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Australian Medical school comparison

Macquarie vs Tasmania

Macquarie and Tasmania are both Australian medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Macquarie is in New South Wales while Tasmania is in Tasmania. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones. Macquarie 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: Macquarie 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

Macquarie

Sydney

Quick comparison

Location
Sydney, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Minimum 50 overall, 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight (alongside 50% GPA) for interview shortlist. 2024 intake average successful GAMSAT ~66.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations, live online)
Post-interview chance
~56% (2024 cycle: 125 offers from 223 interviews — 79 domestic, 46 international)
Decision date
November

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
Compare different schools

Macquarie vs Tasmania - in detail

Admission tests compared

UCAT-ANZ cut-offs. Macquarie — 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. Macquarie — Minimum 50 overall, 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight (alongside 50% GPA) for interview shortlist. 2024 intake average successful GAMSAT ~66. 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

Macquarie requires Bachelor degree with minimum GPA 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT overall 60+; MMI; English prerequisites.

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. Macquarie — 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. Macquarie — Minimum 5.0/7.0 (or WAM 65). 2024 intake average successful GPA ~6.7/7.0. 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

Macquarie uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (8 stations, live online)); 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, Macquarie is the better fit.

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

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 MD with hospital-integrated placements from year 1 at Macquarie University Hospital. Years 3-4 expand to broader Sydney clinical school network 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: Macquarie — 2027: ~60 full-fee domestic + ~20 international. No CSP/BMP at Macquarie (full-fee program; no Commonwealth-mandated bonded allocation).; 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

Macquarie: ~56% (2024 cycle: 125 offers from 223 interviews — 79 domestic, 46 international). 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

Macquarie: Macquarie is Australia's first fully full-fee graduate MD (no CSP places) and is co-located with Macquarie University Hospital — students train alongside private practice from year 1. Small cohort (~60) gives a high-touch teaching model. GAMSAT and prior clinical exposure are weighted heavily.

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: Macquarie 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 — Macquarie draws heavily on New South Wales applicants and Tasmania on Tasmania, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: Macquarie 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

Macquarie 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.

Where to go next

MacquarieEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullTasmaniaEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 27 August 2026.