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This section contains high level information relating to the ACE application process. More information relating to each stage can be found in the ACE Applicant Guide available in the ACE Resources section.

Click below to see more information about each of the 5 steps

Step 1                  Step 2                  Step 3                  Step 4                  Step 5

Step 1: Complete your ACE Application

In order for your application to progress to the next step it must be complete at the time applications close: 12noon (NZT) Friday, 5 July 2024. There is no submit button for ACE; provided your application is deemed complete it will automatically be eligible for the next stage of the process.

ACE RMO Application Form

  • Eligibility for ACE RMO 
  • Personal Details
  • Education
  • Declaration
  • Workforce/Diversity Questionnaire
  • Consent

Clinical References

  • You will be required to nominate three referees within your application to complete references for you. All three of these references must be complete in order for your application to be deemed complete. More information about who is eligible to act as a referee can be found in the FAQs section of the application site.
  • Referees must complete these references electronically via the unique link sent to them when you enter their details into the ACE online form. If your referee cannot complete your references, you must contact ACE for further advice. Only under exceptional circumstances are we able to consider a paper reference form to be completed.
  • Applicants are encouraged to choose references from different settings e.g. mix of GP, hospital based(different clinical attachments), laboratory based, community setting.
  • For more detailed information about the collection of references, please refer to the ACE RMO Reference Collection Guide.
Employer Preferences
  • As part of your ACE application you are able to preference up to 20 employers for whom you may wish to work. You must preference a minimum of 6 employers in order for your application to be considered complete. Applicants with specific circumstances that require them to remain within a certain region must notify the employer by indicating this within their cover letter.
  • Please note however that this does not guarantee a match to that employer. Please note that your employer preferences are confidential and you are not required to disclose them to the employers at any stage.
Resume (CV)
  • Applicants are required to supply an up to date Resume (CV) as part of their ACE application.
  • A Resume Template is available as a guide however applicants are encouraged to develop their own format and style of document. Note that CVs need to be created and saved as PDF’s in order to be uploaded to your ACE application. If you do not have a PDF converter on your personal laptop, you might find that the common computers at your tertiary institute will have them, there are also others available online, just Google them. ACE will only accept PDF copies of all of your documents because it guarantees that each employer can open and view your documents.
  • The ACE RMO CV Template can be downloaded in the ACE Resources section. This can be used as a guide when putting together your CV.  ACE recommends to include a personal summary in the CVs as some of the employers may not look at the cover letters.
Cover Letters
  • Although Cover Letters are not mandatory, you are able to attach either a generic cover letter addressed to all your preferred employers, and/or individual cover letters addressed to each.
Verified Academic Transcript
  • New Zealand Graduates: If you are graduating from a New Zealand medical school you will be asked to sign a consent form at the end of your fifth year allowing the faculty of medicine at your school to send your transcript directly to ACE. ACE will start attaching this document to your application by Mid-June 2024. ACE might not receive transcripts for some students for various reasons e.g. unpaid fees etc. If your transcript has not been attached to your application by the end of June, please contact the ACE Centre. Please note if you do not give consent your transcript will not be provided to ACE. You will then need to individually request this document from your University, have it certified and upload it to your ACE application.
  • Australian Graduates: If you are graduating from an Australian medical school you will need to attach a certified copy of your official university academic transcript to your ACE application before the closing date. For more information on who can certify your documents see below.
Clinical Results and Dean’s Commendations
  • As part of your ACE application you have the opportunity to supply copies of dean’s commendations or overall distinction in clinical results that you may have received during your final years at medical school. These may be considered by employers and contribute to your overall ACE score. These documents must be uploaded to your ACE application in order to be considered by ACE and employers.
Verified Identification and Residency/Citizenship Documents
  • Applicants are required to supply certified copies of one of the following sets of documentation. Documents can be certified by a Justice of the Peace (JP), Lawyer, Court Registrar or a Police Officer. These certified copies must then be scanned an uploaded to your application in PDF format. If you have had a statutory name change by deed poll, please provide the proof by scanning this document together with your New Zealand Driver Licence or Student Identification Card.
  • New Zealand Citizens: The photo page of New Zealand Passport plus New Zealand Tertiary Student Identification Card or New Zealand Driver Licence. For New Zealand Citizens in lieu of a New Zealand Passport or New Zealand Driver Licence, ACE will accept a New Zealand Citizenship Certificate or New Zealand Full Birth Certificate that is issued on or after 1 January 1998 and that carries a unique identification number.
  • Permanent Resident Visa, Returning Resident Visa and New Zealand Visa holders: The photo page of an Overseas Passport plus the relevant Visa Document plus New Zealand Tertiary Student Identification Card or New Zealand Driver Licence.
  • Australian Citizens: The photo page of Australian Passport plus New Zealand Tertiary Student Identification Card or New Zealand Driver Licence.
  • For the purpose of the ACE application only, we will accept a certified copy of a recently expired New Zealand passport. You can also use copies of ID documents that have been certified previously as long as they are clear and readable. This exception is only for your ACE application. If you are matched to an employer then they might ask for addtional documents later on according to their employment process.
Step 2: ACE Scoring and Assessments
 
ACE first ensures each application meets the eligibility requirements and then uses a set of nationally agreed criteria to assess and score each application prior to sending them to employers.
 
ACE looks at the following components as part of their assessment:
  • Academic transcript* 
  • Year 4/5 Distinction and/or commendations 
  • Publications 
  • Other degrees
  • Prizes, awards or scholarships
  • References 
Employers are provided with the ACE Score given to applicants; however, use of this information varies across employers. Some employers will take ACE scores into consideration, while others will use their own assessment criteria to look at graduates’ suitability.
 
Please note that employers receive the complete application including all the documents submitted and all information entered in the online application. ACE does not hold back any documents or any information included in the online application.
 
Step 3: Employer Ranking
 
Employer shortlisting and selection takes place over a three week period. During this time, employers are entirely responsible for their own processes. Note that each employer will follow their own process and may place value on different attributes. ACE recommends you review the employer information sheets which can be found in the Employer Information section for more information regarding each employers prerequisites.
 
Step 4: ACE Algorithm Match
 
In accordance with the ACE algorithm priorities (outlined below), the algorithm matches graduates to their highest preferred employer wherever possible. Where an applicant is unable to be matched to their first preferred employer, the algorithm will work to match them to their second, then third and so on. The ACE algorithm will continue until all positions have been filled or there are no further graduates available to be matched.
 
ACE Algorithm Priorities:
  1. Graduates preference of employers is the algorithms highest priority
  2. Employer ranking of preferred graduates is the algorithms second priority
  3. Graduates may only be matched to one employer
For a more detailed explanation of the ACE algorithm go to the ACE Match Algorithm section or to view a short video presentation of how the match process works, please click here.
 
Step 5: ACE Match Result and Employment Offers
 
Please note that employer processes between 16 July - 6 August 2024 will vary. Some employers may contact you to carry out the checking, others may do this after they have extended a conditional offer. As such, do not be alarmed if you are not contacted during this period. Questions relating to an employer’s safety checking process should be directed to the key contact at each employer. You will find this information in the Employer Information section.
 
Once the ACE match has run and employers have been notified of their successfully matched graduates, ACE will inform all applicants of the outcome of their application. For the ACE RMO Intake 2025 Training Year, ACE will inform all successful graduates via email on 26 August 2024 which employer they have been allocated to. Employers may commence or complete safety checking processes as required under the Children Act (2014) soon after. Formal offers from employers to matched graduates will be released on 2 September 2024.
 
Most employers send offer letters via email, however, if you are going to be on your elective at the time the offers are sent out and are not able to accept your offer, you can nominate someone on your behalf to accept the offer. You just need to add their name in your application and fill the statutory declaration form (available from the ACE Resources section of the ACE RMO website). Your nominated person will return the statutory declaration form along with the signed offer letter to your matched employer to accept the offer on your behalf.

  • Who can certify my documents for ACE?

    Documents must be legally certified by a Justice of the Peace (JP), lawyer, a court registrar or police officer. To find a JP close to you check out Find a Justice of Peace.

  • Additional information for references

    Each graduate is required to identify, discuss and agree with 3 Senior Medical Officers (SMO) who have supervised them clinically in 6th year as a trainee intern, to act as referees. 

    Your referees must be an SMO or Consultant who is vocationally registered in the specialty they are working, or who is working as a General Practitioner. In the case that your SMO or Consultant is vocationally registered overseas, they must be registered in a comparable health country as outlined by MCNZ to be eligible to supply a reference for you.

    Exception

    Where a Trainee Intern (TI) is going on an overseas elective during the first half of their TI year ACE will allow the graduate to supply ONE reference which is an exception to the above requirements. 

    In these cases ACE will accept:

    • One of these 3 references from the second half of a graduates fifth year. 

          or

    • One reference from a graduates elective provided: it is from a hospital that is included in the MCNZ list of current comparable health systems; OR the clinical supervisor providing a reference for an elective in a non-comparable health country possesses a current practising certificate and has vocational scope of practice with either the New Zealand Medical Council, Australian Medical Council, General Medical Council (GMC) or Irish Medical Councils.

    Applicants in this situation must supply 2 further references from supervising clinicians in their final year.

    If you have any extenuating circumstances that may prevent you from meeting the above requirements (for example you were doing research during your fifth year and will be on elective in the first half of the sixth year) you should contact the ACE centre as early as possible to discuss your options.

  • Why do I need to preference 6 Employers?

    The requirement to select a minimum of 6 preferred employers assists towards a fair process for all graduates. Throughout a doctor's career there will be times when moving regions, and sometimes countries, is required. As such, it is strongly advised that applicants be prepared to move outside the region in which they currently reside. It is recommended that you clearly stipulate in your cover letter if you are in a situation that makes it difficult to move to another employer region, however please note this does not mean a match to that employer will be guaranteed.

  • Information for paired applicants

    ACE allows for couples who wish to work together at the same employer and who are both applying via ACE in the same intake, to submit their applications as a pair. However, there are potential consequences you should consider before deciding to apply as a pair as these may impact your match outcome!

    1. The ACE algorithm will consider the pair based on the lowest eligibility category of the two applicants.
    2. The ACE algorithm will consider the pair based on the lowest employer ranking of the two applicants. 
    3. A match can only be facilitated where there are 2 PGY1 positions still available at the time the algorithm considers the pair.

    Please note that paired applications cannot be unpaired once applications close. 

    More information regarding applying as a pair can be found in the ACE RMO Applicant Guide

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