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2027 entry · CASPer & Snapshot
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CASPer and Snapshot for Australian medical schools

The Acuity Insights situational judgement test now used at Curtin, JCU, Notre Dame and Wollongong — built to measure the professional judgement, empathy and ethical reasoning that ATAR, UCAT-ANZ and GAMSAT can't. This guide covers the format, the quartiles, the schools, and the prep that actually moves your score.

What CASPer measuresQuartile prep plan
Schools that use CASPer & SnapshotQuartile scoring, decodedEthical frameworks examiners reward

CASPer and Snapshot are Acuity Insights situational judgement assessments increasingly used by Australian medical schools to test the non-cognitive qualities that ATAR, UCAT-ANZ and GAMSAT can't capture — professional judgement, empathy, ethical reasoning, and communication under pressure. Curtin and JCU lead the Australian undergraduate adoption of CASPer, alongside the GEMSAS graduate-entry MDs at Notre Dame Sydney, Notre Dame Fremantle and Wollongong. This guide walks through both tests in detail — format, scoring, the schools that use them, the ethical frameworks examiners reward, and the preparation approach that actually shifts your quartile.

4

AU schools using it

65–85 min

CASPer length

11

Scenarios

Q1–Q4

Quartile scoring

The cycle

How the CASPer cycle runs

There is no single national window. For 2027 entry the GEMSAS graduate schools accepted sittings from April to June 2026, while Curtin's ran August to October 2026 — each programme sets its own dates. Results reach programmes 2–3 weeks after you sit, and your own quartile arrives 4–5 weeks after. A score lasts one cycle and one test type only — so the prep has to happen before you book.

  1. Apr–Jun

    GEMSAS sittings

    Graduate entry sits first: for 2027 entry, Notre Dame Sydney, Notre Dame Fremantle and Wollongong accepted CASPer on 12 April, 5 May, 14 May and 11 June 2026. Book as soon as dates open — these dates move every cycle.

  2. Aug–Oct

    Curtin sittings

    Curtin's undergraduate MBBS runs its own set dates — 6 August, 13 September and 8 October 2026 for 2027 entry. Each sitting is 65–85 minutes. Snapshot no longer exists.

  3. Deadline

    Sit before the cut-off

    Your programme sets the last accepted sitting — 11 June 2026 for the GEMSAS graduate schools, 8 October 2026 for Curtin, both for 2027 entry, with other schools setting their own. Acuity lets you sit a given Casper test type only once per admissions cycle, so there is no second attempt inside the year.

  4. +3 wks

    Results reach schools

    Results reach your nominated programmes 2–3 weeks after your test date, and Acuity emails your own quartile about 4–5 weeks after. Schools fold the standardised score into their composite ranking.

  5. Cycle

    One cycle only

    A CASPer score is valid for a single application cycle. Reapply next year and you re-sit from scratch — unlike GAMSAT’s two-year validity.

You never see your score — so prepare before you book.

There is no re-sit and no feedback within a cycle. The only diagnostic you get is practice on parallel simulators. Build the ethical frameworks and timed habits now, while you still can.

Start prepping

The basics

What CASPer and Snapshot actually are

CASPer (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics) is an online situational judgement test developed at McMaster University in 2010 and now owned by Acuity Insights. Acuity reports 500+ partner programmes around the globe, across health, teacher education and other professional courses. In Australian medicine it is used by Curtin and JCU for undergraduate entry and by the GEMSAS graduate-entry MDs at Notre Dame Sydney, Notre Dame Fremantle and Wollongong.

Snapshot was its video counterpart, but Acuity Insights has retired it — it appears nowhere on Acuity’s current product or applicant pages, and no Australian programme requires it. The one-way video element now sits inside CASPer itself: the first of its two sections is four scenarios answered by recording a spoken response to camera, one minute per question, before seven typed scenarios follow.

Crucially, both reject the idea of a "right answer". Raters score the reasoning process — whether you considered multiple stakeholders, recognised competing values, named the relevant principles, and committed to an actionable response. Two opposite conclusions can both score well if both are reasoned through.

Know what's assessed

What CASPer & Snapshot measure

Behind the scenarios sit nine competencies Acuity publishes — collaboration, communication, empathy, fairness, ethics, self-awareness, resilience, problem solving and motivation — scored from behavioural evidence in your responses. These are the six clusters raters probe most; engage with them genuinely and the quartile follows.

  • Judgement

    Ethics & professional judgement

    Naming the principles in play, weighing competing values, and committing to a defensible action. Raters reward reasoning that maps to the AHPRA Code of Conduct and the four principles — not a "right" answer.

  • People

    Empathy & equity

    Seeing a scenario through every stakeholder’s eyes, recognising disadvantage, and responding without judgement. Strong answers show genuine perspective-taking, not sympathy by template.

  • Expression

    Communication

    Concise, structured, human responses under a one-minute spoken clock, or 3.5 minutes for a pair of typed answers. Raters reward clarity and genuine engagement far more than length or polish.

  • Teamwork

    Collaboration

    How you handle conflict, share credit, and work with a colleague who has erred. Scenarios probe whether you escalate, support, or undermine — and why.

  • Reasoning

    Problem-solving & motivation

    Structured thinking under uncertainty, and an authentic, specific account of why medicine. Generic motivation ranks lowest; lived reasoning ranks highest.

  • Insight

    Resilience & self-awareness

    Reflecting honestly on failure and pressure. The competencies CASPer measures — collaboration, equity, resilience, self-awareness — are behavioural, scored from what you actually describe doing.

The format

Inside the CASPer test

A 65–85 minute online assessment of 11 scenarios across two sections — four answered aloud to camera, seven typed — delivered in your browser. Concise, principled reasoning beats length at every station.

  • Section 1 — video responses

    Four video-response scenarios open the test. Two questions come one at a time and you RECORD a spoken answer to camera — one minute per question, after an optional 30-second reflection. No typing in this section.

  • Section 2 — typed responses

    Seven typed-response scenarios. Two questions are shown at once and you have 3.5 minutes to type both answers, which are now scored separately. Eleven scenarios in total across the two sections.

  • 1 min spoken · 3.5 min typed

    One minute to record each video answer; 3.5 minutes to type both answers to a typed scenario. CASPer rewards concise reasoning that names principles and demonstrates judgement — not essays you can’t finish.

  • No going back

    An optional 30-second reflection precedes each response and you cannot return to a previous scenario. Two optional breaks are built in — 10 minutes after the video section, 5 minutes after the first four typed scenarios.

The video section

Snapshot has been retired — the camera work now sits inside CASPer

Acuity Insights no longer offers Snapshot: it appears nowhere on its current product pages or applicant help centre, and no Australian programme requires it. The spoken layer now lives in CASPer’s four video-response scenarios.

  • One-way video

    Record yourself answering three set questions on camera — no live interviewer, no conversation, just you and the lens.

  • 30s reflection · 1-min take

    CASPer’s video scenarios offer an optional 30-second reflection, then one minute to record each answer. You cannot re-record — the first take is your submission.

  • Motivation & reflection

    Broad prompts on values, teamwork and ethical reasoning, drawn from your own experience so candidates from any background can answer.

  • At home, on your kit

    Webcam, microphone and the latest Chrome or Firefox, in a quiet, well-lit room. Sat live at a fixed date and time your programme publishes through Acuity Insights — there is no open submission window.

Scoring

How the quartiles work

Scores are ranked against everyone who sat the same test type in the same cycle and split into four quartiles, Q4 strongest. You receive no numerical score and no scenario breakdown — but Acuity does email you your quartile, about 4–5 weeks after you sit.

  • Q1Eliminating

    Bottom 25%

    No Australian school publishes a CASPer quartile cut-off — Wollongong states only that a minimum eligible Casper score is set annually, reflecting the cohort — but a bottom-quartile score is the weakest possible input into every composite that uses CASPer. The gap is usually missed stakeholders and template answers, not weak ethics.

  • Q2Risky

    Lower-middle

    Feasible at some schools, eliminating at others. Too close to the line to rely on — this is the band good prep most reliably lifts.

  • Q3Acceptable

    Upper-middle

    Folds usefully into composite ranking, though no Australian school publishes a quartile threshold to clear. Solid, but not a differentiator on its own.

  • Q4Competitive

    Top 25%

    The strongest band — wins tiebreakers and maximises composite points. Reached through reasoning habits, not clinical experience.

Where it's used

Australian schools using CASPer or Snapshot (2027 entry)

4 Australian programmes currently use CASPer or Snapshot as part of selection. Click any school for its full how-to-get-in profile.

Curtin weights CASPer at 35% of its interview ranking (ATAR 35 : Casper 35 : UCAT ANZ 30), while Notre Dame Sydney and Fremantle weight it at 30% (GAMSAT 30 : GPA 30 : Casper 30 : bonus points 10) and Wollongong, after its GPA and GAMSAT hurdles, ranks for interview on 50% Casper plus 50% UOW MD admissions bonuses. JCU also requires CASPer across medicine and dentistry. Monash does not use CASPer for medicine. Adoption may change for 2028–2029 entry — always check the current selection criteria on each school's how-to-get-in page before assuming CASPer is or isn't required.

The prep

Five habits that shift your quartile

CASPer and Snapshot can’t be cheated, but they can be prepared for. Quartile-4 candidates aren’t the most clinically exposed — they’ve practised these five habits.

  1. 1

    Internalise the ethical frameworks

    The four principles of biomedical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice) plus the AHPRA Code of Conduct and the Medical Board’s Good Medical Practice give you a vocabulary raters recognise. Demonstrate them in the scenario — never name-drop.

  2. 2

    Anchor in lived experience

    Build a library of 20–30 short anecdotes (teamwork, conflict, ethical dilemmas, resilience, disadvantage). “In my volunteering at the nursing home, I once saw…” beats “in general, one should respect autonomy” every time.

  3. 3

    Use STAR under time pressure

    Situation, Task, Action, Result. Ninety seconds is enough for one tight STAR per question. Practise until it’s automatic — most candidates over-write the Situation and skimp on the Action and Result.

  4. 4

    Practise on parallel simulators

    Acuity gives every registered applicant a free full-length practice test but releases few other official scenarios, so rehearse under the real clock: one minute to record each video answer, 3.5 minutes to type both answers to a typed scenario. Three to five timed sessions across your prep month, each followed by a self-review.

  5. 5

    Rehearse Snapshot to camera

    For CASPer’s video section, record yourself answering past prompts with a 30-second reflection and a one-minute take, then watch each playback. Most candidates discover they speak too fast, look at the screen edge rather than the lens, or run out of clock on a point they never landed.

Avoid these

Common pitfalls

  • Template answers. Memorised openers (“I would first consider the four principles of biomedical ethics…”) score worse than candidates think. Raters spot templates instantly and discount them. Demonstrate the principle in the specific scenario, don’t recite it.

  • Missing the situational dimension. Each scenario has multiple stakeholders, competing values and uncertain information. Strong responses name two or three before committing. Weak ones leap straight to “I would speak to the patient” without noticing the conflict.

  • Over-rehearsed responses. Especially in CASPer’s video section, candidates pre-write and recite one-minute monologues. Raters can tell. Aim for a structured but conversational tone, with natural pauses and unforced delivery.

  • Writing too much, too slowly. Three and a half minutes covers BOTH typed answers in a scenario — realistically 100–130 words each, and the two are now scored separately. Many candidates start ambitious essays they can’t finish. Practise concise, complete paragraphs over long, half-written ones.

  • Treating the video section like a corporate interview. Smart-casual is right; suits feel inauthentic for applicants in their early 20s. Dress as you would for a respectful conversation with a hospital consultant on a clinical attachment — clean, neat, professional, not corporate.

The non-cognitive layer

You only ever see a quartile. You can still shift which one.

Drill CASPer-style scenarios against the nine competencies Acuity Insights publishes in the Prometheus bank, watch your responses back, then book a one-to-one session with a tutor who has scored Quartile 4.

Free CASPer scenariosBook CASPer coaching

Questions

Frequently asked questions

A CASPer score is valid for one admissions cycle and one test type only. Curtin, for example, requires school leavers and Curtin course switchers to sit the Undergraduate Casper and non-school-leavers to sit the Postgraduate Casper — a programme only accepts the test type it names. Re-apply the following year and you sit again from scratch, unlike GAMSAT's two-year validity.

Keep going

Related Australian medicine guides

Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 14 September 2026