Comparison · decision
GAMSAT vs MCAT
These two exams almost never compete, because they serve different continents. The exception is worth knowing about precisely: two Irish medical schools publish an explicit equivalence between them, and only for non-EU applicants.
Where the comparison is actually live
North American medical schools use the MCAT. Australian, UK and Irish graduate-entry medicine uses the GAMSAT. For most applicants there is no decision here at all.
Ireland is the exception. RCSI and UCC both accept either test from non-EU applicants, and they publish the equivalent thresholds. That makes Ireland the one place a candidate can genuinely choose which exam to sit.
- 472–528MCAT total score scale
- 0–100GAMSAT scale, per section and overall
- 2Irish schools accepting either
- Non-EUthe only applicants that equivalence covers
The published equivalences
These are the only two figures in this niche that let you convert between the exams — and they are narrower than they look.
Read what those numbers are, not just what they say
Both are interview-invitation minimums. Clearing 60 at RCSI means you may be invited to interview; it does not mean you are admitted, and it is not the score of the last person admitted. Treating either as a cutoff will materially mislead you about how competitive you are.
This distinction runs through every threshold we publish — see cutoffs by university, where each figure carries its type.
How the two exams differ
| GAMSAT | MCAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Used for | Graduate entry in AU, UK and Ireland | Medical school entry in the US and Canada |
| Structure | 3 sections, plus 2 written tasks | 4 sections, all multiple-choice |
| Test time | 5 hr 15 min, across two sittings ~3 weeks apart | A single, considerably longer day |
| Essay component | Yes — Written Communication, 65 minutes | No |
| Scoring | 0–100 per section and overall | Four section scores summing to a total of 472–528 |
| Sittings a year | Two — March and September | Many test dates across the year |
| Result validity | 4 years in Australia; 2 in the UK and Ireland | Varies by the school you apply to |
Two practical asymmetries decide most real cases. GAMSAT runs twice a year on fixed windows, so a missed sitting costs six months — the MCAT has far more dates. Against that, GAMSAT results last four years in Australia, which is unusually generous and makes an early sit worth more than it first appears.
If you genuinely have the choice
Assuming you are a non-EU applicant to RCSI or UCC and could sit either, the honest considerations are:
- Where else are you applying? If North America is also on your list, the MCAT serves both and the GAMSAT serves only one. If Ireland, the UK or Australia is the whole plan, GAMSAT is the test with far wider acceptance across them.
- Can you write under pressure? GAMSAT has an essay component and the MCAT does not. That is a real, section-weighted difference rather than a stylistic one.
- How deep is your science background?Both assume undergraduate science, but the MCAT’s content coverage is broader and more explicitly specified. GAMSAT publishes no syllabus at all — see why ours is reverse-engineered.
What we will not do is tell you one is easier. No credible published study compares difficulty across the two, the cohorts are different, and any site that ranks them is expressing a preference rather than reporting a finding.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use an MCAT score to apply for medicine in Ireland?
At RCSI and UCC, if you are a non-EU applicant — RCSI publishes MCAT 503 or GAMSAT 60, UCC publishes MCAT 505 or GAMSAT 58. Both are minimums to be invited to interview. EU applicants route through the CAO and the GAMSAT.
Is a GAMSAT 60 the same as an MCAT 503?
Only in the narrow sense that RCSI treats them as interchangeable thresholds for interview invitation. They are different scales measuring different cohorts; there is no general conversion between them and none should be inferred.
Do Australian or UK medical schools accept the MCAT?
Not for graduate-entry places through the standard routes. Check the individual institution — we hold a record for every school that uses GAMSAT.
Which exam should I sit if I am applying in two countries?
Whichever is accepted in both, if either is. GAMSAT covers Australia, the UK and Ireland; the MCAT covers North America and, for non-EU applicants, two Irish schools.