International student offers, quotas, deferment, transfer & change of immigration status
Offers
Offers of places are made by the Dean of Sydney Medical School to those applicants who are considered to be most suitable, progressing through the suitable categories until all places have been offered.
Applicants are required to meet or exceed a minimum MMI score which will be determined by the Admissions Committee. Applicants will then be ranked on the basis of a combination of the admissions test results and interview performance. This will generate a single ranked list of applicants.
Firm offers are only made to applicants who are already graduates. Provisional offers are made to applicants who have not completed the final year of their bachelor degree at the time of interview. The provisional offer lapses if the applicant fails to achieve a GPA of 5.5 or above on completion of the degree. An original academic transcript of the completed degree must be submitted to Sydney Medical School as soon as it is available. Where the transcript does not state that the degree has been conferred, an award letter issued by your Faculty or University, showing the scheduled date of graduation ceremony, must also be provided.
Successful applicants are given a firm date by which to accept the offer of a place; offers not accepted in writing by that date lapse.
No applicant will be admitted to a graduate-entry medical program with advanced standing and exemptions from participating in part of the program will not be offered. Notwithstanding the above, approval for exemptions from the non clinical components of Stages 1 and 2 of the Medical Program will be considered for applicants who have completed the requirements of the Bachelor of Dentistry at the University of Sydney.
Quotas
International applicants compete for places only against other international applicants. The quota for international students is additional to the quota for local students. In 2013, up to 80 international students will be admitted to the Medical Program.
Deferment
Deferment of enrolment following offer of a place in the Medical Program is discouraged except in the following circumstances:
- Progression to Honours, Masters or a PhD. Before deferment is granted supporting documentation must be provided giving details of enrolment, and written support from proposed supervisor(s) as to the nature of the program. Such deferment is to encourage applicants to undertake research in their chosen field.
- Deferment will not normally be granted for completion of "professional years" except where awarding of a Bachelor degree is dependent upon such completion.
- Otherwise deferment of an offer will only be considered under exceptional circumstances which could not have been foreseen at the time of application.
- Requests for deferment must be in writing and must be received by 30 November. Deferment can only be granted one year at a time and will not be expected to last longer than two years. Requests will be considered by the Admissions Committee and the Dean of Sydney Medical School.
Transfer
Transfer of enrolment between medical schools is not possible except in exceptional circumstances. Applications for transfer for 2013 close on 29 June 2012.
Transfer will not be considered if an applicant has applied to the Medical Program but has been rejected.
Applicants for transfer must have met the requirements for admission to the Medical Program that were in place at the time of admission to the prior medical school.
Applicants for transfer must complete at least 50 per cent of the Medical Program (ie transfers will only be considered for entry into Stage 1, Stage 2 or the start of Stage 3).
Matters that the Dean will consider in reviewing an application for transfer include:
- The circumstances leading to a request for transfer;
- Whether the medical program curriculum undertaken by the applicant at the prior institution is comparable to the Medical Program, as determined by Sydney Medical School;
- The academic performance of the applicant in the prior medical school; and
- The availability of places in the year applied for.
- It may be that applicants will be required to undertake a barrier examination that permits entry into the appropriate year.
Applicants will be required to release all documents relevant to their current course.
Please complete a Transfer Application Form (PDF) and return it along with the required documents via email:
Change of immigration status
Please note this policy is subject to change
There are three possible situations relating to the position of international applicants to the Medical Program who change their immigration status:
1. The applicant’s status changes before an offer is made.
If an international student is granted permanent resident status (or New Zealand citizenship) before an offer is made, his/her application will be void. He/she may re-apply for a domestic place in a subsequent intake.
2. An international student becomes a permanent resident of Australia (or a New Zealand citizen) after an offer is made and prior to enrolment.
An international student who is granted permanent residency (or New Zealand citizenship) after an offer is made and prior to enrolment must be re-assessed for admission into a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)*. For this purpose, a student is considered to have commenced his/her course at the date on which he/she attended enrolment for the course.
Eligibility for admission to a CSP is dependent upon:
- the standard of results achieved in your previous academic qualifications (and in any other entry requirement) relating to the course for which you seek admission being equivalent to that required by a domestic student to obtain a CSP in the course, and,
- a CSP being available in the course.
If an applicant is not eligible for admission to a CSP in his/her applied course, the offer may be revoked and he/she may apply for admission to a course for which he/she meets the entry requirements for a CSP.
The date of becoming a permanent resident is the date stamped on the student’s passport or a "Certificate of Evidence of Resident Status" from the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), not the date on which the application for status is made.
3. An international student becomes a permanent resident of Australia (or a New Zealand citizen) after enrolment.
An international student who is granted permanent residency (or New Zealand citizenship) after enrolment may, according to the Higher Education Support Act 2003, transfer to a Domestic Full Fee Paying place. If the student obtains Permanent Residency Status or advises the University after the census date, the student will be classified as an international student for the remainder of that semester. The student will be classified as permanent resident from the following semester or term.
* For the purposes of admission into the MBBS, students may be offered a standard CSP or a Bonded Medical Place (BMP) or Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship Scheme Places (MRBSS). The type of CSP offered will be based on the standard of the applicant’s academic qualifications and the availability of places. Further information about BMPs or MRBSS places can be obtained from http://www.health.gov.au/bmpscheme or http://www.health.gov.au/mrbscholarships.