25 October 2023
Sarah Han
By email
: [FYI request #24246 email]
Tēnā koe Sarah
I refer to your information request dated 26 September 2023 made under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). You have requested information in relation to entry to the Bachelor of Medicine and
Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes via the Health
Sciences First Year (HSFY) category for international students.
Please see our responses to each of your questions below.
1. Total number of students currently studying HSFY in 2023 including international students
Please see the below table which shows the total number of students enrolled in HSFY at the
University of Otago as at 31 August 2023, broken down by international and domestic students:
Number of students
enrolled in HSFY
Domestic
814
International
105
Total
919
2. Total number of HSFY students and international HSFY students in 2019 – 2022
Please see the below table which shows the total number of students enrolled in HSFY at the
University of Otago as at 31 December each year from 2019 – 2022, broken down by international and
domestic students:
Number of students enrolled in HSFY
2019
2020
2021
2022
Domestic
937
952
941
815
International
82
60
46
69
Total
1,019
1,012
987
884
3. The lowest successful HSFY average academic score of who entered MB ChB and BDS under
the international entry pathway from 2019 – 2022
4. The average successful academic score of students who entered MB ChB and BDS under the
international entry pathway from 2019 – 2022
5. The median academic score of students who entered MB ChB and BDS under international
entry pathway from 2019 – 2022
Subject to the following comments, please see the below tables which show the minimum, average
and median average academic scores of students who entered (i.e., accepted offers to) the BDS and
MB ChB programmes via the HSFY category for international students from 2019 – 2022:
• please note that the data includes students who may have received a pre-conditional offer to
enter the MB ChB or BDS programmes via the HSFY category for international students.
• it is also important to note that an applicant’s average academic score is not the only factor in
determining whether an applicant is successful in receiving an offer to enter the MB ChB or
BDS programmes. Further information on the entry requirements for both programmes is
available on the University website:
o
BDS
o
MB ChB
Average Academic Scores for International Students who entered the
BDS programme from 2019 - 2022
2019
2020
2021
2022
Minimum Score
77.29
67.43
69.71
67.14
Average Score
84.53
82.79
84.95
72.17
Median Score
86.00
82.78
87.50
72.71
Average Academic Scores for International Students who entered the
MB ChB programme from 2019 - 2022
2019
2020
2021
2022
Minimum Score
67.58
74.14
78.29
72.71
Average Score
75.32
84.78
90.29
84.08
Median Score
74.34
85.29
94.14
82.71
6. The total number of international applicants who applied for MB ChB and BDS from 2019 –
2022
7. The total number of international students who received an offer for MB ChB and BDS from
2019 – 2022
8. The total number of international students who accepted an offer for MB ChB and BDS from
2019 – 2022
Please see the below tables which show the number of HSFY international applicants to the 2019 –
2022 MB ChB and BDS programmes, as well as the number of applicants to receive and accept their
offers to enter the programmes:
BDS programme via the HSFY category for international students
Number of
Number to
Number to enter the programme
applicants
receive offers
(accept offer)
2019
49
18
14
2020
90
39
32
2021
44
16
13
2022
34
13
6
MB ChB programme via the HSFY category for international students
Number of
Number to
Number to enter the programme
applicants
receive offers
(accept offer)
2019
42
16
8
2020
59
17
10
2021
45
13
8
2022
41
17
12
I trust that this information will be helpful.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
