The HSFY Parent Guide 2027: what the year really involves and how to help, in 29 pages. Written by University of Otago Medicine and Dentistry students who sat these papers.
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The HSFY Parent Guide 2027, 29 pages by Otago med and dent students, plus the 41-page student guide to pass on to your child. Short on time? Start with the one-page summary on page 28.
The HSFY Parent Guide 2027, 29 pages by Otago med and dent students, plus the 41-page student guide to pass on to your child. Short on time? Start with the one-page summary on page 28.
You can’t sit the papers for them, and most parents can’t help with the content. What you can do is know what the year involves, what is worth preparing and when to step back. That is what the guide is for.
Written by Otago Medicine and Dentistry students who sat these papers.
Cutline is built by Otago medicine and dentistry students who have taken these papers. Cutline Summer is run by the same team over the summer break, answering questions on the platform and running the weekly Q&A.
“I did the Cutline worksheet for each lecture the same afternoon, before the ideas went cold. When I got one wrong I read the explanation for every option, not just mine, and let the review page bring it back a few days later.”
Shaun used the HSFY practice app through Semester 1: same-day lecture worksheets, the review page and the mock exams.
This is an experience of the existing HSFY practice app. Cutline Summer 2027 is a new programme and does not yet have student outcomes. Shared with Shaun’s written permission. Not a promise about grades or admission.
Four Cutline students’ Semester 1 final marks, from eVision, shared with permission
CELS19197A+
CHEM19199A+
HUBS19199A+
PHSI191100A+
Individual results from the in-year Cutline app. Not typical, not a promise. Cutline Summer is new and has no results yet.
Cutline is independently operated and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Otago.
What the year involves, what is worth preparing and how to support your child, in 29 pages.
Get the guideA personalised plan worked out from the subjects they took, paper by paper, with what to work on first.
Send the planNo payment until an offer on 2 November 2026. Access runs 16 Nov to 28 Feb.
See Cutline SummerFree, for your child
Every student arrives at HSFY with a different background, and someone who took Year 13 Chemistry and Physics needs very different preparation from someone who did not. So we built a free personalised plan for students, worked out from the subjects they took and how confident they feel about each one, and it appears on their screen straight away, paper by paper, with what to work on first.
Your child fills it in, not you, because the plan is only worth having if the answers are theirs.
We send your child exactly one email and nothing after it. They are not added to any list, and we do not send their answers or their plan back to you.
Or send them the link yourself
Text it, message it or email it from your own account, and nobody has to give us an address.
cutline.nz/y13?ref=parentsCutline Summer, applications open
Short lessons, worked examples and practice questions, with support when they get stuck. Your child follows a clear learning path at their own pace, moving ahead when they feel confident and spending more time where they need it.
Chemistry 
CHEM191Cell and Molecular Biology CELS191Human Body Systems HUBS191Biological Physics PHSI191Free application. No payment today.
See where to start, try an introductory question and explore the planned modules.
Answer the questions the way your child would. You do not need to know the answer; the point is what happens after you tap.
Every lesson opens with a short explanation. This one is from HUBS192: myoglobin, in muscle, and haemoglobin, in blood, both carry a haem group whose iron atom binds oxygen. Haemoglobin has four subunits that talk to each other, which gives it a sigmoidal binding curve and lets it unload oxygen in the capillaries. Myoglobin is a single chain with one haem, so it binds oxygen tightly with a hyperbolic curve and holds it as a store for hard exercise.
Two questions from the Cutline bank, in the app’s own layout. The Summer lessons themselves are still being built.
Every lesson opens with a short explanation. This one is from HUBS192: myoglobin, in muscle, and haemoglobin, in blood, both carry a haem group whose iron atom binds oxygen. Haemoglobin has four subunits that talk to each other, which gives it a sigmoidal binding curve and lets it unload oxygen in the capillaries. Myoglobin is a single chain with one haem, so it binds oxygen tightly with a hyperbolic curve and holds it as a store for hard exercise.
Which of the following features is common to both myoglobin and adult haemoglobin?
A recommended learning path, with your child controlling the pace.
Clear explanations and worked examples, in pieces short enough to finish in one sitting, with the option to pause and revisit.
Questions after every lesson, each option explained, and a review of the topics that need more work. No weekly quotas.
A starting knowledge check finds the right place to begin. Students without school chemistry or physics start with the beginner routes, included in every option.
Bring questions to a weekly Q&A with the summer teaching team, or ask through the platform when something does not click.
By the University of Otago’s own figures, a year of HSFY tuition and a college room comes to about NZ$31,629. Cutline Summer is about 2% of what the year itself costs.
Both figures are the University of Otago’s own, from its tuition fees page and its college fee schedule.
| Tuition for a full-time year of Health Sciences papers (2026 rates) | NZ$10,159 |
| A standard room in a University residential college (2026 contract) | NZ$21,470 |
| Cutline Summer | NZ$699 |
Summer + Cutline HSFY 2027 carries the summer into both semesters. The Summer Mentor Circle adds a named mentor, with 50 places chosen on suitability from the application.
Summer Mentor Circle, 50 places
Everything in Summer + Cutline HSFY 2027, with a small group and someone checking in. Chosen on suitability from the application, not first-come.
The Ultimate HSFY Year
Both semesters of 2027, to 1 December 2027.
Summer NZ$699 + 2027 added later NZ$850 = NZ$1,549
Save NZ$100Apply for Summer + HSFY 2027HSFY Head Start Accelerator
15 weeks, 16 Nov to 28 Feb. CHEM, PHSI, CELS and HUBS basics before day one.
Do the first module of each paper by 31 December 2026. If Summer isn't helping, tell us and get a full refund.
Plus a full refund within 14 days of paying, no questions. GST included. Three payments, 30 days apart, that stop after the third. Mentor Circle sessions already held are not refunded.
Free application, no payment today, enrolment opens 2 November 2026.
Or let them apply themselves
Copy the student application link and send it on. They read the programme and apply in their own name.
Prices in New Zealand dollars. Three payments pay for the same course and stop after the third; not a cancel-anytime membership. The first Summer Mentor Circle session is after the refund window. On Cutline Summer, 2027 can be added for $850 before 28 February 2027. Med or dent? UCAT ($199) or the Dent interview ($99) can be added during HSFY.
One free application for every option. What happens next depends on the choice.
Open enrolment, not capped and not selective. Apply now and your child is in once enrolment opens on 2 November 2026.
Weekly small-group calls with a med or dent student, in English. 50 places in the first release, chosen on suitability from the application, not first-come. The students chosen get the Mentor Circle options in their offer email, and every application is answered either way.
What an applicant sees
Something we have not covered? Write to [email protected].
The university’s own advice on preparing for HSFYThat is common, and it is what the beginner routes are for. A starting knowledge check finds the right place to begin, and the beginner chemistry and physics routes revisit the earlier ideas before the more demanding material. They are included in both plans, so missing a school subject does not mean your child needs mentoring.
The platform is self-paced. Access runs from 16 November 2026 to 28 February 2027, students start whenever their school exams finish, and there are no weekly quotas. The Summer Mentor Circle (Nov to Feb only) adds six weekly small-group sessions, so a family asking for it should expect to be available for them.
Every option includes questions to the teaching team through the platform and a weekly Q&A with the summer teaching team. The Summer Mentor Circle, Nov to Feb only, adds a named mentor, six small-group sessions and two individual check-ins.
If your child starts HSFY in 2027, The Ultimate HSFY Year carries the summer straight into both semesters. The Head Start Accelerator covers the summer alone. Ask for the Summer Mentor Circle (Nov to Feb only) if your child would work better with a small group and someone checking in; it has 50 places, chosen on suitability from the application.
The first application round closes 25 October 2026. Offers are released and enrolment opens on 2 November 2026; initial offers expire 9 November 2026. Platform access runs from 16 November 2026 to 28 February 2027.
Applying is free and asks for no payment today. Asking for the guides does not enrol your child, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Once you enrol there is a full refund within fourteen days of purchase; after that the course is paid for, including any remaining instalments.
No. The six small-group sessions and the two check-ins are in English. The learning platform, the explanations and the free guides are available in English and Chinese.
No. Cutline Summer is a separate preparation programme that ends on 28 February 2027. The in-year practice app and its membership are separate, and your child can decide about that when the university year begins.
University of Otago Medicine and Dentistry students, the team that builds the Cutline app. Mentors are University of Otago Medicine and Dentistry students who got exceptionally high grades in HSFY 2025. Everything happens online. Questions are answered on the platform and at the weekly Q&A; mentoring groups have at most 10 students, and the sessions are in English.
Cutline is independently operated and is not affiliated with, employed by, or endorsed by the University of Otago. Paid preparation is optional: Cutline is one way to get structured teaching, practice and support before first year. Consider your child’s needs and the other resources available, including the university’s own advice.
Applying is free and asks for no payment today. Not ready yet? The guides are free too.
Cutline is independently operated, with no University of Otago affiliation or endorsement. We do not guarantee grades, admissions, exam outcomes, or any specific result.
CELS191
CHEM191
PHSI191
HUBS191