HSFY is the first year of university study for many students, who will then go onto various degrees, including the health professions such as medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, pharmacy and medical laboratory science. The grades achieved in this year are used to determine entry into medical school and dental school, along with a threshold which must be achieved in the UCAT.

Entry into medical school and dental school are both highly competitive as there are many more students that want to get in relative to the number of positions available.

Te Kauae Parāoa is the policy that guides criteria for admissions for domestic students to the health professional programmes at University of Otago. It is the unfortunate truth that access to educational opportunities is not equal among all members of society. This policy aims to create a health workforce that reflects the ethnic and social background of the community that it serves.

"It is hoped this policy will continue to promote and facilitate equity for students from underrepresented priority groups: Māori, Pacific, rural, socioeconomic and refugee background." from the Uni's webpage on the policy.

Here are the equity groups that the University of Otago currently takes applications under:

• Māori (verification of ancestry is necessary)
• Indigenous Pacific (verification of ancestry is necessary)
• Socioeconomic Equity
• Refugee
• Rural

More details on equity groups can be found on the Uni's website here

If you are not eligible for one of these equity groups, then you will apply under the General category.

As a general rule, the grade average required to get into medical school and dental school under these equity groups is lower than the grade average required for entry under the HSFY General category.

There are a limited number of spots for international students in medical school. There were 16 international admissions to medicine in 2025.

They apply under the international category and this is also quite competitive.

An important note for international students considering studying medicine in NZ.

Most international students studying medicine in NZ want to continue living in NZ and work in the NZ healthcare system. However, in the application for jobs as a first year doctor, international students have the lowest priority for selection.

This means that the majority of international students graduating from a medical school in NZ will not have a job secured in NZ at the time of graduating, unlike domestic students. This is because the NZ government does not fund enough 1st year house officer positions relative to the number of graduating doctors (as at 2025). A NZ or Australian citizen that has graduated from an Australian medical school will be prioritised over an international student that has spent the last 6 years studying in NZ, and has been training in the NZ hospital system for the last 3 years.

Despite this, most international graduates will be offered a job at a NZ hospital within a few months of graduating. However because of their low priority, it will be unlikely that they would have liked to go to. Contrast this to domestic students, where 90% of first year doctors will be allocated to one of their top 3 city choices.

You must also achieve a minimum score in the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in order to get into medical school.

For 2025, the minimum threshold was as follows for General applicants:

• Verbal reasoning - 20th percentile
• Situational judgement - 10th percentile

The minimum UCAT thresholds are different for equity groups and this information was not publicly available.

UCAT is no longer a requirement for entry to dentistry.

Reference