The University of Queensland does not interview for its Bachelor of Dental Science program, which is ranked 54th in the world. Based at the UQ Oral Health Centre in Queensland, which is billed as the most advanced tertiary oral health facility in the country, the degree is open to school leavers. Despite not interviewing, the program is highly competitive and you should give due thought to your application.
The median entry ATAR (adjusted) is 99.95 – which is both the highest and lowest score as well. Essentially, if you have an adjusted ATAR score of less than 99.95, you will not receive a place on this course. You must also ensure that you meet the subject prerequisites. For students from Queensland, this would be:
 – Year 12 (or equivalent) General English subject (Units 3 & 4, C); Chemistry (Units 3 & 4, C) (Biology also recommended), with an adjusted ATAR of 99.0 (or equivalent) or higher.
You are also able to meet these subject prerequisites through the study of equivalent subjects or through tertiary study. If you have studied the IB in Australia, you will need a score of 45 in order to be admitted.
If you’re applying from the UK, you will need the following subjects: English Language or Literature at AS or A Level, or any English subject at GCSE; Mathematics at GCSE, Chemistry at A Level, and Biology or Human Biology at A Level.
If you are applying from Canada, the US or elsewhere, you should check both the subject specific prerequisites and the entrance exams required on the Queensland website.
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Per the university, ‘entry is competitive and not all applicants who meet the OP1/rank 99 cut-off are offered a place. Domestic applicants must sit UCAT. Applicants are selected on the basis of the UCAT score.’ In other words, all applicants who have the requisite high ATAR score will then be sorted through their UCAT score. This means that the UCAT is of huge importance if you’re looking to secure a spot at Queensland.
The UCAT is an aptitude test designed to assess your abilities across five sections – verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, and decision making. Whilst labelled as being strictly an ‘aptitude test’ it can be revised and prepared for, and you should bear this in mind. At BlackStone Tutors we advise beginning your revision well in advance of the test itself, in order that you can familiarise yourself with the types of questions and the format of the exam. The UCAT is composed of 202 questions in total, which are broken down unevenly between sections. Verbal reasoning involves testing your understanding of written pieces; decision making requires you to make quick judgements from given information; quantitative reasoning tests basic mathematical ability and problem solving; abstract reasoning tests your ability to recognise patterns; situational judgement provides real life ethical problems that you must decide on. The test is designed to be very fast paced, and you will need to be able to digest and act on information quickly throughout.
UCAT scores vary in any year, but the test is designed that the ‘average’ should be around the 600 mark, on a scale from 300-900. This said, any score below 610 would be considered a low score, and average in the range of 620 to 650. In general, any score considered over 700 is considered high. Any score of 750 or more (aka 3000) is exceptionally high. Given that Queensland is exceptionally competitive, you should prepare in such a way that you are confident of achieving a score of more than 700 – i.e. that you are reliably achieving this in practice – and ideally working toward a total score of 3000 or more (750 for each section) and a good score in the separate SJT component.
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Applications for the first round of offers will close in the middle of March – e.g. for the 2021 intake, they closed on the 19th March. Offers are made shortly after, at the beginning of April. A second round will close at the end of September, with offers being made in the middle of October. You cannot re-apply in the second round if you fail the first.
