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 exists only in Auckland Graduate Entry, the Otago Alternative Category and MAPAS.
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 any written or reflective narrative is actually used in NZ medicine — Auckland MAPAS (the MH04 form), Auckland Graduate Entry (assessed at the Kira Talent MMI) and the Otago Alternative Category 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 has two medical schools — the University of Auckland and the University of Otago (around 317 domestic places each) — and one dental school, the University of Otago’s Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Every domestic applicant first completes a full first year (HSFY at Otago, or BHSc / BSc Biomedical Science at Auckland) before competing for a second-year place.
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. Written material is genuinely required in only one place: the Auckland MAPAS MH04 form.
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 Auckland MAPAS MH04 form is the one genuinely written component — a structured form on cultural identity, community connection and personal qualities. Otago BDS Alternative Category mirrors the medicine route.
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 and no written application
- • Written material only in MAPAS (MH04), Auckland Graduate Entry & Otago Alternative Category
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.
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).
At Otago, the standard route is Health Sciences First Year (HSFY): selection into second-year MBChB is a pure academic ranking on your best HSFY paper average, with UCAT-ANZ used only as a threshold gate (Verbal Reasoning at or above the 20th percentile and SJT above the 10th percentile) and no interview. At Auckland, first-year BHSc or BSc Biomedical Science students compete on GPA (60%), UCAT-ANZ (15%) and an asynchronous Kira Talent MMI (25%). Neither route involves a personal statement.
In three places. Auckland MAPAS (Māori and Pacific Admissions Scheme) uses a structured MH04 application form. The Otago Alternative Category — for experienced allied-health professionals — leads to a 40-minute Zoom interview rather than a scored essay. And Auckland Graduate Entry assesses what a UK statement would cover (motivation, reflection) verbally at the Kira Talent MMI rather than on paper. On the dentistry side, the Otago BDS Alternative Category works the same way.
No. The 4,000-character UCAS limit is a UCAS-specific artefact with no equivalent in New Zealand. The MAPAS MH04 form has its own question-specific fields; the Otago Alternative Category interview does not use a pre-submitted scored document. Do not apply UCAS framing — the NZ processes are fundamentally different.
Yes — the structured MH04 form is the written component, asking about whakapapa or Pacific community connection, personal qualities and support systems and motivation for a health career. It is not an open-ended reflective essay. Shortlisted MAPAS applicants also sit the general Auckland MMI and a separate 5-station MAPAS Specialty Interview, where the panel probes the form in depth.
For most applicants, on your first-year grades and UCAT-ANZ — not on writing. For Auckland applicants, on the Kira Talent MMI, which is asynchronous and video-recorded. For MAPAS applicants, on the MH04 form and Specialty Interview. For Alternative Category applicants, on speaking fluently about your professional experience at the Zoom interview. The course-specific guides below break each of these down.
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