A new policy will let university med school applicants find a place more easily.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has re-authorised policies that govern the selection and interviewing of applicants to study medicine at Australian universities.

The new ‘Preference and Interview Policies’ are a collaboration between ten university medical schools in the GAMSAT Consortium.

Under the Preference Policy, applicants submit a single online application listing six medical schools they want to apply for in order of preference.

This will be combined with the new One Interview Policy, where qualifying applicants will receive only one offer for an interview.

If an applicant is not offered a place by the interviewing medical school, the applicant’s interview results will be referred to their next nominated medical school.

“These policies streamline the application and interview process and produce cost savings for the medical schools. Students are also likely to benefit by avoiding the costs of attending multiple interviews,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

“The ACCC is satisfied that there are steps in place to ensure the fairness and integrity of the selection and interview process.”

“This decision highlights how the higher education sector can use the authorisation process to enable collaborative arrangements that would otherwise raise competition law issues.”

Medical schools will continue to compete for the preferences of applicants.

The universities currently in the GAMSAT Consortium are:

  • Australian National University
  • Deakin University
  • Flinders University
  • Griffith University
  • University of Melbourne
  • Monash University
  • University of Notre Dame Australia
  • University of Queensland
  • University of Western Australia
  • University of Wollongong