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Australian Medical school comparison

Flinders vs Monash

Flinders and Monash are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Flinders is in South Australia while Monash is in Victoria. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Flinders uses GAMSAT; Monash 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: Flinders runs graduate entry, Monash runs both undergraduate and graduate entry. The interview formats diverge — Panel vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

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

Monash

Clayton

Quick comparison

Location
Clayton, Australia
Entry pathway
Dual (UG + Grad)
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT
GAMSAT
NOT required. Removed from Graduate Entry selection in 2017; never used for Direct Entry.
UCAT-ANZ
Direct Entry only. 2026 entry December round cut-off ~2380/2700 (~94th percentile, post-rebase). 2023 entry on old /3600 scale was ~2990 non-rural / ~2620 rural — not directly comparable due to 2024 UCAT-ANZ rebase.
ATAR
Direct Entry minimum ATAR 90; competitive typically ≥99.45.
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations × 8 min, 2 min reading)
Post-interview chance
Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date
December-January

Flinders vs Monash - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Flinders — no published cut-off. Monash — Direct Entry only. 2026 entry December round cut-off ~2380/2700 (~94th percentile, post-rebase). 2023 entry on old /3600 scale was ~2990 non-rural / ~2620 rural — not directly comparable due to 2024…

GAMSAT cut-offs. 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… Monash — NOT required. Removed from Graduate Entry selection in 2017; never used for Direct Entry.

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

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.

Monash requires Direct Entry: ATAR minimum 90 (competitive typically ≥99.45) + UCAT-ANZ + MMI; VCE English (study score 35 EAL or 30 English) and Chemistry (30) prerequisites.

Graduate Entry: Monash undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Pharmacy Hons, Physiotherapy Hons, designated BSc units, or Federation Uni Bachelor of Biomedical Science via Gippsland Partnership) with WAM ≥ 70 + MMI + SJT. No GAMSAT for grad pathway since 2017.

ATAR. Flinders — no published cut-off. Monash — Direct Entry minimum ATAR 90; competitive typically ≥99.45.

Graduate-entry GPA. Flinders — Minimum 5.00 (Flinders MD Admissions Guide 2027). Typical successful ~6.0+ (forum-derived). Monash — Graduate Entry: WAM minimum 70. Lowest accepted WAM (2025 cycle, student-reported) 81.179.

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

Flinders uses Panel (45-minute Panel Interview (NOT MMI — distinctive among AU med schools)); Monash uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations × 8 min, 2 min reading)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

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

Interview windows: Flinders interviews in September-October; Monash in October-December.

Curriculum and teaching style

Flinders runs a PBL curriculum; Monash runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Flinders leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Monash uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: 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 Direct Entry 5-year MD: years 1-2 foundations and clinical skills at Clayton; years 3-5 clinical placements across Monash Health, Peninsula, and rural

Intake size: 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).; Monash — Direct Entry (Clayton): ~264 domestic (234 + 30 ERC). Graduate Entry (Gippsland): ~70 domestic + 30 Rural End-to-End + ~30 international.

Total combined ~390+ (Fraser's Monash MD 2027 guide).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Flinders: ~38% interview-to-offer. Monash: Not publicly disclosed.

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

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.

Monash: Monash runs a dual-pathway MD: Direct Entry (M6011, 5-year BMedSc+MD at Clayton, UCAT-ANZ + ATAR) and Graduate Entry (4-year MD at Gippsland / Churchill campus). Graduate Entry MD requires Monash undergraduate study (closed to external grads since 2017 GAMSAT removal); no GAMSAT required for the graduate pathway.

The Direct Entry December round uses UCAT-only ranking before ATAR is released; the January round uses combined UCAT + ATAR.

Which is right for you?

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

They suit different stages too: Flinders is graduate entry, Monash is both undergraduate and 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

Flinders uses GAMSAT. Monash 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.