Australia
I moved here in 2001 and am now doing my A Levels here. I am an Australian citizen, as I was born in Australia, and I want to move back after my A Levels.
I want to study Medicine, but I am confused as to what GCSE grades and A Level grades I would need to study Medicine in Australia. What are the equivalent to their education?
If anyone could advise me on this it would be great. Thankyou.
I want to study Medicine, but I am confused as to what GCSE grades and A Level grades I would need to study Medicine in Australia. What are the equivalent to their education?
If anyone could advise me on this it would be great. Thankyou.
GCSE grades are not as important but you'll probably need at least B/C in English and Maths as a general requirement.
If you apply for commonwealth supported places you will need at least AAA/AAB for the Go8 universities. If you ain't looking at Go8, the grades will be lower but for all of them, you can check the university websites. On the websites, go to the domestic student section and look for your course. The grades should be listed in UAI but you can roughly convert it to A-Levels. 99+ is like AAA, 96+ is close to AAB, 93+ is like ABB and BBB is around high 80s and low 90s. Its a rough idea and i can't really find any resource that give you accurate info since the UAI changes every year.
Look at this page and scroll down to the bottom:
http://www.satac.edu.au/uniwebS2/sect02/year12sub.asp
It shows the UCAS points you need but its still only general.
Also, the prerequisites are science subjects but each university is different, check their websites. I think in most universities, medicine is a post-grad subject so you need to do a relevant bachelor degree first. Among the Go8 universities, U Syd, UQ as far as i know are really "sciency".
As to their education, its varies from state to state and its state-wide exams. It doesn't matter much to you i think. You should e-mail each university your specific questions and they'll give you more reliable answers.
You should also e-mail the universities
If you apply for commonwealth supported places you will need at least AAA/AAB for the Go8 universities. If you ain't looking at Go8, the grades will be lower but for all of them, you can check the university websites. On the websites, go to the domestic student section and look for your course. The grades should be listed in UAI but you can roughly convert it to A-Levels. 99+ is like AAA, 96+ is close to AAB, 93+ is like ABB and BBB is around high 80s and low 90s. Its a rough idea and i can't really find any resource that give you accurate info since the UAI changes every year.
Look at this page and scroll down to the bottom:
http://www.satac.edu.au/uniwebS2/sect02/year12sub.asp
It shows the UCAS points you need but its still only general.
Also, the prerequisites are science subjects but each university is different, check their websites. I think in most universities, medicine is a post-grad subject so you need to do a relevant bachelor degree first. Among the Go8 universities, U Syd, UQ as far as i know are really "sciency".
As to their education, its varies from state to state and its state-wide exams. It doesn't matter much to you i think. You should e-mail each university your specific questions and they'll give you more reliable answers.
You should also e-mail the universities
Thankyou so much. I know nothing about Australian High school education, as I only finished the equivalent to Junior school there befor I moved to the UK.
I know each state has slightly different eduaction systems, so it is a little confusing.
I hav A*-B GCSE's and am taking A Level Chemsitry, Biology and English and AS Maths. If I can get AAAb, I should be able to apply for Medicine as I am already an Australian citizen, which makes it a little easier.
Thankyou for your adice, it was really helpful.
I know each state has slightly different eduaction systems, so it is a little confusing.
I hav A*-B GCSE's and am taking A Level Chemsitry, Biology and English and AS Maths. If I can get AAAb, I should be able to apply for Medicine as I am already an Australian citizen, which makes it a little easier.
Thankyou for your adice, it was really helpful.
A level conversions to UAI are usually a set conversion and doesn't change unless UAC decides to change the conversion method.
Be careful that each state's conversions vary. A levels are treated very favourably in SA, QLD etc, but gets a lower conversion in NSW and possibly VIC.
You should definitely be able to apply based on those grades - obviously whether you actually get in or not would be hard to say. Medicine is always competitive.
USyd and UQ are both post-grad unis (and so will UniMelb). Whether USyd is a "sciency" course is debatable - they were in the papers a while ago about their course not having enough anatomy etc.....
General prerequesites for medicine are Maths, Chemistry and Physics. Only a handful ask for Physics (some unis only have recommended subjects, and no formal prerequisites). English is definitely required to an acceptable level (I think some unis would even accept good GCSE grades), since it's a compulsory subject till end of high school in Australia.
Be aware of the UMAT exam which most if not all undergrad medical schools use for entry. Since you are a local student you may be required to sit that test like all other Australian local students. Check with the university to see if they still require you to sit it since you're overseas. But I doubt that they'll exempt you from it (and it won't be to your advantage since it means you have one less result compared to other candidates). You'll also most likely be required to attend face-to-face interviews in Australia - local students generally cannot have phone interviews.
Be careful that each state's conversions vary. A levels are treated very favourably in SA, QLD etc, but gets a lower conversion in NSW and possibly VIC.
You should definitely be able to apply based on those grades - obviously whether you actually get in or not would be hard to say. Medicine is always competitive.
USyd and UQ are both post-grad unis (and so will UniMelb). Whether USyd is a "sciency" course is debatable - they were in the papers a while ago about their course not having enough anatomy etc.....
General prerequesites for medicine are Maths, Chemistry and Physics. Only a handful ask for Physics (some unis only have recommended subjects, and no formal prerequisites). English is definitely required to an acceptable level (I think some unis would even accept good GCSE grades), since it's a compulsory subject till end of high school in Australia.
Be aware of the UMAT exam which most if not all undergrad medical schools use for entry. Since you are a local student you may be required to sit that test like all other Australian local students. Check with the university to see if they still require you to sit it since you're overseas. But I doubt that they'll exempt you from it (and it won't be to your advantage since it means you have one less result compared to other candidates). You'll also most likely be required to attend face-to-face interviews in Australia - local students generally cannot have phone interviews.
Thankyou for that info. Do you have the conversions for qualifications?
Someone's already posted up the link for the conversion for SA.
You can get the QLD conversions pretty easily - just ask the unis for them when you request a brochure or something.
A few years ago, VIC didn't have a proper conversion system (or it's kept well under wraps) - some unis there look directly at you international qualifications and don't do a direct conversion. (like how Unimelb used to do - but now it's a post-grad course). I'm not sure whether things have changed a bit now.
NSW - I used to have a copy of the conversion system (which should still be current - it wasn't that long ago). You can buy one from UAC for about 25 AUD. Some unis would do conversions for you if you give them your predicted grades =)
For some universities, there are additional requiremets in addition to UMAT and the admission centre applications. You might also be required to send CVs and extra forms direct to the university by a certain date, like UNSW, James Cook, UWA.
You can get the QLD conversions pretty easily - just ask the unis for them when you request a brochure or something.
A few years ago, VIC didn't have a proper conversion system (or it's kept well under wraps) - some unis there look directly at you international qualifications and don't do a direct conversion. (like how Unimelb used to do - but now it's a post-grad course). I'm not sure whether things have changed a bit now.
NSW - I used to have a copy of the conversion system (which should still be current - it wasn't that long ago). You can buy one from UAC for about 25 AUD. Some unis would do conversions for you if you give them your predicted grades =)
For some universities, there are additional requiremets in addition to UMAT and the admission centre applications. You might also be required to send CVs and extra forms direct to the university by a certain date, like UNSW, James Cook, UWA.
Thankyou.
A lot of the uni's ask forhemistry,Maths, physics and English. They don't ask for any biology qualification which is odd, as here they prefer Biology to physics in most uni's.
Ye it is a bit weird. But I think biology (esp if it covers anything relating to human biology, genetics etc) would be more helpful to medicine than physics.
It might be because the Biology curricula in high schools here are not geared towards medicine, or just that it is so variable between states that there isn't much point having it as a prerequisite.
It might be because the Biology curricula in high schools here are not geared towards medicine, or just that it is so variable between states that there isn't much point having it as a prerequisite.
Well.. the first semester of Medicine at UWA is dedicated to giving students an adequate grasp of biology to prepare them for the rest of the course.
Therefore I think there isn't a prerequisite for biology because everything in the degree is taught based on the assumption that incoming students have no background knowledge whatsoever. This does prove to be somewhat boring for the students who have done Biology, of course.
The same thing applies for physics- if incoming students have not done A level physics, then they are simply required to take Physics as an option unit.
Note: This only applies to UWA
Therefore I think there isn't a prerequisite for biology because everything in the degree is taught based on the assumption that incoming students have no background knowledge whatsoever. This does prove to be somewhat boring for the students who have done Biology, of course.
The same thing applies for physics- if incoming students have not done A level physics, then they are simply required to take Physics as an option unit.
Note: This only applies to UWA
hey
Is english a level compulsary or just recommended, I have only done it at GCSE and got a B at language and A at literature. My A levels are in Maths, Chem, Bio and business studies, do you think i will be dissadvantaged?
Is english a level compulsary or just recommended, I have only done it at GCSE and got a B at language and A at literature. My A levels are in Maths, Chem, Bio and business studies, do you think i will be dissadvantaged?
I think GCSE level might be sufficient to meet the english requirement at many (if not all) Australian universities - but you better check with them individually. The english requirements might be different for international compared to local students, so it's probably best to double-check.
Generally for people completing secondary school/high school in Australia, they'll need English up to Year 12 (final year of secondary school/high school) level, but that's more because it is a compulsory subject.
Generally for people completing secondary school/high school in Australia, they'll need English up to Year 12 (final year of secondary school/high school) level, but that's more because it is a compulsory subject.
I don't understand your conversions of 99+ to AAA, 96+ to AAB etc.
The HSC mark is a percentile mark, so by definition if you get 90, you have beaten 90% of the other students and 10% have beaten you.
If you look at the table at the bottom of this page -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCE_Advanced_Level_(United_Kingdom)
in 2013 the top 7.6% of students got A*. That's equivalent to an HSC mark of 100 - 7.6 == 92.4.
It's not relevant, but I am guessing the figures in this table are an average across subjects. I assume the figures are representative of the figures for each individual subject.
To get 3 As, you'd only have to be in the top 26% (approx.) in 3 different subjects. That is a lot more achievable than getting 99 (top 1% of the state) in your HSC. A lot more achievable. I am guessing about 25% more people achieve it....... (yes I know the % of people getting 3 As is not the same as the % of people getting an A in any one subject... but it'd be no where near 1% of students).
Am I missing something?
You could argue that A Levels are intellectually more challenging and / or require more work.... but that's immaterial when you are looking at percentiles and where you finished in relation to the other students. If you make the course harder or easier for everyone, you would expect the marks for each student to stay fairly much the same, within reason, excluding exceptions and extreme scenarios... (just getting in before someone throws in a non sequitur).
If A Levels are harder / require more work, then of course when compared to an HSC mark, they should carry more weight and the students who have done them should be rewarded for their greater achievement. But when trying to gauge who is more intellectually capable... unless the standard of people doing the HSC is lower... then shouldn't you look more towards the percentiles?
The HSC mark is a percentile mark, so by definition if you get 90, you have beaten 90% of the other students and 10% have beaten you.
If you look at the table at the bottom of this page -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCE_Advanced_Level_(United_Kingdom)
in 2013 the top 7.6% of students got A*. That's equivalent to an HSC mark of 100 - 7.6 == 92.4.
It's not relevant, but I am guessing the figures in this table are an average across subjects. I assume the figures are representative of the figures for each individual subject.
To get 3 As, you'd only have to be in the top 26% (approx.) in 3 different subjects. That is a lot more achievable than getting 99 (top 1% of the state) in your HSC. A lot more achievable. I am guessing about 25% more people achieve it....... (yes I know the % of people getting 3 As is not the same as the % of people getting an A in any one subject... but it'd be no where near 1% of students).
Am I missing something?
You could argue that A Levels are intellectually more challenging and / or require more work.... but that's immaterial when you are looking at percentiles and where you finished in relation to the other students. If you make the course harder or easier for everyone, you would expect the marks for each student to stay fairly much the same, within reason, excluding exceptions and extreme scenarios... (just getting in before someone throws in a non sequitur).
If A Levels are harder / require more work, then of course when compared to an HSC mark, they should carry more weight and the students who have done them should be rewarded for their greater achievement. But when trying to gauge who is more intellectually capable... unless the standard of people doing the HSC is lower... then shouldn't you look more towards the percentiles?
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