All graduate applicants require a recognised bachelor's degree to be considered for entry into this course. Applicants who have completed a higher degree without having completed a recognised bachelor's degree will not be eligible for consideration.
Students who have not yet completed their initial Bachelor's degree may apply during their final year. A course offer in this case would be conditional on completion of all degree requirements by 31 December of the year prior to course commencement.
There is no 10-year rule for graduate entry into this course, which means that applicants with degrees older than 10 years, including the initial Bachelor's degree, will be considered should they meet the sGPA and other minimum eligibility requirements.
sGPA calculation method
The UWA Admissions team will calculate the sGPA on a scale of 7.0 according to the GEMSAS calculation method, with some variations and clarifications:
- sGPA is calculated from the most recent completed study going back three years from semester one of the application year. A full-time equivalent (FTE) will be calculated where there are periods of part-time, overload or non-contiguous studies.
- Each year is weighted equally: ("GPA most recent year" + "GPA 2nd most recent year" + "GPA 3rd most recent year")/3.
- The sGPA for students who have not completed the equivalent of three full time years of study as at the application period will be calculated from available graded results. A minimum of one year FTE of graded results is required to calculate the sGPA.
- No preference or scaling is given to particular universities or fields of study.
- Special consideration cannot be granted as part of the admissions process for this course. sGPA will be calculated from an applicant's results as they appear on their transcript.
- sGPA as calculated by UWA may differ to that calculated according to the basic GEMSAS instructions.
What is included in the sGPA calculation
The sGPA calculation is from degree units going back in chronological order, regardless of exemptions, credit or advanced standing which may have been applied to the most recent degree. Where there are periods of part-time study, overloading, or non-continguous studies the equivalent of three full time years of study will be calculated. A minimum of one year FTE of graded results is required to calculate the sGPA.
The sGPA calculation includes recognised bachelor's, graduate certificate, graduate diploma, master's by coursework studies, and takes into account complete research degree studies, that is, honours, master's by research and PhD levels of study. Research degree studies must be completed by the end of semester one of the application year (or equivalent period). Such degree studies due for completion later in the application year will not be taken into account. See information below regarding the treatment of research degree studies.
Recognised degrees are those conferred by Australian or overseas universities or higher education institutions recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), or the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR).
All graduate applicants for the DMD and International applicants for the MD must provide all transcripts for studies not undertaken at UWA with their UWA application.
Domestic MD applicants who have undertaken additional study (whether postgraduate or additional bachelor level study) should indicate and provide transcripts via the GEMSAS application (when prompted to by the application questions). For most Australian universities the GEMSAS application system will directly gather transcripts through the Automated Results Transfer System (ARTS).
Accelerated Bachelor's degrees and conversion courses
UWA will accept recognised two-year accelerated bachelor's degrees and one-year or two-year conversion degrees for the purpose of graduate admission into this course. Applicants who are in progress of a one-year conversion degree must complete that course before applying, unless they also hold a previously completed bachelor's degree. A minimum of one year FTE of graded results is required to calculate the sGPA.
Postgraduate degrees by research
Applicants with a completed PhD at time of application will be awarded a sGPA of 7.0. Applicants with a completed master's by research at time of application will be awarded a bonus of 0.2 to be added to their overall sGPA. Incomplete honours, master's by research and PhDs are not considered in the sGPA calculation. In order to be included, all research degree requirements must be met by semester one of the application year (or the equivalent period).
Completed UWA Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)
Applicants who have completed UWA's MD and are applying for the DMD will be awarded a sGPA of 7.0. Applicants who have completed UWA's DMD and are applying for the MD will be awarded an sGPA of 7.0.
Ungraded passes
The credit value/unit weighting of ungraded passes will count towards the three years of FTE study; however, the result itself is left out of the calculation. For example, if a student has 0.125 FTE of ungraded pass in a particular year, that year's sGPA will be based on 0.875 FTE of results. Where an applicant has more than one year or FTE of ungraded passes within their most recent three years FTE the calculation will include results from older study where available.
A minimum of one year FTE of graded results is required to calculate the sGPA.
Ungraded or graded fails
Both the result and credit value/weighting of ungraded fails are included in the sGPA calculation. An ungraded fail will confer a sGPA result of 0 for that unit. All Fail results falling within the most recent three years FTE, whether graded or ungraded, will be included in the sGPA calculation.
COVID19 - Treatment of Results from Semester 1 2020
As a temporary measure due to impacts of COVID19, all results obtained from studies undertaken during Semester 1 2020, and concurrent non-standard study periods, were treated as ungraded pass/fail in the sGPA calculation. As the impact from this period on the overall sGPA has lessened, the sGPA calculation will now treat results from this period as shown on the transcript. Fail results that appear on the transcript will be included in the sGPA calculation (regardless of their treatment on the transcript GPA).
Minimal results in the current year of study
Where an applicant has 0.25 FTE (or less) of results for their final sGPA year, the calculation will include older study. Where no older study is available, the sGPA will be calculated from only the GPA 2nd most recent and GPA 3rd most recent years. Where there has been no older study, and if an applicant is made an offer, it will be conditional upon their performance in all enrolled units which had been incomplete during the application year (see information below about conditional offers).
Exchange studies/Cross-Institutional studies
The sGPA calculation will use the results that appear on the home university's transcript. In most cases, such studies are shown as an ungraded pass or an ungraded fail. If an applicant has ungraded pass/fail units amounting to more than one year FTE of their most recent three FTE years of study, the Admissions team may require the applicant to provide the host university's actual graded results.
Credit/Exemptions/Advanced Standing
The sGPA is calculated from units that an applicant has undertaken in the most recent three study years FTE, regardless of credit/exemptions/advanced standing units which have been applied to the most recent degree. This will include any Fail results which fall within the most recent 3 years FTE.
Credit/Exemptions/Advanced Standing from pre-Bachelor's Diploma studies
Results from Diploma or other studies completed as a pathway to Bachelor degree studies will not be included in the sGPA calculation, including where such studies have been credited to a Bachelor's degree.
Repeated units/subjects
Where an applicants has successfully completed a unit and later repeated the same unit (or an equivalent unit) the result from the second attempt will not be include in the GPA calculation, regardless of whether the unit was taken as part of degree studies.
If a unit has been repeated due to failing the first time, then the standard sGPA rules apply. That is, all units completed within the most recent three years of valid full time or equivalent study will be included in the calculation, including the fail result if it falls within the most recent three years FTE.
Not for degree studies
Results from individual units which are not taken as part of a degree are not included in the sGPA calculation, excepting where not-for-degree study constitutes more than 0.5 year of FTE study.
As an example, where an applicant's study includes 4 Access UWA undergraduate units within the most recent three years, these would not be included as the 4 units are equivalent to 0.5 year of FTE study. If 5 Access UWA undergraduate units have been undertaken within the most recent three years or full-time equivalent, these would be included in the sGPA calculation, as this exceeds 0.5 years of FTE study.
Further queries
Further queries may be addressed to the Admissions team. While advice can be provided regarding specific circumstances, a full sGPA calculation cannot be provided without a formal application.
