What ATAR Do I Need for Medicine?

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a nationally standardised percentile rank issued to Year 12 students upon completing secondary school. It sits on a scale of 0 to 99.95 and tells universities how you performed academically compared to your peers across the country.

Depending on which state you live in, you’ll receive your ATAR based on a different senior certificate:

Despite the different names, each state certificate converts into the same ATAR, providing a fair national comparison for university admissions across Australia. An ATAR of 99.00, for example, means you outperformed 99% of all eligible students nationally.

Medicine is consistently one of the most competitive courses in Australia. Unlike most degrees where a mid-range ATAR will secure a place, medical programs attract the very top percentile of school leavers. Here is what the data tells us for 2025–2026:

• The minimum ATAR for direct-entry undergraduate medicine sits around 90.00 (Monash, University of Adelaide).
• The realistic competitive ATAR for most programs is 95.00 or above.
• The very top programs — UNSW, Monash, UQ, and ANU — effectively require 96–99+.
• The University of Sydney’s medicine program is graduate-entry only — no direct ATAR pathway exists.
• University of Melbourne medicine is also primarily graduate-entry, though some undergraduate pathways exist through affiliated programs.
• Rural and bonded medical programs may have slightly lower published cutoffs (as low as 85–93) but remain fiercely competitive.

Use this visual guide to understand what your ATAR means in the context of medical school admissions:

The table below summarises the published minimum ATAR thresholds and typical competitive ATARs for medicine programs across Australia. Always verify these figures directly with each institution before applying, as cutoffs change annually.

⚠️ All data is based on published 2024–2025 figures. Cutoffs vary annually. Always verify with each university’s official admissions page before applying.

There are two primary routes to studying medicine in Australia. Understanding which pathway suits you is crucial because they have very different selection criteria.

Beyond your ATAR, most medical schools require — or strongly recommend — that you study specific subjects in Years 11 and 12. Here are the most commonly required subjects:

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT ANZ) is a 2-hour, 234-question computer-based test sat in July–August of Year 12. It measures the cognitive abilities and professional attributes that medical schools value. Your UCAT score is heavily weighted in the selection process at most undergraduate medicine programs.

The UCAT has four cognitive subtests (scored out of 900 each) and a Situational Judgement section (scored in Bands 1–4), giving a combined cognitive score out of 3600.

How Universities Use the UCAT

• Monash & UNSW — UCAT score heavily weighted when ranking applicants for interview
• University of Adelaide — UCAT is 100% of the basis for the interview offer (SA: ~2730; Interstate: ~3140)
• University of Adelaide final offer — UCAT 20% + Interview 40% + Academic 40%
• University of Western Australia (UWA) — UCAT used alongside ATAR and interview
• James Cook University (JCU) — Does NOT use UCAT; relies on written application and interview
• Bond University — Uses its own psychometric assessment, not the UCAT

Roughly half of all Australian medical students enter through graduate-entry programs. This pathway removes the ATAR as a barrier — your undergraduate performance and GAMSAT score are what matter.

The GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test) is developed by ACER and assesses three sections:

Competitive GAMSAT scores for graduate-entry programs generally sit in the 55–65+ range (out of 100), though requirements vary by university. Importantly, your ATAR from Year 12 becomes irrelevant once you apply via the graduate pathway — giving students who struggled in high school a genuine fresh start.

Not achieving a top ATAR is not the end of your medical journey. There are multiple legitimate and well-trodden alternative pathways. Here is a structured roadmap:

Many Australian universities recognise the critical shortage of doctors in regional, rural, and remote areas and have created dedicated entry pathways with lower ATAR thresholds for students from these backgrounds.

• University of Melbourne MD Rural Pathway — 30 dedicated rural places per year
• University of Queensland Regional Medical Pathway — Up to 90 Commonwealth-supported places (Darling Downs and Wide Bay cohorts)
• James Cook University (JCU) — The only medical school whose curriculum is entirely built around rural, remote, and Indigenous health
• Deakin University Rural Training Stream (Tier 1) — Does not require GAMSAT for eligible rural applicants
• Monash University — Rural entry scheme with minimum ATAR adjusted to ~90.00
• Western Sydney University (WSU) — Lower ATAR threshold for Greater Western Sydney applicants (93.50 vs 95.50 general)

Additionally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can access dedicated pathways at virtually all Australian medical schools, with some programs (e.g., UNSW) requiring a minimum ATAR as low as 90 for Indigenous applicants, compared to 99.00+ for the general pool.