HSFY options, compared
For most HSFY students, Cutline is the better choice. Here's how every option compares.
There are five main ways to get help with Otago HSFY outside lectures. We checked each one's public site on 11 November 2026 and put the numbers side by side.
| Provider | Price for summer + all of 2027 | Format | Every HSFY paper | Mock exams | Refund policy published | Full comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutline | NZ$1,449 | App + live Q&A | Yes | Yes | Yes, 14 days | See Cutline Summer |
| MedView | NZ$2,700 for summer classes alone | Live online classes, 1:1 at NZ$100/hr | Core papers, no eighth papers | Workshops sold separately | We could not find one | Cutline vs MedView |
| Mastery Modules | No summer product. NZ$49 a paper | Question bank | CHEM191 and BIOC192 "Coming Soon" | Practice exams | Conditional guarantee | Cutline vs Mastery Modules |
| BrainBank | No summer product. NZ$100 a semester | Anki + Moodle quizzes | Core papers | Per module | We could not find one | Cutline vs BrainBank |
| Mentra | NZ$160 an hour | 1:1 tutoring | Tutoring | We could not find any | We could not find one | Cutline vs Mentra |
What we believe
Why 1:1 tutoring isn't enough
An hour a week with a tutor is one hour. HSFY is the other twenty you spend alone with lectures, and that is where most students get stuck. We built Cutline for those hours. Lessons are taught through walkthrough videos from Otago medicine and dentistry students who sat the same papers, so you can pause, rewind and rewatch the exact bit you didn't get, at 11pm the night before a test if that's when it clicks. Then you practise it straight away with questions written for the Otago exams.
We think understanding something at your own pace beats waiting a week to ask about it. That is the whole idea behind Cutline.
How to choose
If you want a live teacher for every lesson and budget isn't the issue, a live tutoring company fits.
If you only want extra questions for one paper, a single-paper question bank is the cheapest option.
If you want to start before semester and have every paper covered until your last exam, that is what Cutline is built for.
You also don't have to pay anyone. The University of Otago doesn't endorse private providers or recommend paying for them, and many students do well from lectures alone.
Checked 11 November 2026. Prices and products change; each provider's own site has their latest. Cutline is not affiliated with the University of Otago or any provider listed.