The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) is an intensive exam targeted at undergraduate students who wish to apply for a postgraduate medical degree in Australia. Formerly conducted in-person over 9 hours (including breaks), it is now an online assessment completed in two sittings. The total test time is a little over 5 hours.
What does the GAMSAT entail?
GAMSAT is an exam that assesses competence in three main areas.
Section 1: Reasoning in Humanities & Social Sciences (S1)
Section 1 primarily tests a candidate’s understanding of social dynamics and emotional intelligence. This section, notoriously one of the most disliked sections amongst GAMSAT-takers, relies heavily on a candidate’s ability to decipher written texts of various formats. These include poems, book excerpts, cartoons, literary passages, and news articles, amongst others. Commonly tested skills include the ability to identify subtext, tone, implications, or humour presented in a text.
S1 involves 62 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes, built around texts (prose, poetry, cartoons, articles) to test inference, tone, and subtext.
Section 2: Written Communication (S2)
Section 2 involves generating two pieces of writing in response to a particular prompt. Often, the stem may be in the form of several quotes which all have a common theme. This section is rather operator-dependent; there are no set rules as to what length or type of response a candidate can generate. The response can be an essay, a short story, a narrative, a fictional passage, a poem… The format of the response is up to you! You can be as creative and innovative as you wish.
S2 involves two 30-minute responses from themed prompts; any format (argumentative essay, reflective piece, narrative) is acceptable if it’s coherent and well reasoned. Total test time is 65 minutes including admin.
Section 3: Reasoning in the Biological and Physical Sciences (S3)
Section 3 is a test of rational thinking in the fields of chemistry, biology, and physics. Students are asked to complete 75 multiple-choice questions in 150 minutes, drawing on biology, chemistry and physics through data-rich stems that reward reasoning over rote recall.
How the current delivery works
In 2025, the GAMSAT will be tested as follows:
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Two test windows per sitting: Section 2 occurs first (remote proctoring), followed ~3 weeks later by S1 and S3 at a test centre. Official 2025 windows: Mar 1–2 (S2) & Mar 21–23 (S1 & S3); Aug 23–24 (S2) & Sep 12–14 (S1 & S3).
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Allowed aids: Scratch paper/mini whiteboard is permitted; non-electronic bilingual dictionaries are allowed for S1 & S2 for non-native English speakers (with conditions). Calculators are not permitted.
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Fees & admin: The 2025 registration fee to sit the GAMSAT is $560 AUD; ACER releases results late May (March) and mid-November (September).
How should I prepare for the GAMSAT?
1) Train the exact skills each section rewards
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S1: Daily reading sprints (poetry, op-eds, graphs), then “stem → inference → evidence” drills to justify answers.
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S2: Build a repeatable 30-minute essay blueprint (thesis → 2–3 developed ideas → brief counterpoint → succinct close). Practise with timed prompts and post-write audits.
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S3: Prioritise reasoning with unfamiliar data. For each topic (bio/chem/phys), practise translating text/figures into equations, estimating orders of magnitude, and solving without a calculator.
2) Make a personalised plan (this isn’t a cram exam)
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Map your baseline by section and sub-skill (e.g., S1 irony/tone; S2 coherence under time; S3 kinetics/graphs).
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Allocate 3–6 months for most candidates; focus on quality reps over hours logged.
3) Use official-style practice and targeted feedback
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Mix official ACER materials with realistic third-party sets of official or official-like practice questions. After each sitting, perform a “5-Why” error analysis and create a Mistakes Log you revisit weekly.
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If you plateau or need structure, one-to-one GAMSAT tutoring accelerates feedback loops and section-specific strategy.
Need structured support? Match with a GAMSAT tutor on Learnmate (tailored plans for S1 reading strategies, S2 essay frameworks and S3 reasoning).
How far in advance should you prepare for the GAMSAT?
This really depends! As the GAMSAT is a test of reasoning, there is no set amount of preparation time I advise for all candidates. Different people will have different levels of performance at baseline, and they will also require different lengths of time to hone those skills.
I do think at least a few months of preparation before the test is required if you truly want to familiarise yourself with the exam style. As a reasoning test, improvement compounds with deliberate practice over time rather than last-minute cramming. It is also about the quality of your preparation, rather than how long you prepare for!
Final Comments
The GAMSAT can be a daunting and unfamiliar assessment at first glance. It is long, multi-faceted, and the stakes are high. However, like any other challenge, it can be mastered with the right strategies. Take the time to acquaint yourself with the format, and give yourself enough room to practice the skills required to excel. Don’t be afraid to reach out for support early on, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. GAMSAT is a test of patience and endurance above all.
FAQs
Three sections: Humanities/Social Sciences (S1), Written Communication essays (S2), and Biological & Physical Sciences (S3).
S2 is remote-proctored; S1 and S3 are completed at a test centre about three weeks later.
S1: 100 minutes, S2: two 30-minute tasks (65 mins incl. admin), S3: 150 minutes.
Twice yearly (March and September); results are released late May and mid-November respectively.
Most universities use (S1 + S2 + 2×S3)/4; some weight all three sections equally — check your target programs.
No — a science degree isn’t required, though success benefits from solid bio/chem/phys fundamentals.
No, calculators aren’t permitted; practise mental arithmetic and estimation for S3.
Daily reading across genres + timed inference drills; a GAMSAT tutor can coach tone/subtext skills and rapid evidence-based elimination.
A GAMSAT tutor can help build a 30-minute essay framework, curate prompt banks, and give targeted feedback on structure, clarity and argument — the fastest way to lift S2.
Targeted tutoring focuses on weak sub-topics (e.g., kinetics, circuits), graph/data reasoning, and non-calculator techniques to maximise speed and accuracy.
Start with ACER official materials and add realistic practice sets; combine with timed mocks and tutor feedback if progress stalls.
Different people will have different levels of baseline skill and will require different lengths of time to hone those skills. As the GAMSAT is a reasoning test, allow a few months of preparation before the test to prepare. Improvement will compound with deliberate practice over time and will be more effective preparation than last-minute cramming.
About the author
This blog was written by Violet S, a Melbourne Uni medical student and tutor for GAMSAT, VCE Biology, Chemistry & Psychology on Learnmate. Violet has over 6+ years experience tutoring VCE students and, having already completed a Biomedicine degree, is now a medical school student at the University of Melbourne.
Find a tutor on Learnmate
If you found these tips helpful, you can engage tutors on Learnmate to help you refine Section 1 strategies, sharpen your Section 2 essays, and strengthen Section 3 reasoning. Connect with an expert GAMSAT tutor on Learnmate and take your preparation to the next level!
