Details regarding the GPA calculation method are available on the GEMSAS website and should be considered alongside information below regarding UWA’s HMS GPA calculation method.
HMS GPA calculation method
- Applicants must show they have achieved the course-specific minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) in order to be considered.
- Each year is weighted equally: ("GPA most recent year" + "GPA 2nd most recent year" + "GPA 3rd most recent year")/3.
- No preference or scaling is given to particular universities or fields of study.
- Special consideration cannot be granted as part of the admissions process. GPA will be calculated from an applicant's results as they appear on their transcript.
- The HMS GPA as calculated by UWA may differ to that calculated according to the GEMSAS instructions.
What is included in the HMS GPA calculation
UWA's HMS GPA is calculated from university study undertaken in the most recent three years. A full time equivalent (FTE) will be calculated for students who have studied part time or overloaded. As an example, three years of full-time or equivalent study at UWA is 144 credit points, at Curtin it is 600 credit points, at ECU it is 360 credit points, at Murdoch it is 72 credit points.
The calculation is from units taken in chronological order, regardless of exemptions, credit or advanced standing which may have been applied to the most recent degree.
The HMS GPA calculation includes recognised bachelor’s, graduate certificate, graduate diploma, master’s by coursework, completed honours, completed master's by research and completed PhD levels of study. Note that in order for honours or other research degree studies to be included in the HMS GPA calculation, it must be completed by the end of semester one of the application year. See information below regarding the treatment of research degree studies.
Recognised degrees are those conferred by Australian or overseas universities or higher education institutions recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), or the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR).
Domestic MD applicants who have undertaken additional study (whether postgraduate or additional bachelor level study) should indicate this on the GEMSAS application (when prompted to by the application questions). All other applicants should indicate this on their UWA application form and provide transcripts for studies not undertaken at UWA.
Accelerated degrees and conversion courses
UWA will accept recognised two-year accelerated bachelor’s degrees and one-year conversion degrees for the purpose of graduate admission into Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatric Medicine, Pharmacy and Optometry. Applicants who are in progress of a one-year conversion degree must complete that course before applying, unless they also hold a previously completed bachelor’s degree.
Postgraduate degrees by research
Applicants with a completed PhD at time of application will be awarded a HMS GPA of 7.0.
Applicants with a completed master’s by research at time of application will be awarded a bonus of 0.2 to be added to their overall HMS GPA.
Incomplete honours, master’s by research and PhDs are not considered in the HMS GPA calculation. In order to be included, all research degree requirements must be met by semester one of the application year.
Applicants who only hold higher degrees
All applicants require a recognised bachelor’s degree for graduate entry into UWA’s MD, DMD, DPM and MPharm. Applicants who have completed a higher degree but have not completed a recognised bachelor’s degree will not be eligible for consideration.
COVID19 - Treatment of Results from Semester 1 2020
Due to COVID19 disruptions in the first half of 2020, some universities have given students the option to have their results shown as either a graded result or as an ungraded pass/fail, while some universities have elected to issue only ungraded pass/fail results.
Due to this disparity, all results obtained from studies undertaken during Semester 1 2020, and concurrent non-standard study periods, will be treated as ungraded pass/fail in the HMS GPA calculation (more information regarding treatment of ungraded pass/fail results is shown below). This does not apply to Summer units completed during January 2020, Semester 2 2020 or concurrent non-standard study periods.
This decision has been taken so as not to unfairly disadvantage applicants whose institutions did not provide the option for a graded result.
Ungraded passes
The credit value/unit weighting of ungraded passes will count towards the three years of FTE study; however, the result itself is left out of the calculation. For example, if a student has 0.125 FTE of ungraded pass in a particular year, that year's HMS GPA will be based on 0.875 FTE of results.
The exception is where an applicant has more than one year or FTE of ungraded passes within their most recent three years FTE. In this instance, the calculation will include results from older study where available.
Ungraded fails
Both the result and credit value/weighting of ungraded fails are included in the HMS GPA calculation. An ungraded fail will confer a GPA result of 0 for that unit.
Minimal results in the current year of study
Where an applicant has 0.25 FTE (or less) of results for their final HMS GPA year, the calculation will include older study. Where no older study is available, the HMS GPA will be calculated from only the GPA 2nd most recent and GPA 3rd most recent years. Where there has been no older study, and if an applicant is made an offer, it will be conditional upon their performance in all enrolled units which had been incomplete during the application year (see information below about conditional offers).
Exchange studies
The HMS GPA calculation will use the results that appear on the home university’s transcript. In most cases, such studies are shown as an ungraded pass or an ungraded fail. If an applicant has ungraded pass/fail units amounting to more than one year FTE of their most recent three FTE years of study, the HMS Admission team may require the applicant to provide the host university's actual graded results.
Credit/Exemptions/Advanced Standing
The HMS GPA is calculated from units that an applicant has undertaken in the most recent three years FTE, regardless of credit/exemptions/advanced standing units which have been applied to the most recent degree.
For example, if an applicant previously completed 1.5 years FTE, and then transferred into a different degree with credit/exemption/advanced standing applied for 1 years FTE, and has since then completed a further 1.5 years FTE in the new degree, the most chronologically recent 1.5 years FTE from the previous recognised degree studies will be included in the calculation. This will include any Fail results which fall within the most recent 3 years FTE.
Repeated units/subjects
Applicants who successfully complete a unit and subsequently repeat the same unit (or an equivalent unit) will not have the repeated unit included in their HMS GPA calculation, whether or not the unit was taken as part of degree studies.
If the applicant has repeated a unit due to failing the first time, then the standard HMS GPA rules apply. That is, all units completed within the most recent three years of valid full time or equivalent study will be included in the calculation, including the fail result if it falls within the most recent three years FTE.
Not for degree studies
Results from individual units which are not taken as part of a degree are not included in the HMS GPA calculation, excepting where not-for-degree study constitutes more than 0.5 year of FTE study.
As an example, where an applicant's study includes 4 Access UWA undergraduate units within the most recent three years, these would not be included as the 4 units are equivalent to 0.5 year of FTE study. If 5 Access UWA undergraduate units have been undertaken within the most recent three years or full-time equivalent, these would be included in the HMS GPA calculation, as this exceeds 0.5 years of FTE study.