Sources & methodology
Check our work
Where every fact on this site comes from, how we rank competing sources, and what we could not confirm.
Source hierarchy
Where sources disagree, we follow this order — and say when we have had to.
| Rank | Source | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ACER — official site and Information Booklet | Exam format, timings, fees, eligibility, results, score validity |
| 2 | The university's own admissions pages | Requirements, cutoffs, weighting method, GPA rules |
| 3 | GEMSAS, CAO, UCAS | Application routes, deadlines, GPA calculation |
| 4 | Peer-reviewed research | Score distributions, resit evidence |
| 5 | Preparation companies | Only where nothing above exists — always labelled as such |
One rule that puts us out of step with most of this market
We do notuse ACER’s list of participating institutions as a source for which courses require GAMSAT. We check each university directly.
When we did that, we found four errors in ACER’s list. Most preparation sites build their university pages from it and inherit all four.
Primary sources
Exam mechanics— ACER’s 2026 GAMSAT Information Booklet and the official site. Section structure, question counts, timings, fees in all three currencies, eligibility wording, delivery model, results dates and score validity.
University requirements — the admissions pages of all 33 institutions that use GAMSAT across Australia, the UK and Ireland, checked individually.
Application systems — GEMSAS for Australian graduate medicine, CAO for Ireland, UCAS for the UK.
Score distributions — Mercer et al. (2015), “GAMSAT: A 10-year retrospective overview”, the only peer-reviewed source on GAMSAT score distributions. We cite it with its limitations: Australian data, March sittings only, now more than a decade old, and the test has since shortened. Three of its five authors sit on the GAMSAT Policy Committee and two work for ACER.
What we could not verify
Listed rather than filled in with plausible numbers.
| Institution | What is missing |
|---|---|
| University of Tasmania | ⚠️ This is a 5-year UNDERGRADUATE-entry combined degree. There is no graduate-entry MD at Tasmania. UTAS does not interview. |
| University of Surrey | International eligibility UNVERIFIED and conflicts with ACER's listing. |
| University of Sunderland | ⚠️ A 5-year UCAT-primary course where GAMSAT only compensates for missing A-levels or GCSEs. Non-graduate route UNVERIFIED. No international applicants. |
| University of Worcester | UCAT is accepted INSTEAD of GAMSAT. |
Beyond institution data, three further gaps are worth naming:
- March 2027 test dates are unpublished. ACER has confirmed only that registrations open in November 2026. We will not estimate a sitting date.
- No official percentile table exists. ACER publishes no distribution data. Every percentile figure on this site — and on every other site — is modelled.
- Weighting method is unstated at most UK institutions.They publish only “overall score”. We do not infer whether that is weighted or unweighted.
Known conflicts in the official data
Where two official sources disagree, we show both rather than picking one silently.
- Irish test centres.ACER’s website lists Mayo as the fourth Irish venue; its own Information Booklet says Sligo. The website is later-dated, so we follow it and flag the conflict.
- University of Limerick cutoff.UL’s own page shows 52 for 2025; the CAO states 53 twice. 52 was UL’s 2024 figure, so we treat CAO as authoritative and note the discrepancy.
- Reading time.ACER’s 2020–2022 booklets itemised a per-section reading time. The 2026 booklet does not. Most preparation sites still publish the old figure. We report the current position and note that it changed.
How often this is rechecked
Cutoffs and fees are rechecked at least annually, and after each results release when institutions update their figures. Every page carries the date its facts were last verified — if that date looks old, treat the numbers with suspicion and check the university directly.
If you find something out of date or wrong, please tell us. Corrections are made to the page and noted, not applied quietly.