Skip to main content
NextGen MedPrep logoNextGenMedPrep
2027 entry · CASPer & Snapshot
Trusted by Australian medical & dental applicants

CASPer and Snapshot for Australian medical schools

The Acuity Insights situational judgement tests now used at Monash, Curtin and beyond — 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. Monash (undergraduate) and Curtin lead the Australian adoption of CASPer. 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.

3

AU schools using it

90 min

CASPer length

12

Scenarios

Q1–Q4

Quartile scoring

The cycle

How the CASPer cycle runs

Scheduling opens in late June, the test window runs August to November, and results reach schools about three weeks after you sit. A score lasts one cycle only — so the prep has to happen before you book.

  1. Jun

    Scheduling opens

    Acuity Insights opens CASPer and Snapshot booking for the cycle. Slots fill week by week — book early to secure your preferred time of day.

  2. Aug

    Test window opens

    The 90-minute CASPer sittings and the one-way Snapshot submission windows begin, running through to November.

  3. Sep–Nov

    Sit & submit

    Most candidates test across these months as each school’s selection deadline approaches. You sit CASPer once — there is no re-sit in the same cycle.

  4. +3 wks

    Results reach schools

    Quartiles are released to programmes roughly three weeks after your test date — never to you. Schools fold them 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. It is used by over 500 healthcare programmes worldwide. In Australia it was first introduced as a medical-school selection tool by Monash for undergraduate entry, with Curtin following.

Snapshot is its video counterpart — a one-way interview where you record yourself answering three set questions on camera, with no live interviewer. Some schools use only CASPer, some only Snapshot, some both. Each is scored independently against the same competency framework.

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 ten competencies, scored from behavioural evidence in your responses. These are the six clusters examiners 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 90-second clock. Examiners reward clarity and active listening cues 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 90-minute online assessment of 12 scenarios across two sections, delivered in your browser. Concise, principled reasoning beats length at every station.

  • Section 1 — video stimulus

    Watch a 30–90 second clip of a workplace, school or clinical scenario, then type responses to three open-ended questions in five minutes.

  • Section 2 — word-based stimulus

    Read a short written scenario, then answer three open-ended questions in five minutes. Twelve scenarios in total across both sections.

  • ≈90 seconds per response

    Five minutes across three questions. CASPer rewards concise reasoning that names principles and demonstrates judgement — not essays you can’t finish.

  • No going back

    A one-minute reflection sits between scenarios and you cannot return to a previous one. There is an optional short break mid-test.

The video test

Snapshot — the one-way video interview

Snapshot adds a spoken layer CASPer can’t: how you come across on camera, unscripted, in a single take.

  • One-way video

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

  • 30s prep · 2-min take

    Each question gives 30 seconds to think and two minutes to record. 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 Chrome, in a quiet, well-lit room. Submitted within a 1–2 week window the school assigns, alongside CASPer scheduling.

Scoring

How the quartiles work

Every sitting window is split into four equal quartiles, Q4 strongest. You receive no numerical score and no scenario breakdown — only where you landed, and only via whether the offer comes.

  • Q1Eliminating

    Bottom 25%

    Almost always removes you from CASPer-using programmes. 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

    Clears the threshold at most schools and folds usefully into composite ranking. 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)

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

Monash undergraduate and Curtin are the established Australian medical-school users of CASPer. Several schools are evaluating adoption 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 releases almost no official scenarios, so use third-party simulators that mimic the 5-minute-per-scenario, 90-second-per-response timing under live conditions. Three to five timed sessions across your prep month, each followed by a self-review.

  5. 5

    Rehearse Snapshot to camera

    For Snapshot, record yourself answering past prompts with a 30-second prep and two-minute take, then watch each playback. Most candidates discover they speak too fast, look at the screen edge rather than the lens, or fill the full two minutes when 80–90 focused seconds would score higher.

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 on Snapshot, candidates pre-write and recite two-minute monologues. Examiners can tell. Aim for a structured but conversational tone, with natural pauses and unforced delivery.

  • Writing too much, too slowly. Ninety seconds per response is roughly 100–130 typed words. Many candidates start ambitious essays they can’t finish. Practise concise, complete paragraphs over long, half-written ones.

  • Treating Snapshot 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 can't see your score. You can still shift your quartile.

Drill CASPer-style scenarios scored against the Acuity Insights rubric 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

Keep going

Related Australian medicine guides

Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 12 July 2026