Health Sciences First Year is seven papers, one year, and one set of marks that decides whether you get into medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy or medical laboratory science. It exists only at Otago, and it is not the same thing as the Bachelor of Health Sciences, which is the single most common mix up.
This is what the year contains, what each paper is like, how the marks are used, and the handful of rules that catch people out. Everything here is from Otago's own pages, read on 17 September 2026.
What HSFY is
It is a first year, not a degree. You enrol in seven prescribed papers, sit them across two semesters, and apply during the year for entry to a professional programme starting the following February. If you get in, HSFY becomes your first year of that degree. If you do not, the papers still count toward a Bachelor of Science, Biomedical Science or similar, so the year is not lost.
HSFY is the required first step into five programmes: Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Medical Laboratory Science. Otago runs eight health sciences professional programmes in total, but only those five have an HSFY admission category. Oral Health, Dental Technology and Radiation Therapy are described as programmes HSFY prepares you for, which is not the same thing, and it is worth knowing the difference before you plan around it.
The seven papers
| Semester | Paper | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| One | CELS 191 | Cell and Molecular Biology |
| One | CHEM 191 | The Chemical Basis of Biology and Human Health |
| One | HUBS 191 | Human Body Systems 1 |
| One | PHSI 191 | Biological Physics |
| Two | BIOC 192 | Foundations of Biochemistry |
| Two | HUBS 192 | Human Body Systems 2 |
| Two | POPH 192 | Population Health |
There is no core versus optional split inside the seven. All of them are compulsory and all of them count. We have written a post on each one: CELS 191, CHEM 191, HUBS 191, PHSI 191, BIOC 192, HUBS 192 and POPH 192.
The optional eighth paper
Most students can apply to add an eighth paper in semester two, from an approved list. It cannot give you an eighth score. What it can do is displace your worst mark, because your academic score is the average of your best seven out of the up to eight you sat.
That is the entire strategic point of it, and it is why the choice matters. You apply through eVision after semester one results come out, so you already know which paper you are trying to displace. We go through the options in choosing an eighth paper.
The approved list is republished every year and papers move on and off it, so check the current one rather than an older guide.
The English diagnostic nobody remembers
Every HSFY student sits a compulsory English diagnostic test in semester one. If you do not pass it, you must take ENGL 128 Essentials of Communication. Both Medicine and Dentistry list the diagnostic or ENGL 128 as an eligibility condition, which means failing to deal with it can end an application that was otherwise fine. It costs almost nothing to handle and it is forgotten every single year.
How your marks are used
Your academic score is the plain mean of your best seven paper marks, as percentages. No paper is weighted more heavily than another, and there is no 4.0 grade point scale. Otago's own worked example takes eight papers of 93, 86, 82, 77, 75, 72, 72 and 70, drops the 70, and divides 557 by seven to reach 79.57.
Then the thresholds differ by programme, and they differ more than people expect.
| Programme | Eligibility from HSFY | UCAT | 2027 domestic places |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine | 65 percent average, pass all seven | Required, threshold only | About 322 |
| Dentistry | 65 percent average, and no paper below 60 percent | Not required | 60 |
| Pharmacy | Pass all seven | Not required | About 120 |
| Physiotherapy | 60 percent average | Not required | 120 |
| Medical Laboratory Science | Pass all seven | Not required | About 70 |
Eligibility is not competitiveness. Clearing 65 percent makes your medicine application valid; it does not make it successful. The lowest score that received a general pathway medicine offer for 2026 entry was 93.14. For dentistry it was 97.00. Those numbers move every year, and the detail is in how to get into medicine in New Zealand and the dentistry version.
Dentistry's 60 percent floor
Worth its own paragraph because it is the rule that most often surprises people. Dentistry requires no prescribed paper below 60 percent, on top of the 65 percent average. One paper at 58 leaves you eligible for medicine and ineligible for dentistry, on the same transcript, in the same year.
The rule almost nobody tells you about
Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Medical Laboratory Science run something called Single Programme Preference. If you will only apply to that one programme, you can say so, and those committees select from the Single Programme Preference applicants first, then fill any remaining places from people who applied to several programmes.
You have to meet an academic threshold to use it, and you can still apply separately to Dental Technology, Oral Health, Radiation Therapy or anything outside the health sciences programmes. But if one of those three is your goal rather than your backup, this materially changes your odds and it is not something most guides mention.
Note that this is a different mechanism from the Medicine and Dentistry preference. That one, new for the 2027 intake, simply makes you nominate which of the two you prefer, and it does not affect your ranking.
Is it hard?
It is hard in a specific way rather than a general one. The content is first year science, and most people who get into HSFY can learn it. What makes the year difficult is that your entire application rests on one set of exams sat in your first year of university, in a cohort where everybody was near the top of their school, and where the line for medicine has landed anywhere between 89 and 93 over the last five years depending on who else applied.
So the difficulty is not really the material. It is volume, pace, and the fact that there is no second attempt in the HSFY category. We have written honestly about that in how hard HSFY really is, what nobody tells you about first year, and what med students regret.
If a paper goes badly
One weak paper is survivable for medicine, because the score is an average and the eighth paper can displace your worst. It is not survivable for dentistry if it drops below 60 percent.
If a progress test goes badly, that is not the same as the year going badly, and the two get confused constantly. There is a whole post on what to do after a bad progress test. If the year does not work out, the graduate route into medicine and dentistry is a well worn path rather than a consolation prize, and from 2028 there is also Waikato's graduate entry MD.
Common questions
What papers do you take in Health Sciences First Year?
Seven compulsory papers. Semester one is CELS 191, CHEM 191, HUBS 191 and PHSI 191. Semester two is BIOC 192, HUBS 192 and POPH 192. You may add an optional eighth paper in semester two.
Is HSFY the same as the Bachelor of Health Sciences?
No. Otago states this explicitly. HSFY is a first year that feeds the professional programmes. The Bachelor of Health Sciences is a separate degree. Auckland's BHSc is a different thing again, and it is Auckland's route into medicine, not Otago's.
What average do you need in HSFY?
It depends on the programme, and eligibility is not the same as what it takes. Medicine and dentistry need 65 percent, physiotherapy 60 percent, pharmacy and medical laboratory science a pass in all seven. The scores that received medicine offers in 2026 started at 93.14.
Can you do HSFY anywhere other than Otago?
No. HSFY exists only at the University of Otago. Auckland has its own first year route into medicine through the Bachelor of Health Sciences or Biomedical Science.
Does the eighth paper count?
Only if it lands in your best seven. It cannot add an eighth score. It can replace your worst mark, which is why people choose it after semester one results, when they know what they are trying to displace.
How to get through it
The honest version: seven papers, and the score is an average, so the paper you are avoiding is the one costing you the most. Most people lose marks to pace rather than to understanding, which is why practising under time matters more than another read through the lecture notes.
Cutline is built by Otago med and dent students for exactly these seven papers. Question banks, timed mock exams and worked explanations for each one, with the first mock in every paper free so you can judge it before deciding anything.
If you have not started yet, Cutline Summer runs from mid November to the end of February and covers the first year papers before you sit them. Enrolment opens on 2 November 2026, and the waitlist and the application are both free and open now.
Cutline is not affiliated with the University of Otago. Every figure on this page comes from Otago's own health sciences and admissions pages, read on 17 September 2026. Paper lists, thresholds and place numbers change every year, so always check the official page for the year you are enrolling in.
