How to prepare for the GAMSAT

ACER describes the GAMSAT as measuring “skills and knowledge acquired over a long period of time, as well as the ability to reason, make logical deductions and form judgments”. Its advice follows from that:

• “There is little benefit to be gained from last-minute ‘cramming’.”
• “For non-science graduates some specific preparation covering relevant basic sciences to first year university level is highly recommended.” ACER suggests a bridging course at a vocational or further education provider if you are not confident in chemistry, physics or biology.
• “Read widely and often about a variety of topics, from a variety of sources. Practice critical thinking, and forming opinions and arguments.”

Sit one timed section cold, before you open a textbook. The result tells you which section needs the most time, and whether your science is close to ACER’s assumed level or a long way from it.

Our GAMSAT practice test has 22mocks, timed to ACER’s limits. Your first mock is free and needs no account. Keep ACER’s own practice tests for later (see Step 5).

Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences has 62 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes. ACER says it tests “the interpretation and understanding of ideas in social and cultural contexts”, using “passages of personal, imaginative, expository and argumentative writing”.

• Read widely. Novels, poetry, essays, newspaper opinion and cartoons. Candidates and prep providers report all of these in the section, and an unfamiliar style slows you down.
• Practise in timed units. Questions come in groups on one passage. Work a few units at a time against the clock, then whole sections.
• Review the wrong options. For each question you miss, find the line in the passage that rules out your answer. That is where the marks come back.

More on the section, with practice questions: GAMSAT Section 1.

Written Communication is two writing tasks in 65 minutes, sat from home. Each task gives you four statements on one theme. Task A deals with socio-cultural issues and Task B with personal and social issues.

ACER’s own advice for this section:

• Write responses to practice prompts under timed conditions.
• Ask someone else to read them and suggest improvements.
• Put an essay aside for several days, then re-read it to find what to change.
• Do not worry about length. “Within reason, the quality of the writing is much more important than the length.”
• You do not have to agree with the statements.

The examiners ask these questions of each response:

• What kinds of ideas have you developed in response to the prompt?
• To what extent and how well have you explored the ideas and issues in the prompt?
• Have you developed a structured and organised piece of writing?
• Have you written clearly and fluently?
• Is the language you used precise and appropriate for the topic?

Practise with the Section 2 quote generator and the timed Section 2 practice test. Both are free.

Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences has 75 multiple-choice questions in 150 minutes. The mix is 40% chemistry, 40% biology and 20% physics. There is no calculator, formula sheet or periodic table.

• Build the floor first. Cover first-year chemistry and biology and Year 12 physics broadly. Chemistry is the largest share and takes longest to build.
• Then switch to questions. Most marks come from reading data and reasoning from it. Revise a topic when a question shows you a gap.
• Drill arithmetic by hand. Ratios, percentages, logs, powers of ten and unit conversions, fast and without a calculator.

The topic list is on the GAMSAT syllabus page, and practice by subject is on the chemistry, biology and physics question pages. More on the section: GAMSAT Section 3.

Use our mocks to practise through the middle of your preparation, and keep the official tests for the final weeks, when you need a realistic check. ACER says its material “does not change from year to year unless otherwise specified”, so buying it again next year gets you the same questions.

After every mock, spend longer reviewing it than you spent sitting it. Every type of material, free and paid, is listed on GAMSAT study material. Full prices in each currency, and the third-party books worth buying, are on the GAMSAT books page.

• Work steadily, and do not spend too long on any one question.
• If you think you know an answer, mark it, even if you are not certain, and come back later if you have time.
• Answer every question. “No marks are deducted for a wrong answer. All questions have the same value.”
• Spelling and punctuation errors do not affect your Section 2 score.

ACER’s answer to “Which preparation providers does ACER recommend?” is “None.” It says courses are unregulated and not associated with ACER or the universities, and that you should ask whether a course can show “objective and reliable evidence that participation is likely to improve your GAMSAT score”.

ACER also warns that if you attend a coaching course where you are exposed to questions that appear in the GAMSAT, your scores can be withheld. If you are weighing up a course, our comparison of the main GAMSAT prep courses lists prices and what each one includes.