Professional recognition

This course is accredited by the Australian Dental Council and the Dental Board of Australia.

Graduates are eligible for professional recognition by the Australian Dental and Oral Health Therapists Association.

Admission criteria

What you need in order to get into this course. There are different pathway options depending on your level of work and education experience.

Select an option that best suits you:

You’re considered a high school leaver if you:

Completed year 12 in Australia or overseas in the past two years, or
Completed TAFE or VET studies in the past two years.

ATAR pathway

Minimum ATAR 80
This course has a minimum ATAR of 80
Essential WACE subjects (prerequisites)
Essential WACE subjects (prerequisites)

Subjects you must have studied in high school to be eligible for entry into a course.

There are no essential WACE subjects for this course.
Desirable WACE subjects
Desirable WACE subjects

High school subjects that aren’t essential for entry into the course, but provide a good foundation.

Human Biology ATAR or Biology ATAR

Please see our correlation comparability for previous TEE subjects, WACE courses and WACE ATAR courses.

StepUp Entry

Successful StepUp Entry and StepUp Equity Adjustment Admission Pathway (StepUp Bonus) applicants will be eligible to be considered for admission into this course.

Alternative pathways

Indigenous applicant
If you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicant who hasn’t met Curtin’s minimum admissions criteria, the Centre for Aboriginal Studies offers bridging courses that are tailored to help you gain entry into this course.
STAT entry
Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

The Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) is a national test for those who don't meet university admission criteria. STAT can be used to meet entry criteria for some courses, or as a way to satisfy Curtin’s English proficiency requirements.

STAT elements considered are WE and either V or Q.

English requirements

Curtin requires all applicants to demonstrate proficiency in English. Specific English requirements for this course are outlined in the IELTS table below.

You may demonstrate English proficiency using the following tests and qualifications.

IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System)

Writing

7

Speaking

7

Reading

7

Listening

7

Overall band score

7

Find your pathway to Curtin

Think you don’t have the marks or qualifications to study at Curtin? We have several pathways to help you meet admission. Use our pathway finder to find your best way to studying with us.

Pathway finder tool

How others gained admission

View the ATAR breakdown to see the low, median and high ATAR scores of students who started studying this course recently.

To see the other pathways students have taken, see the pathway breakdown.

Application Requirements

If you’re looking to apply for our Bachelor of Science (Oral Health Therapy), please refer to our admission requirements before completing your application.

Things to know before you apply

Selection is based on academic performance.
As in most dentally related courses contact hours are high and additional clinical hours are required during inter-semester breaks.
Curtin requires you to be screened for and vaccinated against, a number of communicable diseases before commencing fieldwork. There is an onus on individual students to be aware of their immunity or carrier status in relation to communicable diseases. Depending on the status of any communicable disease there is the possibility that you may not be able to complete the clinical placement requirements of the course. Students who are carriers of blood-borne viruses are not permitted to perform some procedures on patients. Serological testing must, therefore, be completed prior to or during the first semester of study in the course and the results communicated to the area Administrative Assistant.
Students are required to practice techniques on one another before being permitted to move into patient care.
You must complete a Senior First Aid Certificate course before you proceed to your second semester.
There is some travel involved with different aspects of the program delivered on the Perth campus, at the Oral Health Centre of Western Australia (Nedlands) and at Dental Health Services (Mt Henry).

You can read more about the requirements by downloading the Inherent Requirements PDF.

Non-registrable overseas dentists

A maximum of 2 non-registrable overseas dentists whose qualifications entitle them to entry to Curtin will be considered for the Bachelor of Science (Oral Health Therapy) intake. Non-registrable overseas dentists may wish to consider sitting the current examination for registration as a practising dentist or applying for admission to the School of Dentistry at UWA.

Other requirements and notes for this course

This can be a physically and mentally challenging course. Please familiarise yourself with the Inherent requirements | Study (curtin.edu.au) before applying. Reasonable adjustments can be made for students with disability.

In addition to the course-specific admission criteria listed above, please read our general admission criteria. Our general admission criteria apply to all courses at Curtin University.

Applicants should refer to the Curtin website or Curtin Handbook for more information on specific admission requirements, including Inherent Requirements for Oral Health Therapy: https://study.curtin.edu.au/applying/application-requirements/oral-therapy/

Applicants for this course should refer to the admission criteria on the Curtin website or Curtin Handbook for information regarding Inherent Requirements: https://study.curtin.edu.au/applying/application-requirements/oral-therapy/

Applicants for this course should refer to the Clinical Health Sciences and Police Clearance Section of the Faculty of Health Sciences website.

• Curtin requires you to be screened for, and vaccinated against, several communicable diseases before commencing fieldwork. There is an onus on individual students to be aware of their immunity or carrier status in relation to communicable diseases. Depending on the status of any communicable disease there is the possibility that you may not be able to complete the clinical placement requirements of the course. Students who are carriers of blood-borne viruses are not permitted to perform some procedures on patients http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/cda-cdna-bloodborne.htm Serological testing must therefore be completed prior to or during the first semester of study in the course and the results communicated to the area.

Successful completion of a Senior First Aid Certificate is required before students proceed to second year, second semester studies.

Additional clinical hours are required during inter-semester breaks. Practical sessions are undertaken in a variety of settings including program's clinic, OHCWA, community clinics and private dental practices.

Communicable diseases:
There is an onus on individual students to be aware of their immunity or carrier status in relation to communicable diseases. Depending on the status of any communicable disease there is the possibility that you may not be able to complete the clinical placement requirements of the course. Students who are carriers of blood-borne viruses are not permitted to perform some procedures on patients. Serological testing must therefore be completed prior to or during the first semester of study in the course and the results communicated to the course Administrative Assistant.

Ranking and Selection Process

1. Applicants will be ranked and selected based on published entry requirements and entire academic record.

2. Applicants must provide all required documents and be assessed as eligible to be included in the ranking for an offer.

3. Meeting the minimum entry requirements and course specific prerequisites, does not guarantee selection.

4. In the event the course reaches capacity the University reserves the right not to proceed with subsequent offer rounds.

You’re considered someone with work and life experience if:

You have left secondary education more than two years ago (i.e. who are not classified as recent secondary education applicants) and have not undertaken vocational education training (VET) or higher education study since then.

How we define ‘experience’
‘Experience’ includes a combination of factors sufficient to demonstrate readiness for higher education such as mature-age entry, professional experience whether completion of the Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) is required or not, community involvement or work experience. Applicants may have undertaken non-formal programs that have helped prepare them for tertiary education or are relevant to the proposed higher education field of study.

Pathways

STAT entry
Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

The Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) is a national test for those who don't meet university admission criteria. STAT can be used to meet entry criteria for some courses, or as a way to satisfy Curtin’s English proficiency requirements.

STAT elements considered are WE and either V or Q.