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Australian Medical school comparison

Griffith vs Wollongong

Griffith and Wollongong 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.

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

Wollongong

Wollongong

Quick comparison

Location
Wollongong, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 overall, no section below 50. From 2027 entry, GAMSAT becomes a pure qualifying hurdle — not used to rank after threshold met.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations)
Post-interview chance
~35% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
October

Griffith vs Wollongong - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Griffith requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+ with section minima 50; MMI.. Wollongong requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 50+; MMI; rural/Indigenous pathways available.. 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.

Interview formats

Both Griffith and Wollongong 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. That said, the specifics differ slightly: Griffith runs multi-mini interview (typically 8-10 stations; exact count varies cycle to cycle per gumsaa framework); Wollongong runs multi-mini interview (~8 stations). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep. Interview windows: Griffith interviews in September-October; Wollongong in August-September.

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 4-year graduate MD. Years 1-2 foundational and clinical skills at Wollongong campus; year 3 longitudinal integrated clerkship in a regional or rural c Intake size: Griffith — 2027 cycle: 148 CSP + 60 BMP + 80 BMedSci pathway + up to 35 international = ~323 total (GEMSAS Griffith).; Wollongong — 2027 cycle: 37 Unbonded CSP + 30 CSP Rural End-to-End + 27 BMP + 15 International = ~109 total (GEMSAS UOW).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Griffith: ~38% interview-to-offer.. Wollongong: ~35% interview-to-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. Wollongong: Wollongong was established with an explicit rural and regional workforce mission. Up to 25% of CSP places are reserved for the rural pathway. Year 3 includes a longitudinal integrated clerkship in a regional/rural community.

Which is right for you?

Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. 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.

Common questions

What admission tests do Griffith and Wollongong use?+
Griffith uses GAMSAT. Wollongong uses GAMSAT. Both schools share the same test stack — your single sitting can support both applications. 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.
What GAMSAT score do I need for Griffith vs Wollongong?+
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 score. 2025 intake average GAMSAT 66.39. Wollongong — Minimum 50 overall, no section below 50. From 2027 entry, GAMSAT becomes a pure qualifying hurdle — not used to rank after threshold met. GAMSAT results are valid for four years with ACER, but some graduate MD programs accept only the most recent two cycles — verify before relying on an older sitting.
What GPA do I need for Griffith vs Wollongong?+
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. Wollongong — Minimum 5.5/7.0 at time of interview selection. GPA functions as a hurdle only — not used in offer ranking. Many AU graduate MD programs treat the GPA as a hurdle (above the floor, all candidates are weighted equally on GAMSAT and interview) rather than as a sliding-scale rank — confirm each school's specific model.
How do interviews differ between Griffith and Wollongong?+
Griffith uses: Multi-Mini Interview (typically 8-10 stations; exact count varies cycle to cycle per GUMSAA framework). Wollongong uses: Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations). Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: September-October (Griffith); August-September (Wollongong).
What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do Griffith and Wollongong offer?+
Griffith — 2027 cycle: 148 CSP + 60 BMP + 80 BMedSci pathway (incl. 28.5% BMP) + up to 35 international. Wollongong — 2027 cycle: 37 Unbonded CSP + 30 CSP Rural End-to-End + 27 BMP + 15 International = ~109 total. CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) is the lowest student contribution; BMP (Bonded Medical Program) adds a 1-year return-of-service obligation in a Modified Monash Model 2-7 area after Fellowship; Full-fee places carry no bond but the highest tuition.
What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do Griffith and Wollongong offer?+
Griffith — Bespoke Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathway via GEMSAS. Wollongong — UOW Indigenous Health pathway via the Health Access Stream and a guaranteed-interview process for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.
Does Griffith or Wollongong offer bonded / rural-entry places?+
Griffith — BMP places carry rural-bonded service obligations. Rural priority: ≥5 consecutive or ≥10 cumulative years in MM2-MM7 area (2019 MMM). BMedSci provisional UG pathway has 28.5% BMP-reserved places. ATAR for BMedSci pathway: 99.85 for school-leaver entry. Wollongong — UOW is the only NSW medical school awarded Commonwealth funding in 2024 for a rural end-to-end program. Combined Track (54 places): min. 32 Rural Entry Pathway; End-to-End Track (30 places): min. 17 Rural Entry Pathway; Health Access Stream (10 places): min. 6 Rural Entry Pathway. Eligibility: 5 consecutive or 10 cumulative years in MMM2-7 NSW location. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.
When does each school release decisions?+
Griffith typically releases medicine offers November. Wollongong releases medicine offers October. AU MD offers run through GEMSAS (graduate consortium) or direct school portals; if one is earlier than the other you may need to defer a decision while waiting for the second.
What curriculum style do Griffith and Wollongong use?+
Griffith runs a Integrated curriculum. Wollongong runs a Integrated curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. Griffith 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 clinical placements across Gold Coast Health, Logan, To Wollongong specifics: 4-year graduate MD. Years 1-2 foundational and clinical skills at Wollongong campus; year 3 longitudinal integrated clerkship in a regional or rural community; year 4 specialty rotations. From 2027, G
Should I apply to both Griffith and Wollongong?+
Yes — AU medical applicants typically lodge preferences across multiple schools via GEMSAS (graduate) or direct-undergraduate portals + state TACs (UAC for NSW, VTAC for VIC, QTAC for QLD, etc.). The two schools' selection mechanics differ enough that listing both is a legitimate diversification strategy. A common mistake is over-indexing on schools with the same test-and-interview profile; Griffith and Wollongong differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.