Clinical Admissions Selection

In 2025 (for 2026 entry) the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS) has seen a significant increase in the total number of applications for programmes that participate in the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) process, namely:

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB)
• Bachelor of Optometry (BOptom)
• Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm)
• Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Honours) (BMedImag(Hons))
• Master of Audiology (MAud)
• Master of Health Sciences in Nutrition and Dietetics (MHSc Nutrition and Dietetics)

The number of unique applications per programme is listed below for 2025 and 2026 entry.

In recent years we have usually invited around 1200 unique applicants to an MMI interview. In 2025, we invited more than 1300 unique applicants and scheduled 1224 interviews. This was the highest number of applicants interviewed through this process since its commencement. The interview capacity has increased over time, which was in part enabled by the move to Kira Talent, the online platform we now use.

The invitation to MMI process uses historical information and trends to ensure all individual programmes interview enough eligible applicants to fill the available places.

For 2023, 2024 and 2025 entry to clinical programmes, based on the number of eligible applicants, we were able to invite all applicants who met the ‘eligibility GPA’ for all programmes for all categories.

In the years prior to 2023, the GPA cut off for MMI interview offers was considerably higher than the minimum eligibility GPA, and we saw a return to that this this year.

Prior to 2025, both Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) and Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Science) (BSc (Biomed)) students completed CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107 and POPLHLTH 111 in Semester One, and MEDSCI 142 in Semester Two. The GPA for MMI invitation (for MBChB and BPharm) was calculated from an applicant’s final grades in CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107 and POPLHLTH 111, plus an optimal placeholder grade (A+) for MEDSCI 142. This calculation resulted in an MMI ranking GPA which was 25% optimal grades.

With the introduction of the Waipapa Taumata Rau (WTR) course in 2025, CHEM 110 was moved to Semester Two for BHSc students. For BSc (Biomed) students, the WTR course was able to directly replace the General Education course in the Semester One timetable. This change meant that only two of the four core courses were being completed in Semester One by both BHSc and BSc (Biomed) students.

To accommodate this change, the FMHS Undergraduate Admissions Subcommittee approved a change to the GPA calculation for MMI ranking/invitation. For 2026 entry, the GPA for MMI ranking was comprised of an applicant’s final grades in their Semester One courses (excluding WTRMHS 100 and WTRSCI 100), plus optimal placeholder grades (A+) for each of their four Semester Two courses. This calculation results in an MMI ranking GPA which was more than 50% optimal grades for applicants who are currently enrolled in First Year courses. This GPA calculation was used for MMI invitation for all undergraduate clinical programmes: MBChB, Bachelor of Optometry, Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Hons) and Bachelor of Pharmacy. This resulted in higher GPA cut offs for invite to interview than in recent years. This approach to using optimal grades is routinely applied to all categories of applicants with in-progress courses.

The inclusion of optimal grades in the GPA calculation for First Year applicants for MMI ranking/invitations does not affect their ranked order as compared to a ranking based on actual grades. This remains true whether there are one, four, or any number of placeholder A+ grades included in the GPA calculation.

The final ranking GPA calculation for selection into the programmes has not changed. MBChB and Bachelor of Pharmacy will still use the ‘core four courses’ (CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107, POPLHLTH 111 and MEDSCI 142). Bachelor of Optometry and Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Hons) will still use the ‘core seven courses’ (CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107, POPLHLTH 111, MEDSCI 142, BIOSCI 101, BIOSCI 106 and PHYSICS 160).

The change to the GPA calculation for First Year applicants for interview selection inflates the GPA compared to previous years, whereas the methodology for determining the GPA for Graduate applicants for interview offer selection has not changed.

We want to assure you that there has been no disadvantage to Graduate applicants caused by this change, as Graduate applicants are considered separately from First Year applicants for interview offers. This process has been in place for over ten years.

When eligible applicants are ranked for interview offers, different GPA cut offs are set for First Year applicants and Graduate applicants. While we do not currently have a specific number of seats ring-fenced, the proportion of Graduate applicants invited to MMI this year is similar to previous years. In September 2025, we interviewed more applicants than ever before across the six programmes that use MMI as a selection tool.

Below are the summary tables for the GPA cut points for invitation to MMI collated for the last five years.

Please note:

• These tables should be read in conjunction with the Programme Limitations, Regulations and Deans Determination for full context
• Applicants who are invited to the MMI for more than one programme only undertake one interview and therefore only occupy one MMI ‘space’. The score from the MMI is then used for all programmes they were invited for

Information to support when reading these tables:

• Applicants can apply for multiple programmes (i.e. they may have multiple ‘applications’)
• ‘Number of applicants invited to interview’ indicates the number of applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and the GPA cut point for a MMI invitation for a specific programme and category
• For MBChB, Gen-Grad (in progress) refers to applicants who are applying under the General Graduate Entry category who are still completing their qualifying programme and therefore have optimal grades contributing to their GPA at the time of MMI invitations
• For MBChB, Gen-Grad (completed) refers to applicants who are applying under the General Graduate Entry category who have completed their qualifying programme and have their final GPA at the point of MMI invitations

The admission requirements and processes are contained within the following documents: