21 July 2023
By email
: [FYI request #23290 email]
Tēnā koe Olivia
I refer to your request for information dated 28 June 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982. You have requested information in relation to UCAT thresholds for the Bachelor of Medicine and
Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) programme at the University of Otago.
Please see below our responses to each of your questions.
1. Whether there are any specific plans to increase the UCAT Verbal Reasoning threshold for
the 2023 admission cycle (for 2024 entry into MB ChB) to be beyond the bottom 20th
percentile?
2. Whether there are any specific plans to increase the UCAT Situational Judgement threshold
for the 2023 admission cycle (for 2024 entry into MB ChB) to be beyond the bottom 10th
percentile?
3. Whether there are any specific plans to introduce thresholds in any of the other three UCAT
sections (Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning) for the 2023
admission cycle (for 2024 entry into MB ChB)
The use of UCAT, including the UCAT thresholds, is decided upon annually by the Medical Admissions
Committee. The UCAT thresholds for entry to the 2024 MB ChB programme, including which
categories will be considered, have not been discussed or set yet. They are expected to be confirmed
and set in December 2023.
4. What were the 2022 admission cycle (for 2023 entry into MB ChB) UCAT thresholds?
As noted above, the MB ChB UCAT criteria are set annually by the University’s Medical Admissions
Committee. Where UCAT was used as a threshold for admission, the thresholds for entry to the 2023
MB ChB programme were as follows:
• Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at or above the 20th percentile.
• Situational Judgement: threshold set above the lowest 10th percentile.
• Scores for Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning were not
considered.
I trust that this information will be helpful.
Yours sincerely
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
