI; rural pathway available.

Tasmania requires School-leaver ATAR minimum 95 (typical competitive non-rural 99.95; rural / Tasmanian 99.45) + UCAT-ANZ (no fixed threshold for domestic; international applicants need ≥50th percentile cognitive). Graduate stream: GAMSAT minimum 50 in each section + unweighted GPA ≥ 6.5. English and Chemistry prerequisites; no interview.

ATAR. Deakin — no published cut-off. Tasmania — Non-rural / non-Tasmanian: minimum 95, typical competitive 99.95. Rural or Tasmanian: minimum 95, typical competitive 99.45 (some sources 99.44). Flat since at least 2022.

Graduate-entry GPA. Deakin — Minimum 5.0/7.0 weighted. GEMSAS weighting (Final-2 × 1 + Final-1 × 2 + Final × 3) / 6. Aggregated average accepted GPA: 6.67 (2024), 6.6 (2023), 6.76 (2022), 6.74 (2021). Tasmania — Graduate stream only: unweighted minimum 6.5.

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

Deakin uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations)); Tasmania uses Interview (No interview — ATAR-first ranking with UCAT-ANZ tiebreaker). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Interview rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

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

Interview windows: Deakin interviews in September-October; Tasmania in No interview.

Curriculum and teaching style

Deakin runs a PBL curriculum; Tasmania runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Deakin leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Tasmania 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 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Medical Science / Doctor of Medicine (course code H3X; legacy MBBS M3N). Years 1-3 foundations and clinical skills at

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).; Tasmania — Total not publicly aggregated; estimated ~110-135 domestic (school-leaver) + 25 graduate.

TRTS 20 places; Medical Research Stream ~12-13 within graduate intake.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Deakin: ~38% interview-to-offer. Tasmania: N/A — no interview.

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

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.

Tasmania: Tasmania is the only medical school in the state. ATAR thresholds 99.95 (non-rural) / 99.45 (rural or Tasmanian) have held flat since at least 2022 — UCAT serves only as a tiebreaker. Aboriginal Entry Pathway (palawa) waives UCAT and the clinical aptitude test. Graduate Entry stream of 25 places/year includes the Medical Research Stream (~50% of grad places).

Which is right for you?

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

They suit different stages too: Deakin is graduate entry, Tasmania is school-leaver (undergraduate) 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

Deakin uses GAMSAT. Tasmania uses UCAT-ANZ and 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 25 August 2026.