24 October 2023
By email
: [FYI request #24251 email]
Tēnā koe Olivia
I refer to your information request dated 26 September 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested the 2023 UCAT thresholds for entry to the 2024 Bachelor of
Medicine (MB ChB) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes at the University of Otago.
Please see below our response to your request.
MB ChB:
The MB ChB UCAT criteria is set annually by the University’s Medical Admissions Committee. The
UCAT thresholds for entry to the 2024 MB ChB have not been set yet. They are expected to be set in
December 2023. Accordingly, we decline this part of your request pursuant to section 18(g) of the Act
as the information requested is not held by the University, and there are no reasonable grounds to
believe it is held by, or more closely connected with the functions of, another agency.
In case it is helpful, the thresholds for entry to the 2023 MB ChB programme were as follows:
• Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at or above the 20th percentile.
• Situational Judgement: threshold set above the lowest 10th percentile.
• Scores for Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning were not
considered.
We would welcome a new request from you later in the year if you are interested in receiving the
2024 UCAT thresholds once they have been confirmed for the MB ChB programme.
BDS:
The BDS UCAT criteria is set annually by the University’s Dental Admissions Committee. Where UCAT is
used as a threshold for admission, the thresholds for entry to the 2024 BDS programme are as follows:
• Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at or above the 22nd percentile.
• Decision Making: threshold set at a score of 630 or higher.
• Scores for Situational Judgement, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning were not
considered.
I trust that this information will be helpful. If you are not satisfied with our response to your
information request, section 28(3) of the Act provides you with the right to ask an Ombudsman to
investigate and review this response. However, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any
concerns with you first.
Yours sincerely
Jo Pearson
Official Information Act Administrator
Office of the Registrar
