I Didn’t Get a Good Enough UCAT Score – What Should I Do?

Application and acceptance into medical school is no small task, it is a journey that may not always go the way you want it to. Part of the difficulty is that the application to medical school has many components, and if even one goes wrong it can interfere with your chances of acceptance. You may find yourself in the very common position of looking at your UCAT score and wondering if your chance to enter medical school is gone. Or perhaps you are trying to learn about the different pathways into medical school to pick the right one. If so, this is the blog for you.

Getting into medicine from first year University is not the ONLY way to get into medical school. The beauty of medicine is that there are many pathways that you can take to follow your dreams. This blog will outline the pathways open to students looking for a future in medicine, and what might influence which pathway is best for you.

What if my UCAT score is low?

The UCAT can be a wild card in your application to medicine. It is a single exam that could go better or worse than you expect it to. If your score is lower than expected it can be a challenge to recover, but there are a number of pathways still open to you.

What is a good score?

This will vary annually and is based on which university you are applying to. At the University of Otago (UoO) you only need to reach a threshold score in the UCAT, it does not matter how high you get beyond that. For 2026 entry, you must achieve a UCAT score above the bottom 10^th percentile in Situational Judgement and above the 20^th percentile in Verbal reasoning. The other UCAT subtests have historically not been considered by UoO. A critically low score at Otago will mean graduate application with another attempt at the UCAT is your best option.

At Auckland, UCAT score is weighted at 15%, with other components (GPA and interview) making up the other 85% to determine entrance. There is no minimum score as such. A low UCAT can be compensated for by an excellent GPA or interview. In 2024 the lowest successful score was 2974 and the highest unsuccessful score was 3767 (including situational judgement) under the HSFY general admissions category. A low score at Auckland might mean you need to work harder to make up for the low score, as well as increasing the likelihood you need to apply as a graduate.

Auckland University invites top candidates to a MMI interview, about half of which are accepted into medical school. It is a good idea to start preparing for your interview after you are invited for one, as there is usually a long time between the invite and the interview itself. An excellent interview (weighted 25%) can more than make up for an average UCAT (weighted 15%).

As a general guide, a total UCAT score of around 2150+ (estimated 80^th percentile and above) is considered strong and competitive for both Otago and Auckland. However, lower scores can still give you a realistic chance, particularly if you perform well in other areas like GPA and interview.

If your score in the UCAT is low, you can consider the graduate entry pathway. This would give you at least another two years to raise your UCAT score, and potentially some other benefits.

The pathways for entry are explained below:

Pathways for entrance

• First year entry

• First year entry with entrance scheme

• Graduate entry

• Graduate entry with entrance scheme

• Other options

First year entry

The ideal for most students is entry into medical school as soon as possible – after first year Uni. This means excellent grades in the first year of study at Auckland or Otago University as well as a strong UCAT. You will also need a good interview if applying at Auckland. Your first year of study will be in a health science or biomedical science degree.

For students applying for first year entry, the process is extremely competitive. While achieving entrance should always be the goal, it might be useful to keep in mind that a very narrow group of people are selected to enter medical school after first year study. This number is also shrinking with time as the Universities shift towards a graduate focus. Realistically, applicants should expect to need a top GPA, especially at Otago where GPA contributes 100% to entrance ranking. This being said, first year entry is very possible, with about 100 students selected every year at each of the two medical schools. It is still very good to know about other options just in case.

If you are a student trying for first year entry, your priority should be to aim for as close to a 9.0 GPA as possible. GPA is 60% of your application to Auckland med school, and 100% at Otago. A high GPA can be maintained with good study habits, hard work, and planning. You should use some of this planning for your UCAT as well, ensuring you get as high as possible (especially at Auckland) with some early preparation. A poor UCAT at Auckland can mean you are unlikely to gain entrance from first year, and graduate application may be a better option. You may also benefit from finding a mentor who has recently been admitted to medical school to direct questions at. You are unlikely to benefit from interview practice until your exams are finished, but some volunteer experience and self-reflection throughout the year may be helpful for this.

First year entry with entrance scheme

Auckland and Otago University are highly committed to improving representation in the future health workforce, in particular for Rural, Māori, and Pacific populations. As part of this programme, the Universities have entrance schemes, which consist of dedicated placements in the medical degree for particular students. If you qualify for these entrance schemes (MAPAS / RRAS at Auckland, sub-categories at Otago), they are likely the single most effective way to improve your chances for entrance to the medical programme. Approximately 60-80 places every year are set aside specifically for MAPAS students at Auckland University alone, which is clearly an excellent reason to pursue this pathway if possible.

Note – students who do not qualify for these schemes should remember that they exist for a reason. Approximately 17% of the population are Māori, and only 4.7% of doctors are Māori.

Graduate Entry

The graduate entry pathway is open to students who have graduated recently from a New Zealand/overseas University, along with a UCAT and interview. Students completing a degree outside New Zealand may not need to sit the UCAT. Graduate entry is a pathway to medical school that creates some of the best doctors, those with prior life experience. Many students apply through this pathway after an unsuccessful first year entry, and others apply out of newfound interest in medicine.

Students who are unsuccessful in first year application, or get a low UCAT score, are faced with a choice. Some people apply to other clinical programmes like optometry or pharmacy at the same time as medicine, and are accepted into one of these degrees. Applications for these should be made at the same time as your application to the medical school. Other students continue with their health science or biomedical science degrees, and some switch entirely to something they are more interested in. Regardless, upon completing these degrees all students graduating with a GPA over 6, and a recent UCAT score, can apply to medicine as a graduate. If a low UCAT score was the reason you were unsuccessful in first year, you fortunately have upwards of two years to prepare for a UCAT re-sit.

Facing further years of study to apply for medicine again can be daunting, but there are several benefits which help soften the blow. Graduates often have the ability to work in their graduating field during the early parts of their medical degree (nursing, pharmacy, optometry…), with the benefit of receiving an income. They also usually have relevant knowledge to the medical programme from their previous degree, and the life experience to better connect with patients.
 
Note – graduate applicants benefit similarly from entry schemes and should definitely consider these again if possible.

Other pathways

Another pathway to medical school for New Zealand students is applying to Australian Universities. Applications to these are typically done at the end of year 13, so sitting the UCAT in year 13 is a must. For some students the allure of direct entrance to medical school rather than application after first year university is a significant benefit, as well as the fact that there are many universities in Australia to apply to. Note that Australian universities generally have higher requirements for UCAT. Some Australian universities can weigh UCAT scores at upwards of 50% of the final criteria required for securing a place, and up to 100% of your UCAT may be considered when being selected for medical interviews. This makes performing well in the UCAT vital for students who want to apply for medicine in Australia.

A Final Word

There are advantages and disadvantages to each pathway into Medicine. At the end of the day, if your UCAT and GPA doesn’t get you an interview offer, there are other opportunities available to follow your dreams but you must be willing to work hard and work smart.

Note that the most common pathways into medicine require you to sit UCAT. Therefore, you should consider commencing quality UCAT preparation. Preparing for UCAT over a period of time is the best way to succeed. For more information on pathways to Medicine, and specific entry requirements for each university, please read our free MedEntry UCAT Handbook.

Remember, it is not our successes that define us, it is how we respond to failure.

Last updated: June 2025

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