For the 2026 intake, 284 people applied to Otago Medicine through the general graduate pathway and 51 got an offer. In Dentistry, 242 graduate applications in the same pathway produced 15 offers. If you're searching for the Otago graduate entry acceptance rate, those two lines are most of the answer, and the five-year picture behind them tells you more.
All the figures here come from Otago's own Admissions Statistics 2026 reports for Medicine and Dentistry, published in April 2026. The offer rates are our own arithmetic on Otago's numbers.
What is the Otago graduate entry acceptance rate for Medicine?
In the Graduate category's general pathway, Otago offered a place to between about 1 in 5 and 1 in 7 applications in each of the last five intakes.
| Intake | Applications | Offers | Accepted | Offers per application |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 247 | 36 | 31 | 14.6% |
| 2023 | 269 | 39 | 26 | 14.5% |
| 2024 | 235 | 49 | 31 | 20.9% |
| 2025 | 220 | 32 | 25 | 14.5% |
| 2026 | 284 | 51 | 41 | 18.0% |
Read the rate with care. Otago counts applications, and its report notes that one person can apply under more than one pathway, so applications and people don't line up one to one. Graduates in the Māori, Pacific, socioeconomic, refugee and rural pathways have separate figures in the same report, and those pathways are selected first.
What weighted GPA got an offer?
| Intake | Medicine, general pathway | Dentistry, general pathway |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.59 to 9.70 | 8.13 to 9.53 |
| 2023 | 8.43 to 9.91 | 8.63 to 9.91 |
| 2024 | 8.13 to 9.65 (first round from 8.90) | 7.93 to 9.55 (first round from 8.60) |
| 2025 | 8.15 to 9.78 (first round from 8.66) | Withheld, fewer than five |
| 2026 | 8.12 to 10.33 | 8.85 to 10.43 |
Each range runs from the lowest to the highest weighted GPA that received an offer, including waiting list offers. Scores above 9.00 are possible in these years because Otago's old calculation allowed them. From 2027 entry, Otago's new method caps the weighted GPA at 9.00, and its admissions FAQ says you can't compare new scores with previous years. Treat these ranges as a sign of how strong the field is, rather than a target to hit.
The Otago graduate entry numbers for Dentistry
Dentistry adds an interview, which Otago uses as a threshold. Among applicants who clear it, the weighted academic score decides.
| Intake | Applications | Interviewed | Offers | Accepted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 117 | Not reported | 17 | 6 |
| 2023 | 150 | Not reported | 20 | 6 |
| 2024 | 146 | 70 | 22 | 7 |
| 2025 | 187 | 57 | 9 | Fewer than five |
| 2026 | 242 | 79 | 15 | 6 |
Applications more than doubled from 2022 to 2026, while offers went from 17 to 15. For 2026, about 1 in 16 general pathway graduate applications led to an offer, and about 1 in 5 interviewed applicants got one. Otago's interview counts start from the 2024 intake. Our guide to Otago's BDS graduate category covers how the interview and ranking work.
Why you might have seen 24 offers, not 32
An Official Information Act request, OIA 30307 on fyi.org.nz, asked Otago about 2025 graduate entry. Otago's response in May 2025, with data as at 15 May 2025, gave 24 general graduate Medicine offers with 20 accepted, 57 general graduate Dentistry interviews, and fewer than five general graduate Dentistry offers.
Later figures are higher. Otago's January 2026 response to OIA 33244, with data as at 14 July 2025, and its April 2026 statistics reports both give 32 Medicine offers with 25 accepted, and 9 Dentistry offers. The documents we read don't explain the change, so we use the later figures, which match Otago's published report. The lowest offers in both sources agree: 8.66 for a first-round Medicine offer and 8.15 including the waiting list.
What the numbers mean for your plan
- Aim for the A range, most of all at 300 level. Otago's lowest Medicine offers in the general pathway sat above 8 in each of the five years, which is around an A average or better on its old scale.
- Don't plan around a cut-off. The new 9.00 cap makes old numbers a rough guide only, and each year's line depends on who applies.
- Treat Dentistry as narrower than Medicine. Its general graduate pathway has made fewer offers than Medicine's in each of the last five intakes, and you have to clear an interview first.
- Keep a second path open. Auckland's graduate entry from 2028 and Waikato's new school give you more than one shot each year.
For the whole Medicine intake, including HSFY, read Otago Medical School's acceptance rate. For how the weighted GPA is calculated now, read our worked weighted GPA example. The full set of graduate routes is in our complete guide to graduate entry Medicine in NZ.
About 1 in 6 general pathway applications got a Medicine offer for 2026, and each of those offers went to a weighted GPA above 8. You can start planning for that number this semester, whatever year of your degree you're in.
FAQ
How many graduates get into Otago Medicine each year?
In the general graduate pathway, Otago made between 32 and 51 offers in each intake from 2022 to 2026. Graduates in the equity pathways have their own tables in Otago's report.
What GPA do you need for graduate entry at Otago?
Otago doesn't publish a cut-off. Under its old method, the lowest general pathway Medicine offer was between 8.12 and 8.59 in each year from 2022 to 2026. Scores under the new method, capped at 9.00, can't be compared with them.
Is graduate entry Dentistry at Otago harder than Medicine?
In the general pathway for 2026, yes, by offers per application: 15 offers from 242 Dentistry applications against 51 from 284 for Medicine. Dentistry also needs you to clear an interview.
Want to see how your own grades compare, and what to fix first? Take the free 60-second graduate entry check and get a roadmap for your stage.
Cutline is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Otago. Figures are from Otago's Admissions Statistics 2026 reports for the MB ChB and BDS (April 2026) and its responses to OIA requests 30307 and 33244, checked 11 October 2026. Offer rates are our calculations from Otago's figures. Admission rules change every year, so check the official pages for the year you're applying.