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Australian Medical school comparison

Griffith vs UNSW

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

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

Side-by-side comparison

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. 2025 intake average GAMSAT 66.39.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (typically 8-10 stations; exact count varies cycle to cycle per GUMSAA framework)
Post-interview chance
~38% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
November

UNSW

Sydney

Quick comparison

Location
Sydney, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
UCAT-ANZ
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
No official minimum; competitive 2024-cycle cut-off ~3060 total on old /3600 scale (~90th percentile) for non-rural local applicants. UCAT-ANZ feeds the pre-interview composite alongside ATAR.
ATAR
Minimum eligibility ATAR 96.00; competitive interview shortlist ~99.55; median offer-holder >99.60. Rural pathway minimum ~91.05.
Interview format
Structured panel interview with two interviewers (academic staff, clinicians or community representatives)
Post-interview chance
~40% of interviewees receive an offer.
Decision date
January

Griffith vs UNSW - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Griffith — no published cut-off. UNSW — No official minimum; competitive 2024-cycle cut-off ~3060 total on old /3600 scale (~90th percentile) for non-rural local applicants. UCAT-ANZ feeds the pre-interview composite alongside ATAR.

GAMSAT cut-offs. 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… UNSW — not used or not published.

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

Griffith requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+ with section minima 50; MMI.

UNSW requires ATAR 96.00+ (lowest selection rank 2025) plus UCAT-ANZ; English and Mathematics or Science prerequisites; MMI.

ATAR. Griffith — no published cut-off. UNSW — Minimum eligibility ATAR 96.00; competitive interview shortlist ~99.55; median offer-holder >99.60. Rural pathway minimum ~91.05.

Graduate-entry GPA. Griffith — Minimum 5.0/7.0. Griffith explicitly states "a GPA required for interview selection is likely to be significantly higher than 5.0". 2025 intake average GPA 6.68. UNSW — not applicable or not published.

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

Griffith uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (typically 8-10 stations; exact count varies cycle to cycle per GUMSAA framework)); UNSW uses Panel (Structured panel interview with two interviewers (academic staff, clinicians or community representatives)). 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, UNSW may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Griffith is the better fit.

Interview windows: Griffith interviews in September-October; UNSW in November-December.

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: 4-year graduate MD. Years 1-2 hospital-integrated foundations at the Gold Coast (Southport) campus and Gold Coast University Hospital. Years 3-4 clini 6-year integrated MD. Phase 1 (years 1-2): foundations and scientific basis. Phase 2 (years 3-4): clinical practice with rotations. Phase 3 (years 5-6

Intake size: Griffith — 2027 cycle: 148 CSP + 60 BMP + 80 BMedSci pathway + up to 35 international = ~323 total (GEMSAS Griffith).; UNSW — ~189 domestic offers (~135 CSP + ~54 BMP) plus ~40-60 international = ~230-250 total annual cohort (Fraser's UNSW Undergraduate Medicine Guide)..

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

Post-interview offer rate

Griffith: ~38% interview-to-offer. UNSW: ~40% of interviewees receive an 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

Griffith: Griffith's 4-year graduate MD is co-located with Gold Coast University Hospital, giving students hospital-integrated training from year 1. Strong rural and Indigenous pathways with bespoke MMI streams. Pre-interview ranking weights GAMSAT and GPA broadly equally; the MMI then carries substantial weight in the final composite.

UNSW: UNSW runs a 6-year direct-from-school MD with two pre-clinical years followed by integrated clinical and research years. The Indigenous Entry Program offers an alternative pathway; rural-origin applicants gain Rural Admission Scheme bonus weighting. Pre-interview ranking weights ATAR (or equivalent) and UCAT-ANZ; the MMI then carries roughly a third of the final composite.

Which is right for you?

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

They suit different stages too: Griffith is graduate entry, UNSW 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

Griffith uses GAMSAT. UNSW uses UCAT-ANZ. 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.