14 June 2024
By email:
[FYI request #27169 email]
Tēnā koe Owen
I refer to your information request dated 7 June 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act). You have requested the following information in relation to entry to the University of Otago’s
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) programme via the Graduate category:
“According to your website:
Using the regulations for a standard three-year Otago Bachelor's degree as an example, the
admission score would be calculated as follows, in order of precedence:
Best scoring (maximum of) 120 points at 300-level Best scoring of 200-level and 100-level papers to
360 points With 100-level papers weighted x 0.5, 200-level papers weighted x 1.0, and 300-level
papers weighted x 1.5
Questions: For a four year Bachelor's degree, can the extra level 300 papers that is not used for the
maximum 120 points be used as a level 200 paper but with a weighting of x 1.0? If they can't be
used, it seems to penalise those who did well in those level 300 papers which are harder and cannot
be used for overall GPA calculation.”
Please see below our response to your request.
Applicants cannot use extra 300-level papers beyond the maximum 120 points to replace 200-level papers.
For a four-year degree, there is a maximum of 120 points for 300- and 400-level papers. The remaining 240
points come from the highest scoring 100- and 200-level papers. For a four-year degree, 100-level papers
are weighted x 0.5, 200-level papers are weighted x 0.8, 300-level papers are weighted x 1.2 and 400-level
papers are weighted x 1.5.
Further information on entry to the MB ChB programme via the Graduate category is available on the
University website at th
e Medicine: Guidelines for Admission. We note that the Graduate category section
of this webpage contains a scoring example spreadsheet, which shows scoring examples and guides
applicants through gaining an indication of their weighted GPA score. The spreadsheet contains
information and guidance on 3-year degrees, 4-year degrees, and 5-year degrees. We note that an
applicant’s weighted GPA score will be confirmed as part of the application process, and that this
spreadsheet is for example purposes only.
I trust that this information will be helpful.
Yours sincerely
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar