UCAT ANZ vs UCAT UK: Differences for Students Applying to Australia or New Zealand

At TheUKCATPeople, I am Dr Akash, and this is the question I get asked most by families in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Perth: I have sat the UCAT ANZ, is that any use to me in the UK? The short answer is yes, and you do not need to sit a second test. But there is one administrative step that UK candidates never have to think about, and if you miss it your score simply never reaches your UK universities.

This guide covers what actually differs between the two tests, the one deadline that catches ANZ candidates out every year, how your Situational Judgement Test score is treated differently in the UK, and what to do with your score once you have it.

Yes, your UCAT ANZ score is accepted for UK medicine and dentistry

UCAT ANZ 2026 results are valid for entry to medical and dental courses at UK universities in 2027, or for deferred entry in 2028. This is set out by the UCAT Consortium itself, which runs both versions of the test. You do not sit the UCAT (UK) as well, and in fact you must not.

One caveat worth being precise about: UCAT does not publish a university-by-university table of which institutions accept ANZ results, and its own advice is to check the entry requirements for each course before you book a test. I have not found a single UK medical or dental school that declines ANZ scores, but the honest position is "accepted across the UCAT Consortium, confirm with your five choices" rather than a blanket guarantee.

There is a documented exception, and it is not a UK one. If you are applying to Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore or Thammasat University, all of which are UCAT partner universities outside the UK, you need to sit the UCAT (UK) rather than the UCAT ANZ.

The step that catches ANZ candidates out: the Results Collection form

This is the single most important thing on this page. UK-based candidates never have to do anything to get their score to their universities. After the UCAS deadline, UCAT runs a data matching exercise with UCAS and delivers scores automatically. ANZ candidates are not in that matching exercise.

If you sat the UCAT ANZ and you want your score to reach your UK choices, you have to tell UCAT yourself by completing the UCAT ANZ Results Collection form on the UCAT UK website. Nothing is sent otherwise.

You will notice the form closes after the UCAS equal consideration date of 15 October 2026 at 18:00 UK time. That is deliberate, but it means there is a window where your application has gone in and your score has not. Submit the form as soon as it opens rather than leaving it to the last week.

If you are still mapping out the wider application, our guide on studying medicine in the UK from Australia and New Zealand covers UCAS timelines, ATAR and IB equivalences, fee status and interviews.

UCAT ANZ vs UCAT UK: every difference that matters

The tests themselves are far more similar than most students expect. Same subtests, same timings, same question counts, same scale. What differs is the admin around them.

Two practical notes on that table. Fees are charged in Australian dollars only, so there is no separate New Zealand price, and the Concession Scheme is open to Australian candidates only. And ANZ deadlines run on 11:59pm AEST while UK deadlines run on UK time, so check the timezone on anything you are cutting fine.

The SJT is the one real scoring difference

This trips up even well prepared candidates. In the UK, the Situational Judgement Test is reported as a band from 1 to 4, with Band 1 the strongest. In Australia and New Zealand, the SJT is reported as a scaled score between 300 and 900, exactly like the cognitive subtests.

So your ANZ score report will show you a number where a UK candidate sees a band. When your result is delivered to a UK or partner university, UCAT converts that scaled score into a band for you. The 2026 conversion is fixed and published:

This matters because several UK medical schools treat SJT band as a hard filter rather than a tiebreak, and a few will not consider a Band 4 at all. If your ANZ SJT is sitting close to a boundary, work out which band it converts to before you finalise your five choices, because it may change which schools are realistic.

Key Takeaway: Convert your ANZ SJT scaled score to its UK band before you choose your universities. A 595 and a 602 look almost identical on your ANZ report but land in different bands, and some UK schools treat that difference as pass or fail.

Never sit both tests in the same year

You may only sit one UCAT in a test cycle, and you may not sit the UCAT and the UCAT ANZ in the same year under any circumstances. UCAT is explicit that doing so is candidate misconduct and that all of your results may be withdrawn.

So if you are applying to Australian or New Zealand universities at all, sit the UCAT ANZ, because it is the only version those universities accept and it also covers your UK choices. Sit the UCAT (UK) only if the UK is your sole destination for that cycle, or if one of the Singapore or Thailand partner universities is on your list.

There is no penalty for sitting the UCAT again in a later year, so a resit in a future cycle is fine. It is only the same-year double sitting that is prohibited.

Your percentile, and what UK universities do with your score

UK and ANZ test statistics are published separately, on separate schedules, from separate datasets. ANZ statistics are due in late August with a percentile lookup in early September, while the UK publishes preliminary deciles in mid-September and final figures after testing ends.

For UK applications specifically, UCAT directs ANZ candidates to the UK Test Statistics page, where the percentile for your total score becomes available from 18:00 BST on 1 October. I would not read more into that than UCAT states, and I would not compare an ANZ decile to a UK decile as though they were the same measure.

To turn raw marks into scaled scores and see where you sit, use our UCAT score calculator, which works identically for ANZ because the scaling is the same. Then check the UCAT cut off scores by university to see how each UK school actually uses the number, because they differ enormously: some rank on total score, some threshold, some weight the SJT band heavily.

Your timeline from ANZ score to UK offer

If you sat the UCAT ANZ in the 2026 window, this is the run of play for 2027 entry.

1. Early September 2026: your result is delivered to universities, and you know your total out of 2700 and your SJT scaled score.
2. September 2026: convert the SJT to its UK band, then build your five UCAS choices around your actual score rather than your hoped-for one.
3. 1 October 2026: your UK percentile becomes available on the UCAT Test Statistics page from 18:00 BST.
4. 15 October 2026, 18:00 UK time: the UCAS equal consideration deadline for medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine.
5. 22 October 2026: the UCAT ANZ Results Collection form closes. Miss this and your score does not reach your UK choices.
6. November 2026 to March 2027: UK interviews, most of them online for international applicants, in UK time zones.

The compressed part is September. You get your score, and within weeks you need a university list that is honest about it. That is where most of the damage is done, because a strong candidate with a middling score who picks five aspirational schools usually ends up with nothing.

What to do next if you are applying to the UK

The useful thing about arriving here with a UCAT ANZ score already banked is that the hardest, most time-boxed part of the UK application is behind you. What is left is choosing where to apply, writing a personal statement for a UK audience, and interviewing well.

That is exactly the shape of our Ultimate Packages. If you have already sat the test, Bronze puts all 20 hours into interview coaching, which is where international applicants gain the most ground. Silver at 35 hours adds personal statement editing and university choice strategy on top, and is the usual choice for applicants who want the whole cycle covered.

You can compare the tiers on the Ultimate Package page, or if you would rather talk it through first, book a free consultation and we will look at your score and your shortlist together.

Key Takeaway: Your UCAT ANZ score is valid in the UK, but only if you complete the Results Collection form by 22 October 2026. Convert your SJT scaled score to a UK band before you pick your five, and never sit both versions of the test in the same year.