21 March 2024
By email
: [FYI request #25865 email]
Tēnā koe Mar
I refer to your information request dated 24 February 2024 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested information in relation to entry to the University of Otago’s
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)
programmes via the Health Sciences First Year (HSFY) general and Graduate general categories from
2022 – 2024.
Subject to the following comment, please see below our response to your request.
• The University defines “first-round” offers as those who receive offers on the first date that
offers are released, i.e., initial offer release. This is usually on 18 December of the year of
application for the HSFY and Graduate categories. For the purposes of this response, we refer
to these offers as offers received at “initial offer release”.
1. Minimum 7-paper average percentage required from HSFY General category applicants, for
entry into the 2024 BDS and MB ChB programmes. Please state the minimum average
percentage needed for BOTH a “first round offer” and a “final waitlist offer”.
Please see the below table which shows the minimum average academic scores to receive initial
release and waitlist offers to the MB ChB and BDS programme via the HSFY general category in 2024:
HSFY general category, 2024 entry
MB ChB
BDS
Minimum average academic score to
95.43
96.29
receive an offer at initial offer release
Minimum average academic score to
89.57
90.14
receive a waitlist offer
The Regulations for the Degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) state that
to be eligible to be selected for admission under the HSFY category an applicant must be enrolled in
the HSFY course at the University of Otago and pass all of the papers prescribed for the University of
Otago HSFY course, with a minimum mark of 70% in each paper. We note that consideration is
currently being given to the lowering of the minimum eligibility grades outlined in the programme
regulations. Any amended grade requirements, if approved, would be used in admissions processes
that take place in 2024.
Th
e Regulations for the Degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) state that to be eligible to be
selected for admission under the HSFY category an applicant must be enrolled in the HSFY course at
the University of Otago and pass all of the papers prescribed for the University of Otago HSFY course,
with an average mark of at least 70 in the applicant’s best seven papers and no mark of less than 65 in
the prescribed papers. We note that consideration is currently being given to the lowering of the
minimum eligibility grades outlined in the programme regulations. Any amended grade requirements,
if approved, would be used in admissions processes that take place in 2024.
2. The minimum GPA requirements required from General Graduate applicants into the 2022 –
2024 BDS and MB ChB programmes. Similarly, please state the minimum GPA needed for
BOTH a “first round offer” and a “final waitlist offer”.
Subject to the following comment, please see the below tables which shows the minimum weighted
GPA scores to receive initial release and waitlist offers to the MB ChB and BDS programmes via the
Graduate general category each year from 2022 – 2024:
• We note that in 2023, due to delays in academic results for a significant number of applicants,
no offers were made to Graduate general category applicants at the initial offer release.
• We note that in 2022, no offers were made from the waitlist for entry to the 2022 BDS
programme via the Graduate general category, therefore we do not hold information on the
minimum weighted GPA score to receive an offer from the waitlist to the programme.
MB ChB programme, Graduate general category
2022
2023
2024
Minimum weighted GPA score to
9.13
N/A
8.69
receive an offer at initial offer release
Minimum weighted GPA score to
8.59
8.43
8.13
receive a waitlist offer
BDS programme, Graduate general category
2022
2023
2024
Minimum weighted GPA score to
8.13
N/A
8.52
receive an offer at initial offer release
Minimum weighted GPA score to
N/A
8.63
7.93
receive a waitlist offer
The Regulations for the Degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) and the
Regulations for the Degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) state that to be eligible to be selected
for admission under the Graduate category, an applicant must have completed as their first degree,
within three years prior to the date of application, and in the minimum academic time, at least one of
the following qualifications awarded by a university in New Zealand: a bachelor’s degree; or an
undergraduate bachelor’s honours degree; or a bachelor’s degree, followed without break in study by
a postgraduate diploma or postgraduate honours years. The average grade for all papers in the
qualifying programme must be at least a weighted grade point average of 5. We note again that
consideration is currently being given to the lowering of the minimum eligibility grades outlined in the
programme regulations. Any amended grade requirements, if approved, would be used in admissions
processes that take place in 2024.
![](./foiextract20240321-113-7rpn8a-3_1.png)
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.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar