Score · direct answer
Is 70 a good GAMSAT score?
Yes — by any reasonable reading of the distribution, a 70 is a strong result. Whether it is enough is a different question, and it has a different answer at almost every institution.
The direct answer
A 70 overall places you in roughly the top 2–7% of the cohort, and it clears every published overall minimum in our dataset — all 15 of the 15 institutions that publish one.
It does not clear everything, though. 1 published figures across our records sit above 70 — and understanding why is more useful than the number itself.
- 2–7%of candidates score 70 or above
- 15/15published minimums cleared
- 30published figures a 70 meets or beats
- 1published figures still above it
Why “is 70 good?” has no single answer
Because the published numbers it is being compared against are not the same kind of number.
This is the trap in every “GAMSAT cutoffs” table on the internet. A 70 read against an actual cutoff means you would have been interviewed. Read against an average of interviewees, it means you are above the midpoint of a group that was already selected — which is a much weaker claim, and roughly half that group scored lower. Read against an admitted median, it tells you almost nothing about the floor, which can sit ten points below.
So the honest version of the answer is: a 70 is comfortably above the level at which institutions let you apply, and competitive-but-not-guaranteed at the level at which they choose between applicants.
| If the number you are comparing against is… | Then a 70 above it means |
|---|---|
| Actual cutoff | You would have met the bar in that round. The strongest reading available. |
| Minimum to apply | You are eligible to apply. It says nothing about whether you are competitive. |
| Average of interviewees | You are above the midpoint of an already-selected group. Not a threshold at all. |
| Admitted median | You are above the middle of those admitted. The actual floor may be far lower. |
The published figures a 70 does not clear
Read the type label before drawing a conclusion from any of these.
| Institution | Figure | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flinders — Standard (non-rural) | 74 | Actual cutoff | 2026 entry |
Where 70 leaves you, by market
The same 70 is worth different things in different systems, and this is the part generic score advice always misses:
- Ireland. GAMSAT alone ranks candidates — no GPA points, no section floors, ties broken at random. A 70 is doing all of the work and there is nothing to offset it against. This is the market where a 70 is worth the most.
- Australia. Ranked on GPA and GAMSAT combined, often 50:50. A 70 with a weak transcript is not the strong position it looks like, and the combined figure is the one that matters.
- United Kingdom. Per-school rules, and the market most likely to impose a per-section minimum alongside the overall. A 70 overall built on a weak Section 1 can still fail a floor.
The full comparison is on score requirements by country.
A 70 is not a weighted-score guarantee either
11 of our 33course records do not use ACER’s 1:1:2 overall. If your 70 was built on a strong Section 3, an unweighted school will read it lower — sometimes by several points. Run both figures on the score calculator before deciding a 70 is enough anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
What percentile is a GAMSAT score of 70?
Roughly the top 2–7%. We publish that as a range deliberately: no official percentile table exists, and the prep-company figures in circulation conflict materially at this threshold. See GAMSAT percentiles for the working.
Will a 70 get me an interview?
It clears every published minimum we hold, but interviews are allocated by ranking rather than by threshold at most schools — and in Australia that ranking includes your GPA. Check the specific institutions you intend to apply to.
Is 70 enough for medicine in Ireland?
It is a strong position, because Irish schools rank on GAMSAT alone with no GPA points to make up ground either way. Irish thresholds move year to year with the strength of the applicant pool, so no fixed figure is safe to quote.
Should I resit if I scored 70?
The published evidence puts the average change on a resit at around four points, in either direction, and a 70 leaves more room to fall than to climb. See should I resit the GAMSAT.