Standard pathway — no written application
Otago HSFY (academic rank + UCAT-ANZ threshold gate, no interview) and Auckland First Year (GPA + UCAT-ANZ + Kira Talent MMI). No personal statement at any stage.
New ZealandNo UCAS personal statementNZ Personal Statements &
NZ Personal Statements &
Written Applications
New Zealand has no UCAS and no personal statement. Selection runs on first-year results (Otago HSFY rank or Auckland GPA), UCAT-ANZ and, at Auckland, an online MMI. Written material is limited to the Otago Alternative category (a one-page statement and CV); MAPAS applicants also complete an eligibility form, the MH04.
0
UCAS statements
2
Med schools
UCAT-ANZ
Aptitude test
MMI
Auckland only
Pick your course
Each course-specific guide explains exactly where any written or reflective material is used in New Zealand, how each pathway assesses it, the common mistakes, and what selectors actually look for.
Medicine
NZ medicine written-application guide →
Where written or reflective material is actually used in NZ medicine — the Otago Alternative Category statement, CV and interview, Auckland Graduate Entry (assessed at the Kira Talent MMI) and Auckland MAPAS (the MH04 eligibility form and Specialty Interview) — and how to prepare for each.
Dentistry
NZ dentistry written-application guide →
Otago BDS is New Zealand’s only dental school and uses no UCAS statement. Covers the BDS Zoom interview, the Alternative Category for experienced clinicians, manual-dexterity reflection and oral-health equity in Aotearoa.
How New Zealand selection works
There is no UCAS, no central application service and no personal statement. New Zealand’s undergraduate-entry medical schools are the University of Auckland (317 domestic places) and the University of Otago (312 government-funded places) — a third, the University of Waikato’s graduate-entry MD, takes its first students in 2028 — and there is one dental school, the University of Otago’s Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Most domestic applicants first complete a full first year (HSFY at Otago; the BHSc or BSc Biomedical Science at Auckland, which becomes the Bachelor of Biomedical Science, BHSc or a listed BSc major for 2028 entry) before competing for a second-year place; graduates and Otago Alternative category applicants take separate routes.
The thing UK applicants spend months on — a reflective written statement — simply does not exist here for the standard pathway. Where motivation and reflection are assessed, it happens verbally at interview, not on paper. Statement-style writing is required in only one place: the Otago Alternative category, which asks for a one-page statement of reasons and a CV. (The Auckland MAPAS MH04 is an eligibility form, not an essay.)
Where narrative is assessed verbally
Auckland Graduate Entry and the whole Auckland cohort are assessed for motivation and reflection at the asynchronous Kira Talent MMI — not on paper. The Otago Alternative Category does the same at a 40-minute Zoom interview.
Where written material truly exists
The only scored writing in NZ dental entry is the Otago BDS Alternative category statement of interest and CV. The Auckland MAPAS MH04 is an eligibility and ancestry form, not an essay.
Don’t apply UK habits to NZ
UCAS statement vs the New Zealand model
UK (UCAS) — does NOT apply here
- • One 4,000-character statement sent to every school
- • Three structured UCAS questions to answer on paper
- • Written months ahead, redrafted, expert-reviewed
- • Motivation and reflection assessed in writing
New Zealand — what actually happens
- • No statement; selection on first-year results + UCAT-ANZ
- • Auckland adds an asynchronous Kira Talent online MMI
- • Otago HSFY has no interview for Medicine (Otago BDS does interview HSFY applicants)
- • The only statement-style writing is the Otago Alternative category statement and CV; MAPAS adds an eligibility form (MH04)
Build stronger material
Need real reflections for your interview?
NZ assesses motivation and reflection at the Auckland MMI, the MAPAS Specialty Interview and the Otago Alternative Category interview. Our Virtual Work Experience puts you in real clinical scenarios online — giving you specific, honest reflections to draw on when you speak, not write.
Try Virtual Work ExperienceWhat a strong NZ reflection sounds like:
Watching a Māori health worker translate a diagnosis for a whānau taught me that cultural safety isn’t a module you complete — it’s a way of pacing a conversation so the patient stays in charge of it.
1-to-1 review
Writing something after all? Get it read properly.
Most New Zealand applicants never write a word — selection is first-year results, UCAT-ANZ and, at Auckland, the Kira Talent MMI. But four groups do submit written material, and for them a second reader is worth more than another practice test.
MAPAS — the MH04 form
Not an essay: a registration form that collects your affiliations (iwi, hapū and marae, or Pacific nation, island and village), your ancestry confirmed by a certifier, and your school results. Motivation, cultural identity and whānau issues are explored verbally at the 5-station MAPAS Specialty Interview instead.
Auckland Graduate Entry
Motivation and reflection are assessed at the asynchronous Kira Talent MMI rather than on paper, so the work is building specific, defensible material and being able to speak it — which is exactly what a line-by-line read of your draft answers surfaces.
Otago Alternative Category (medicine & BDS)
For experienced allied-health professionals, leading to a 40-minute structured Zoom interview. There is no scored essay, but your written application and the way you frame a decade of professional experience decide whether you get to that interview.
Applying to Australia or the UK as well
Plenty of NZ applicants also sit UCAT-ANZ for Australian schools or apply through UCAS. Those systems DO score writing — JCU’s written application statement, or the UCAS 3-question statement — and that is a written artefact worth having reviewed.
Prefer hands-on 1:1 help?
1:1 application coaching
Work live with a current medical or dental student on the written material New Zealand actually assesses — an Otago Alternative Category statement and CV, preparation for a MAPAS Specialty Interview — or on speaking that material fluently at the Kira Talent MMI. Every package is delivered 1:1.
Single Session
Perfect your statement in one focused 1:1 session
- 1 × 60-minute 1:1 coaching session
- Live, line-by-line feedback on your draft
- Covers the written pathways that actually exist here — the MAPAS MH04 form, Auckland Graduate Entry and the Otago Alternative Category
- A clear action plan before you submit
NZ$96
complete packagePOPULAR
Three Sessions
End-to-end coaching from first draft to polished
- 3 × 60-minute 1:1 coaching sessions
- Work through your MH04 answers, Graduate Entry application or Alternative Category material end to end
- Revisions reviewed between sessions
- Matched with a current medical or dental student tutor
NZ$287NZ$265
complete packageUnlimited
Unlimited sessions until it's perfect and you're ready to submit
- Unlimited 1:1 coaching sessions until your statement is perfect and you're ready to submit
- Strategic university choices — we help you pick where to apply
- Priority tutor matching
- Ongoing revisions and email support throughout
NZ$636
complete packageSecure checkout via Stripe · We’ll email you to arrange session times after booking
Frequently asked questions
No. New Zealand medical and dental schools do not use the UCAS personal statement. There is no UCAS, no 4,000-character statement, and no single written essay sent to multiple schools. Most domestic applicants write nothing at all — selection runs on first-year academic results (the Otago HSFY rank, or Auckland’s first-year GPA) plus UCAT-ANZ and, at Auckland, an online MMI. Written material appears only in three specific pathways: Auckland Graduate Entry, the Otago Alternative Category and MAPAS (and, on the dentistry side, the Otago BDS Alternative Category).
Preparing a MAPAS, Graduate Entry or Alternative Category application?
Our tutors have first-hand experience of Auckland and Otago admissions — the MH04 form, the Kira Talent MMI and the Alternative Category interview. Get focused feedback before you submit.
Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 13 June 2026