Section 2 · Written Communication
GAMSAT Section 2 Topics
Every theme in our library, grouped by task and labelled with where it came from. ACER published 16 of these itself; some were reported from real sittings; the rest are our extension of the same pattern. You can tell which is which, which is more than most topic lists let you do.
- 115themes in the library
- 16published by ACER
- 15from real sittings
- 62paired themes
The short version
A Section 2 prompt is four statements on a common theme. The theme is the unit that repeats between sittings, not the wording — so a topic list is worth having, and a list of memorised statements is not. Task A themes are public and collective in scope; Task B themes are personal and interpersonal. The boundary is a tendency, not a rule.
How to read this list
Topic lists for Section 2 circulate widely and almost none of them say where their entries came from. That matters, because “ACER published this theme” and “a preparation provider guessed this theme” are very different claims. Every theme below carries its tier.
| Tier | What it means | Count |
|---|---|---|
| On ACER’s own practice theme list | ACER supplied 16 practice themes with its Online Test Generator — 8 for Task A, 8 for Task B. | 16 |
| Reported from a real 2025–26 sitting | Reported by candidates debriefing after a September 2025 or March 2026 sitting. Candidate-reported, not ACER-confirmed. | 15 |
| On multiple preparation-provider lists | Appears on multiple independent preparation-provider theme lists. | 59 |
| Our extension of the pattern | Our own extension of the observed pattern. Structurally consistent, not separately attested. | 25 |
A topic list is not a prediction
None of this tells you what will appear in your sitting. ACER does not publish a theme syllabus and there is no evidence of a fixed rotation. Themes are useful for one thing: practising the move from four statements to a contention, often enough that the move is automatic. Practise breadth of theme; do not prepare content for any of them.
The 16 themes ACER published
These come with ACER’s own Online Test Generator, drawn from the September 2020 sitting — eight for each task. They are the only themes with an official provenance, which makes them the sensible place to start practising.
| Theme | The tension it straddles |
|---|---|
| Law & justice | Justice as fair procedure against justice as fair outcome; law as the floor of morality against law as an instrument of the powerful |
| Welfare & the state | The safety net as dignity against the safety net as dependency |
| Gender & roles | Roles as biological given against roles as social construction |
| Collectivism & individualism | The good of the many against the sovereignty of the one |
| War & conflict | War as the failure of politics against war as its continuation; whether any war can be just |
| Leadership | Leaders as products of their moment against leaders as shapers of it; charisma against competence |
| Clicktivism & online activism | Frictionless solidarity against a performative substitute for action |
| Journalism & news media | The press as watchdog against the press as manufacturer of consent; speed against reliability |
| Love | Love as a feeling that happens to us against love as a choice repeatedly made |
| Cynicism | Cynicism as clear sight against cynicism as pre-emptive surrender |
| Food | Food as sustenance against food as culture, memory and belonging |
| Solitude | Solitude as self-possession against solitude as exile |
| Family | Family as blood-given against family as chosen and constructed |
| Altruism & kindness | Genuine selflessness against enlightened self-interest |
| Arts & popular culture | Art as luxury against art as necessity; who is entitled to judge it |
| Personality | Personality as fixed nature against personality as accumulated habit |
Themes reported from real 2025–26 sittings
These come from candidates describing their sitting afterwards. They are not confirmed by ACER and no source can verify them, but they are the closest thing to current signal that exists — and two of them are the reason we tell you the Task A / Task B boundary is porous: thrill-seeking and originality were both reported as Task A themes, and neither reads as public or collective.
| Theme | The tension it straddles |
|---|---|
| Traditions | Tradition as accumulated wisdom against tradition as ossified prejudice |
| Evidence & certainty | The demand for proof against the necessity of acting without it |
| Originality | Genuine novelty against the recombination of what already exists |
| Thrill-seeking & risk | Risk as aliveness against risk as a flight from meaning |
| Whistleblowing | Loyalty to the institution against loyalty to the truth |
| Social trust & enforcement | Trust as social infrastructure against enforcement as its replacement |
| Awards, merit & recognition | Recognition as motivator against recognition as a distortion of the work |
| Philanthropy | Giving as generosity against giving as reputation-laundering, or as a substitute for justice |
| Predestination & coincidence | A life as authored against a life as accident |
| Amateurism & expertise | The amateur’s love against the professional’s competence |
| Pity & compassion | Pity as condescension against compassion as the recognition of a shared fragility |
| Motivation | Intrinsic drive against external reward; discipline against desire |
| Style versus fashion | Enduring self-expression against disposable signalling |
| Stories & storytelling | Stories as how we make meaning against stories as how we deceive ourselves |
| Regret | Regret as corrosive against regret as moral memory |
Paired themes — the format most practice tools miss
The March 2026 sittings verifiably paired themes rather than setting a single noun: whistleblowers and choices, social trust or law enforcement, philanthropy and regret, style versus fashion. A candidate who has only ever practised single-noun prompts meets that format for the first time in the exam, with the clock running.
Our library carries 62 paired themes, and the generator can produce them. A sample:
- Whistleblowing and choices · Task A
- Social trust or law enforcement · Task A
- Predestination or choice · Task A
- Philanthropy and regret · Task A
- Online activism and journalism · Task A
- Tradition versus progress · Task A
- Trust in expertise or suspicion of power · Task A
- Wealth and opportunity · Task A
- Technology and privacy · Task A
- Censorship or a shared reality · Task A
- The environment and what we owe the next generation · Task A
- Migration and belonging · Task A
Task A themes — Socio-cultural issues — public and collective in scope
The remaining Task A themes. Task A sets skew oppositional: the four statements tend to genuinely disagree, so there is a side to take and a cost to taking it.
- Crime & punishment
- Power & authority
- Freedom
- Democracy
- Taxation
- Wealth
- Poverty & inequality
- Equality of opportunity
- Affirmative action
- Science
- Technology
- Progress
- Censorship
- Environment & climate
- Globalisation
- Religion & belief systems
- Morality & ethics
- Human rights
- Migration & refugees
- Health & medicine
- Education
- Capitalism & consumerism
- Tolerance & prejudice
- Civilisation
- Overpopulation & resources
- Genetic modification & biotechnology
- Conspiracy theories
- Work & labour
- Privacy & surveillance
- Nationalism & belonging
- History & collective memory
- Cities & community
- Sport & spectacle
- Language
- Tourism
- Bureaucracy & rules
- Charity & obligation to strangers
- Generational duty
Task B themes — More personal and social issues — the self, and the self among others
The remaining Task B themes. Task B sets skew facet-like: the statements light the same thing from different angles rather than opposing each other. Note that ACER says “more personal and social” — a response that never leaves your own head has narrowed the prompt.
- Friendship
- Loneliness
- Happiness
- Suffering
- Grief & mortality
- Memory
- Identity
- Individuality
- Conformity
- Ambition
- Failure
- Courage
- Fear
- Doubt & certainty
- Hope
- Forgiveness
- Envy
- Trust
- Ageing
- Youth
- Childhood & innocence
- Knowledge & wisdom
- Imagination & creativity
- Beauty & appearance
- Humour & laughter
- Habit & routine
- Rest & leisure
- Music
- Faith & belief
- Confidence
- Celebrity & influence
- Pets & animals
- Home & belonging
- Silence & what goes unsaid
- Being known
- Paths not taken
- Vocation & calling
- Self-deception
- Gratitude
- Shame & guilt
- Patience
- Self-mastery
- Nostalgia
- Letters & keepsakes
- Chaos & order
- Winning & losing
Common questions
Does ACER publish a list of Section 2 topics?
Not a syllabus, but it did publish 16 practice themes alongside its Online Test Generator — eight for Task A and eight for Task B, drawn from the September 2020 sitting. Those are listed above and are the only themes with official provenance.
Do Section 2 topics repeat between sittings?
There is no published rotation and no evidence of one. Themes recur at the level of subject area rather than wording, which is why practising the move from four statements to a contention is worth more than studying any particular theme.
Should I prepare material for common topics?
No. ACER states that pre-prepared responses score poorly and that borrowed material can be flagged as plagiarism even if you have never seen the original. Prepare the process, not the content. See the marking criteria.
Where are the four statements for each theme?
In the quote generator, which serves them one set at a time. They are deliberately not listed here: a static page of every statement is a memorisation corpus, and memorisation is the one preparation strategy ACER penalises directly.
Are your statements real GAMSAT quotes?
No. Every statement in the library is original to us and unattributed. We do not reproduce ACER material, and we avoid real quotations from real people so that nothing we publish can collide with genuine exam material or with the plagiarism corpus your response is checked against.