Special Entry Schemes

The RES is an initiative to promote medicine to applicants with an extensive rural background who are able to demonstrate and meet rurality and other assessed factors. Applicants who enter the UNSW Medicine program through the RES study the same program as students who apply and enter through the standard local entry application process.

Applicants who choose to apply through the RES cannot also apply through the standard local entry application process or Gateway entry process via the Medicine Application Portal (MAP). You must select and apply for only one entry pathway. 

The UNSW Rural Entry Scheme is designed for rural students who wish to study in our world-class medical program and want to pursue a career as a doctor in a rural or remote area. Subject to eligibility criteria, the RES special entry stream encourages and favourably considers students who reside in and have attended and completed their Higher School Certificate at a local high school with proximity to our UNSW Rural Clinical Campuses in Albury, Coffs Harbour, Griffith, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga, and would like to study close to home and close to family. Eligible students from areas of greater geographic remoteness, as defined by the Modified Monash Model (MMM) geographic remoteness scale are also encouraged to apply.

To apply via the RES, applicants must be an Australian/New Zealand citizen or Australian permanent resident that has lived in a defined Australian rural area, MMM 2 - 7 (Modified Monash Model classification system) for at least five consecutive or ten cumulative years between the ages of five (5) and eighteen (18). This will be evident through your rural residential and schooling locations.

1. Go to the DoctorConnect website
2. Select the Modified Monash Model 2019 version of the MMM classification system
3. Enter the rural residential/school address where you lived in the defined rural area as indicated above to check if it meets the MMM criteria

Please note that living in rural locations out of Australia cannot be considered for eligibility to apply via this entry scheme.

The RES application process is very similar to the standard local entry process.

• Applicants will be invited to an interview based on their UCAT ANZ results and our rural eligibility criteria. Applicants must reach the 50th percentile on the UCAT ANZ to be considered for the interview stage of the application process.
• RES applicants are required to complete a statutory declaration evidencing their rural background as well as providing detailed information about rural residential and schooling locations. 
• The statutory declaration document can be downloaded from the application portal in the 'rural details' tab of the medicine application. It should be completed and attached irrespective of your application status. The document must be witnessed and signed by an authorised person. 
• Once an interview has been scheduled, rescheduling is not permitted. Once applicants enter the interview room they are deemed fit to be interviewed. If before the scheduled interview applicants believe they are not fit to be interviewed, they should immediately advise the Rural Admission Team and follow their guidance. An alternative day and time of interview may be offered based on availability but cannot be guaranteed. 

Please note that interviews for the Rural Entry Scheme are held in person and the dates differ to local entry, see the important dates page.

Applicants are offered a place in the medicine program based on:

1. Academic rank
2. UCAT ANZ score
3. Interview score
4. Rural rating
5. Geographic location

Using the above parameters, all students are ranked. Academic rank, UCAT ANZ score and interview score are not averaged, which means that a high score in one component will not compensate for a low score in another.  

Year 12 students

For applicants seeking admission on the basis of the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC), a minimum Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 91.00 or equivalent without adjustment is required to be eligible for consideration through RES.

University students and graduates

I have not completed a full year of study

If you have completed less than 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) of tertiary study at the end of the year in which you apply, you will be assessed only on your secondary school results.

I have completed at least one full year of study (but not completed a degree)

If you have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree at the end of the year in which you apply, you will be assessed for admission to the Medicine program on either your secondary OR your tertiary study results. Each applicant needs to meet the minimum requirements for both of the following criteria: 

• Your secondary school qualification component must reach 91.00 ATAR (or equivalent) without adjustment; AND
• Your tertiary study component must reach WAM 70 or equivalent.

Once you have met the minimum requirement, a "best of" algorithm will apply and the qualification with a higher selection rank will be considered for admission to the Medicine program. If you haven't completed at least 0.75 of one year of full-time equivalent university study by the end of the year preceding your potential start, you'll only be assessed on your final secondary school qualification.

I have completed a degree

If you have completed any tertiary degree before the end of the year in which you apply (e.g. applying for T1/24 and completing a bachelor’s degree in December 2023), only the completed tertiary qualification(s) will be considered for admission.

• Completed tertiary studies must reach a minimum WAM/GPA equivalent of a 91.00 ATAR without adjustment.

As you have completed a tertiary degree, we will no longer consider your secondary qualification.

Our Kensington, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga campuses have a set number of places available. When you complete your application on the Medicine Application Portal, you must indicate your campus preferences by putting all three campuses in your preferred order.

You can change your campus preference up until the application deadline. Once the deadline has passed no further preference changes can be accommodated, regardless of circumstance.

A rural campus allocation committee will assess all campus allocation preferences of the applicants who are ranked high enough to be offered a place in our medicine program via the RES. Allocation to campuses will be made based on applicant preference and places availability. The rural campus allocation committee’s allocation decision is final and cannot be appealed against. A successful applicant will receive one offer for one campus.

The Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga places will all be allocated to applicants who applied through the Rural Entry Scheme; and a small group of rural applicants will be allocated to the Kensington campus.

Applicants who apply through the Rural Entry Scheme and accept a place in the Medicine program at the Kensington campus in Year 1 are expected to study at a rural campus for Phase 2 and 3 (Years 3-6).

Applicants who accept a place in the Medicine program at the Port Macquarie campus for Year 1 will normally be expected to complete all 6 years of the Medicine program in the Mid North Coast (MNC) region (Coffs Harbour or Port Macquarie Rural Clinical Campuses). However, relocation to another rural or metropolitan campus for a defined period may be considered in exceptional circumstances and places availability.

Applicants who accept a place in the Medicine program at the Wagga Wagga Campus for Year 1 will normally be expected to complete all 6 years of the Medicine program in Murrumbidgee, Riverina and Border region (Wagga Wagga, Albury and Griffith Rural Clinical Campuses). However, relocation to another rural or metropolitan campus for a defined period may also be considered depending upon availability of places.