Question 1

What admission tests do JCU and Notre Dame Sydney use?

Accepted Answer

JCU uses no admission test. Notre Dame Sydney uses GAMSAT, CASPer and MCAT. 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.

Question 2

What GAMSAT score do I need for JCU vs Notre Dame Sydney?

Accepted Answer

JCU — does not publish a GAMSAT cut-off (may not use GAMSAT; check the admission-test question above). Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. 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.

Question 3

What ATAR do I need for JCU vs Notre Dame Sydney?

Accepted Answer

JCU — JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle. Notre Dame Sydney — ATAR data not published in the structured AU requirements; see free-text admission requirements on the school page. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. Selection rank typically includes Educational Access Scheme bonuses, rural-origin uplift, and (where applicable) Indigenous-pathway adjustments — your raw ATAR is rarely the final figure used.

Question 4

What GPA do I need for JCU vs Notre Dame Sydney?

Accepted Answer

JCU — GPA not published in the structured AU requirements. Notre Dame Sydney — Minimum weighted GPA of 5.2/7.0 over three FTE years, with GPA years progressively weighted Final-minus-2 x1, Final-minus-1 x2, Final x3. Notre Dame publishes the average GPA of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 6.68 (2024 entry), 6.76 (2025 entry), 6.74 (2026 entry). These are shortlist averages, not thresholds, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No official source supports a ~6.3 'competitive target' or any 2023 figure. These are the requirements on record for 2027-entry applicants. 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.

Question 5

How do interviews differ between JCU and Notre Dame Sydney?

Accepted Answer

JCU uses: Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task). JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.. Notre Dame Sydney uses: MMI (recorded/asynchronous online); live online panel for international applicants. Different formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each. Interview windows: 2027 entry (current cycle): round 1 invites 6 November 2026, interviews 24 November - 1 December 2026; round 2 invites 21 December 2026, interviews 6-7 January 2027. Both rounds occur before any offers are determined. International applicants are interviewed earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page for the current dates. (JCU); September-October (GEMSAS: interview offers released early September 2026) (Notre Dame Sydney).

Question 6

What place types (CSP / BMP / Full-fee) do JCU and Notre Dame Sydney offer?

Accepted Answer

JCU — Approximately 170 domestic Commonwealth Supported Places across Townsville and Cairns for 2027 entry (~180 in 2026), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and ~5 in Cairns, on JCU's own figures. Nationally, 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be allocated to the Bonded Medical Program; JCU also reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Applicants cannot request whether their offer is a bonded or a standard place, and declining a bonded offer means declining the JCU Medicine offer altogether. Notre Dame Sydney — 2027: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 full-fee domestic + up to 35 full-fee international (at most about 149), subject to change; international places are offered direct by UNDA, not through GEMSAS. Offers are made CSP first, BMP second, full-fee third, and once an offer is accepted the fee category is confirmed and cannot be changed for the duration of the program. 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.

Question 7

What Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entry pathways do JCU and Notre Dame Sydney offer?

Accepted Answer

JCU — Indigenous Selection Pathway — Medicine only (JCU has no equivalent pathway for Dentistry or Veterinary Science, though it encourages applications). To be considered, applicants must complete all four steps: apply through QTAC for the MBBS; identify to QTAC as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; apply directly to JCU; and email an endorsed Confirmation of Indigenous Status (COI) letter to indigenoushealthpathway@jcu.edu.au. The COI letter must be issued by an incorporated Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community organisation, signed by an official delegate and stamped with the common seal; applicants whose circumstances make a COI letter hard to obtain are told to contact the College of Medicine and Dentistry to discuss alternatives. Ongoing academic and pastoral support is available through the JCU Indigenous Education and Research Centre. Notre Dame Sydney — Dedicated Indigenous entry pathway led by UNDA's Indigenous Health and Medicine team, applied for DIRECTLY to Notre Dame rather than through GEMSAS. With Commonwealth Supported Places uncapped for First Nations students from 1 January 2026, GEMSAS states Notre Dame will offer CSPs to all successful Indigenous applicants over and above the quoted place numbers. Entry criteria: proof of Aboriginality; a three-year FTE undergraduate degree completed within the last 10 years (later tertiary study can restore eligibility); minimum GPA 5.0, with below-5.0 considered case by case; personal statement; CV; and a successful interview. Applications open 1 May, with rounds closing 31 May, 30 June, 31 August and 31 October 2026, and interviews commencing from June. Both schools accept ATSI applicants through the standard pathway as well; the dedicated pathway typically offers adjusted academic thresholds plus wrap-around academic support.

Question 8

Does JCU or Notre Dame Sydney offer bonded / rural-entry places?

Accepted Answer

JCU — Bonded places run through the federal Bonded Medical Program: universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth Supported Places in medicine to the Program, in return for a 156-week (3-year) Return of Service Obligation in eligible regional, rural or remote areas (Department of Health conditions document, December 2025). JCU applicants cannot request a bonded or non-bonded place, and declining the bond means declining the JCU Medicine offer. Separately, a small number of places are reserved under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme for applicants who have lived in an MM2-7 area for 5 consecutive years (60 months) or 10 cumulative years (120 months); 2027 Rural Access Scheme applications close 29 September 2026. MRBS is a closed legacy scheme nationally, replaced by the Bonded Medical Program. JCU does not publish the share of its own intake that is bonded. On graduate outcomes, published research on JCU's first 20 years (Woolley, Sen Gupta & Paton, Rural and Remote Health 2021, article 6642) followed 931 graduates of the 2005-2014 cohorts at PGY5-14 and found 54.0% practising in MMM1 metro, 29.1% in MMM2 regional cities, 14.1% in MMM3-5 rural towns and 2.9% in MMM6-7 remote communities. Notre Dame Sydney — 17 Bonded Medical Program places for 2027, listed by GEMSAS as a separate line from the 40 CSPs — not a percentage of them. Separately from bonding, GEMSAS states that the equivalent of at least 28.5% of the University's Commonwealth-supported medical student allocation must be of rural background as defined by the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) Program, and applicants of demonstrated rural background (MM2-MM7) receive bonus points, which sit in the 10% bonus component alongside Higher Degree by Research completion. The federal BMP allocates ~28.5% of CSP places nationally; individual schools sit above or below that benchmark depending on their workforce remit.

Question 9

When does each school release decisions?

Accepted Answer

JCU typically releases medicine offers Domestic: a single QTAC January offer round — offers released 14 January 2027, accept or defer by 18 January 2027 (preferences lock 7 January 2027). JCU makes no provisional or conditional offers for Medicine; all decisions rest on actual results with prerequisites met. Accepted Medicine offers may be deferred for one year on request. International offers run earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page.. Notre Dame Sydney releases medicine offers Late October-early November (main round); additional offers November 2026-January 2027. 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.

Question 10

What curriculum style do JCU and Notre Dame Sydney use?

Accepted Answer

JCU runs a Integrated curriculum. Notre Dame Sydney runs a Integrated curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. JCU specifics: 6-year undergraduate MBBS, offered in full at both the Townsville and Cairns campuses (QTAC 317012 and 327012), with hands-on facilities at both from first year. Placements occur in every year of the  Notre Dame Sydney specifics: 4-year graduate MD. Foundation Years 1-2 are delivered principally through Problem Based Learning in small groups led by a clinician; Clinical Years 3-4 run across seven clinical schools in Sydney, Me

Question 11

Should I apply to both JCU and Notre Dame Sydney?

Accepted Answer

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; JCU and Notre Dame Sydney differ in their selection mechanics, so prepping both adds genuine optionality.

Comparison field	JCUTownsville & Cairns	Notre Dame SydneySydney
Quick comparison
Location	Townsville & Cairns, Australia	Sydney, Australia
Entry pathway	Undergraduate	Graduate
Admission tests	None	GAMSAT + CASPer + MCAT
GAMSAT	-	Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published.
UCAT-ANZ	-	-
ATAR	JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.	-
Interview format	Live online panel interview run on the Kira Talent platform (not a recorded one-way video task). JCU states that panels 'typically include a health practitioner, an academic staff member and a member of the community'; it described the interview as 'live, with three panel members' for the 2026 cycle and states that international interviews run 'live, with two panel members'. JCU does not publish a panel size, station count or duration for the current 2027 cycle.	MMI (recorded/asynchronous online); live online panel for international applicants
Post-interview chance	JCU does not publish an interview-to-offer conversion rate for Medicine.	Not publicly disclosed.
Decision date	Domestic: a single QTAC January offer round — offers released 14 January 2027, accept or defer by 18 January 2027 (preferences lock 7 January 2027). JCU makes no provisional or conditional offers for Medicine; all decisions rest on actual results with prerequisites met. Accepted Medicine offers may be deferred for one year on request. International offers run earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page.	Late October-early November (main round); additional offers November 2026-January 2027

ATAR	JCU publishes no ATAR threshold — 'JCU does not have set ATAR thresholds for entry to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science courses'. Published entry-score range for Semester 1 2026 entry, covering recent secondary students offered a place: Townsville highest 99.95 / median 97.90 / lowest 84.15; Cairns highest 99.95 / median 97.65 / lowest 88.00 — identical with and without adjustments, because no adjustment factors apply to Medicine. JCU notes the table includes deferred offers that may have been assessed against an earlier year's threshold, and that meeting a threshold does not guarantee admission; these are historical lowest-offer figures, not a cut-off to aim at. Non-school-leavers need a minimum unweighted GPA of 5.75/7 for tertiary results to be assessed — JCU explicitly calls this 'not a threshold or benchmark'. Earlier figures in this entry belong to a superseded cycle.	-
Contextual ATAR	-	-
GAMSAT	-	Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published.
UCAT-ANZ	-	-
CASPer	-	Required from 2024 entry, weighted at 30% of the interview-shortlist composite, and mandatory — GEMSAS states applicants without a Casper score will not be considered. No quartile threshold is published for general entry. The only explicit Casper hurdle Notre Dame publishes sits in the Priority Entry Pathway, which requires a score no lower than 1 standard deviation below the mean; the facilitated interview pathways set GPA and GAMSAT hurdles but no Casper hurdle. Four 2026 sittings are accepted (12 April, 5 May, 14 May, 11 June), the 11 June 2026 test being the last accepted for domestic applicants in the 2026-27 cycle.
ISAT	-	-
GPA	-	Minimum weighted GPA of 5.2/7.0 over three FTE years, with GPA years progressively weighted Final-minus-2 x1, Final-minus-1 x2, Final x3. Notre Dame publishes the average GPA of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 6.68 (2024 entry), 6.76 (2025 entry), 6.74 (2026 entry). These are shortlist averages, not thresholds, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No official source supports a ~6.3 'competitive target' or any 2023 figure.
Prerequisites	English, Maths Methods, Chemistry (Units 3/4, C) — all three are true prerequisites that must be completed before an offer is made; JCU issues no conditional offers. Higher maths (e.g. Specialist Mathematics) satisfies the Maths Methods prerequisite, and any Queensland Year 12 English subject (English, EAL, English and Literature Extension, Essential English or Literature) satisfies English. Applicants who did not complete Year 12 in Queensland may still meet the prerequisites and should contact JCU. Applicants who have already finished Year 12 can use the JCU Prep pathway to complete missing prerequisites (not available to students currently in Year 12, and it cannot be used to meet ATAR or GPA requirements). There is no Biology or Physics requirement or recommendation for Medicine — JCU recommends Biology for Dentistry and Veterinary Science only.	-
Place types	Approximately 170 domestic Commonwealth Supported Places across Townsville and Cairns for 2027 entry (~180 in 2026), plus approximately 35 international places in Townsville and ~5 in Cairns, on JCU's own figures. Nationally, 28.5% of commencing medical CSPs must be allocated to the Bonded Medical Program; JCU also reserves a small number of places under the QTAC Rural Access Scheme. Applicants cannot request whether their offer is a bonded or a standard place, and declining a bonded offer means declining the JCU Medicine offer altogether.	2027: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 full-fee domestic + up to 35 full-fee international (at most about 149), subject to change; international places are offered direct by UNDA, not through GEMSAS. Offers are made CSP first, BMP second, full-fee third, and once an offer is accepted the fee category is confirmed and cannot be changed for the duration of the program.
Indigenous pathway	Indigenous Selection Pathway — Medicine only (JCU has no equivalent pathway for Dentistry or Veterinary Science, though it encourages applications). To be considered, applicants must complete all four…	Dedicated Indigenous entry pathway led by UNDA's Indigenous Health and Medicine team, applied for DIRECTLY to Notre Dame rather than through GEMSAS. With Commonwealth Supported Places uncapped for Fir…
Bonded / rural	Bonded places run through the federal Bonded Medical Program: universities must allocate 28.5% of commencing Commonwealth Supported Places in medicine to the Program, in return for a 156-week (3-year)…	17 Bonded Medical Program places for 2027, listed by GEMSAS as a separate line from the 40 CSPs — not a percentage of them. Separately from bonding, GEMSAS states that the equivalent of at least 28.5%…

Interview window	2027 entry (current cycle): round 1 invites 6 November 2026, interviews 24 November - 1 December 2026; round 2 invites 21 December 2026, interviews 6-7 January 2027. Both rounds occur before any offers are determined. International applicants are interviewed earlier and on a separate timeline — check JCU's international capped-courses page for the current dates.	September-October (GEMSAS: interview offers released early September 2026)
Interview details	JCU does not require UCAT-ANZ or GAMSAT, and states applicants who sit either 'receive no advantage or improved consideration'. Selection sequence for 2027 entry: apply via QTAC AND separately through…	Interview shortlist composite (2024+ cycles): 30% GAMSAT + 30% GPA + 30% CASPer + 10% bonus points. Final offer: 50% shortlist composite + 50% MMI. Interview shortlist composite: 30% GAMSAT + 30% GPA…

Specialities	Tropical Medicine, Rural and Remote Medicine, Indigenous Health, Pacific Health, General Practice	Medical Ethics, Indigenous Health, Rural Medicine, Palliative Care
Established	2000	2008
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	JCU requires neither UCAT-ANZ nor GAMSAT and states that sitting either confers no advantage — unusual in Australia, though not unique: Bond University also requires neither, substituting its own onli…	Notre Dame retired its selection Portfolio from the 2024 intake and put Casper in its place as the non-academic component; the interview format was not part of that change. Casper is 30% of the pre-in…
Official course page	https://www.jcu.edu.au/courses/bachelor-of-medicine-bachelor-of-surgery	https://www.notredame.edu.au/programs/school-of-medicine/postgraduate/doctor-of-medicine

JCU vs Notre Dame Sydney

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