2027 Entry · Structure · Scoring · School cut-offs
GAMSAT in Australia
the complete guide
The Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) is the gateway to almost every 4-year graduate-entry medical programme in Australia. Run by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), it is a computer-based reasoning test split across two windows — a remote-proctored Written Communication session and, about three weeks later, a test-centre day — totalling 5 hours 15 minutes of testing across the humanities, written communication, and biological and physical sciences. This guide explains the test in detail — structure, scoring, validity, sitting windows — then lists every Australian medical school that uses it with current median cut-offs, walks through 6-month and 12-month preparation plans, and helps you decide between GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ for your pathway into medicine.
5h 15m
Test time · 2 windows
3
Sections
2/yr
Sittings · Mar & Sep
The exam
What is the GAMSAT?
The GAMSAT is a graduate-entry reasoning exam used by Australian, UK, and Irish medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy and veterinary programmes. Within Australia its primary use is for the 4-year graduate-entry Doctor of Medicine (MD or MChD) — the standard route into medicine for applicants who already hold a bachelor degree.
ACER, a not-for-profit educational research body based in Camberwell, Melbourne, has run GAMSAT since 1995. The test is designed to measure reasoning capacity rather than recall — what you do with information rather than how much you have memorised. That said, the science section assumes first-year university-level knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics, so "reasoning only, no content" is not strictly accurate.
Three things make GAMSAT distinctive. First, it is long — 4 hours 10 minutes of back-to-back testing on the test-centre day, on top of a separate 65-minute remote-proctored Written Communication session about three weeks earlier. Second, it requires written communication — most other medicine admissions tests are entirely multiple choice. Third, the science section combines biology, chemistry, and physics into one paper in fixed published proportions: 40% chemistry, 40% biology, 20% physics. Chemistry carries as much weight as biology and physics is the smallest slice, so weight your preparation accordingly rather than assuming physics dominates.
Section guides
Structure — the three sections
GAMSAT is no longer one long day. It splits across two test windows: Written Communication first, remote-proctored at home (65 minutes for both tasks), then about three weeks later a single test-centre session covering Humanities and Social Sciences (100 minutes) and Biological and Physical Sciences (150 minutes), separated by one 30-minute break — bars scaled to the minutes you get in each section.
Section 1 — Humanities & Social Sciences
62 questions · 100 min
Reading comprehension across literary extracts, poetry, cartoons, philosophical and social-science passages. Each stimulus is followed by 2-6 questions testing inference, tone, argument structure, and authorial intent. Heavy emphasis on close reading and arguments about what is implied rather than stated.
Section 2 — Written Communication
Two tasks · 65 min total · sat remotely
Two prompts, each offering four statements on a common theme. The first task deals with socio-cultural issues; the second with more personal and social issues. Two 30-minute writing tasks inside a single 65-minute remote-proctored session. Examiners score on Thought & Content and Organisation & Expression, and each response is scored independently three times. ACER states that spelling and punctuation errors will not affect your score — control of language is judged only insofar as it serves the response. Every response goes through plagiarism checks, including AI checks against previously submitted GAMSAT responses, so pre-prepared essays are a genuine misconduct risk.
Section 3 — Reasoning in Sciences
75 questions · 150 min
Biology, chemistry, and physics. ACER publishes fixed proportions: 40% chemistry, 40% biology, 20% physics, with questions from the three areas integrated throughout the section. Each stimulus may include a graph, a reaction scheme, an experimental setup, or a clinical scenario. Mathematical fluency at year-12 level is assumed; calculators are not allowed.
The test-centre day is 4 hours 10 minutes of testing, and ACER advises allowing about 5.5 hours at the venue: morning sessions register from 7.45am and finish about 1.30pm, afternoon sessions register from 2pm and finish about 7.45pm. Bring your admission ticket, current photo ID, an erasable A4 whiteboard and marker (or pens, pencils, sharpener and eraser) and a clear water bottle with no labels. Clocks are provided in the test room and you may wear an analogue or digital wristwatch with alarms switched off, but smart watches, phones and calculators are prohibited. Scratch paper is provided at test centres for anyone not bringing a whiteboard; for the remote-proctored Written Communication session you supply your own, plus a handheld mirror for the room scan.
When & how much
Test windows and registration
ACER runs two GAMSAT cycles per year — March and September — and each cycle spans two multi-day windows rather than a single day. In 2026 the March cycle ran Written Communication 28 February to 1 March and Humanities and Sciences 20 to 22 March; the September cycle ran 22 to 23 August and 11 to 13 September. Test centres cover capital cities and many regional centres across Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin, plus centres such as Dubbo, Geelong, Newcastle and the Sunshine Coast — the exact list differs between the March and September windows), with overseas centres in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and Singapore. There is no United States test centre. The two sittings use different exam papers but are equated in scoring so neither is "easier".
Registration windows. Registration opens about four months before the test window. For the 2026 March cycle, registrations opened in November 2025, standard registration closed Monday 26 January 2026 and late registration closed Thursday 5 February 2026. For the 2026 September cycle, registrations opened in May 2026, standard registration closed Tuesday 30 June 2026 and late registration closed Monday 13 July 2026. ACER opens March 2027 registrations in November 2026 and has not yet published the 2027 deadlines — diarise the opening month and check gamsat.acer.org rather than relying on last cycle's dates.
Costs. Standard registration for the 2026 cycles was AUD $568 (€378 in Ireland, £296 in the UK), and the fee includes ACER's online Practice Test A e-book. Late registration adds AUD $114, and an overseas levy of AUD $208 applies if you sit outside Australia, Ireland or the UK. Deferral costs AUD $86 and a refund carries a AUD $99 administration fee. ACER has not yet published 2027 pricing — March 2027 registrations open in November 2026. There is no discount for repeat sittings.
Which sitting to choose. For most applicants targeting an upcoming application cycle, the March sitting is decisive. GEMSAS applications for 2027 entry opened 1 May 2026 and closed on 29 May 2026, and GEMSAS states that results from the September sitting in the year of application cannot be used for that intake. The University of Sydney, which applies outside GEMSAS, sets the same boundary — its eligible list for 2027 entry ends at March 2026. A September sitting therefore feeds the following year's round, not the one closing that winter. Plan backwards from March: sit the previous September as your diagnostic and safety net, then March as the sitting that actually counts, and let the admissions bodies take whichever set ranks you best.
How it's scored
Scoring — how the overall is calculated
Each section is reported on a 0-100 scale. The mean for the sitting is typically around 50; scores above 70 are uncommon; scores above 80 are rare. ACER uses item-response theory to equate scores across sittings, so a 65 in March 2026 is comparable to a 65 in September 2026.
Overall GAMSAT score
Overall = (S1 + S2 + 2 × S3) / 4
Section 3 (Sciences) is weighted twice as heavily as Sections 1 and 2. This is the central scoring rule and the reason a strong science background gives a major advantage on overall composite.
Most Australian medical schools require a minimum overall AND minimum sub-scores in each section — typically 50 in every section. A 75 in Section 3 will not save you if Section 1 or Section 2 falls below 50. Always check the section minima per school.
Neither Sydney nor ANU publishes an offer-holder median. Sydney states that threshold GAMSAT scores from previous years "are irrelevant to the current admission cycle and will not be published or provided", and it does not use an overall or average score at all — it ranks standard applicants on their individual section scores. So the only hard numbers are the published minima: 50 in every section across the board, 55 overall at UWA, a 52 average at Notre Dame, 50 overall elsewhere. Because Biological and Physical Sciences is double-weighted in ACER's overall formula, it is the section that moves an overall score most — but at Sydney the sections are read individually, so a sub-50 anywhere ends the application outright.
Where it's used
Australian medical schools using GAMSAT (2027 entry)
13 Australian medical programmes currently use GAMSAT — primarily 4-year graduate-entry MDs, plus the graduate stream at universities that also run a school-leaver intake, such as UWA. Click any school for the full how-to-get-in guide including the published GAMSAT and GPA thresholds, MMI format and intake size.
ANU
Canberra, ACT · graduate entry
Minimum Overall 50 AND minimum 50 in each section to be considered for interview; meeting the minimum does not guarantee an interview. ANU accepts GAMSAT results as valid for four years. Used at 50% weight in the interview-ranking composite alongside the standardised weighted GPA (50%), with a higher-degree research bonus applied to the combined score (standalone Honours 2%, Masters by Research 2%, PhD 4%; highest only). ANU publishes no median or cut-off GAMSAT for offer-holders. International applicants have a published interview guarantee at GAMSAT 60 overall with 50+ per section (or MCAT 515 with 125+ per section) alongside weighted GPA 6.0.
Deakin
Geelong, VIC · graduate entry
Minimum 50 in each section + 50 overall. Minimum 50 in each of the three GAMSAT sections and 50 overall, obtained within four years preceding the year of application. Deakin publishes the average GAMSAT of its commencing cohort, not a cut-off: 65.9 for the 2026 intake and 66.39 for the 2025 intake (Deakin course page). These are cohort averages, not thresholds — Deakin publishes no competitive or guaranteed score. General-stream interview shortlist: GPA + GAMSAT + adjustments, equally weighted. General-stream interview shortlist: GPA + GAMSAT + adjustments equally weighted.
Flinders
Bedford Park, SA · dual entry
Minimum 50 in each section (a hurdle, not a competitive score). Flinders publishes the realised cut-offs on the MD course page: for 2027 entry the overall GAMSAT score cut-offs to be INVITED TO INTERVIEW were Rural Bedford Park 61, Humanitarian Visa Holders 60, Flinders Graduate 64, Flinders Graduate Reserved 64, and Non-Flinders Graduates/Non-Rural/Non-Humanitarian 76. SARM and NTMP cut-offs are not published because selection there is also priority-based. These are interview cut-offs, not offer cut-offs; Flinders notes they are 'based on the main round of interview offers' and will be updated if further interview offers are made, and that they 'are dependent upon the profile of the applicant pool and places available for each sub-quota, and therefore vary every year'. The overall GAMSAT score is calculated as ((1 x Section I) + (1 x Section II) + (2 x Section III)) / 4.
Griffith
Gold Coast, QLD · graduate entry
Minimum 50 in each section AND 50 overall. Interview shortlist rank: 50:50 unweighted GPA (as %) + overall GAMSAT (out of 100). Final offer rank: 50% interview-selection rank + 50% GUMSAA interview score. Minimum GAMSAT 50 in each section (Griffith MD 5099 page), with GEMSAS additionally requiring an overall score of at least 50; scores must be no more than four years old at the time of application. Griffith does not publish an intake average — it publishes the median GAMSAT for a GUMSAA interview invitation, which was 69 for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 intakes. GEMSAS: 'there is no discrete cut-off point for GAMSAT.
Macquarie
Sydney, NSW · graduate entry
Minimum 50 overall, 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight (alongside 50% GPA) for interview shortlist. Minimum 50 overall and 50 in each of the three sections, sat within four years of intended enrolment. Weighted at 50% (alongside 50% weighted GPA) for the interview shortlist only — GAMSAT carries no weight at the offer stage. Macquarie publishes no GAMSAT data for interviewees or offer-holders, stating only that "entry is competitive" and that scores of candidates selected for interview "are likely to be significantly higher than the minimum entry requirements".
Melbourne
Parkville, VIC · graduate entry
Minimum 50 in each of the three sections. Ranking formula uses GAMSAT at 25% post-interview (MMI 50%, GPA 25%, GAMSAT 25%). Pre-interview shortlisting weights GPA and GAMSAT equally (50/50). UoM does not publish accepted or cut-off GAMSAT scores for any cycle, and because it ranks on the three sections weighted equally rather than on ACER's overall score, an 'average accepted GAMSAT' is not a figure its process produces. No Tier-1 source confirms one.
Notre Dame Fremantle
Fremantle, WA · graduate entry
Minimum 52 overall + 50 in each subsection (UNDA averages the three sections rather than using the overall weighted GAMSAT). Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW (not of successful entrants), for Fremantle and Broome combined: 64.65 (2024 intake), 66.10 (2025 intake), 65.50 (2026 intake); Broome is included only from the 2026 intake. These exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated-interview eligibility. They are descriptive averages, not cut-offs: Notre Dame states that interview selection also weighs Casper and bonus points, and that place offers additionally take the interview score into account. The published hard minimum remains an unweighted GAMSAT average of 52 with at least 50 in every subsection.
Notre Dame Sydney
Sydney, NSW · graduate entry
Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published.
Sydney
Sydney, NSW · dual entry
Hard minimum 50 in each of the three sections (USyd MD Admissions Guide); Minimum 50 in each of the three GAMSAT sections (Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences; Written Communication; Reasoning in Biology and Physical Sciences - the S1/S2/S3 numbering was retired in 2024). Ranking uses individual section scores; overall and average GAMSAT scores are explicitly not used. Sydney may weight sections but does not publish the weighting or the order of priority, states that past threshold scores 'will not be published or provided', and 'does not disclose the ranking of applicants' GAMSAT scores'. Under the Indigenous and rural facilitated entry schemes Sydney 'may make offers to applicants with scores that are below the cut-off for standard admission'. No offer-holder GAMSAT figure is published, and no overall-score median can exist because Sydney never computes an overall score for ranking. Only results from the past 2 years accepted.
Tasmania
Hobart, TAS · dual entry
Previous-higher-education route: minimum score of 50 in all three sections of GAMSAT. Accepted sittings are the same as those used by GEMSAS, although the application itself goes direct to UTAS, not through GEMSAS. From 2027 the UTAS Bachelor of Biomedicine (M3X) quota also requires GAMSAT 50 in all three sections; the retiring BMedRes (53E) pathway required no admission test. UTAS publishes no offer-holder GAMSAT score.
UQ
St Lucia, QLD · dual entry
Minimum 50 in each of Sections I, II, III (any section below 50 = ineligible). Interview shortlist: 50% unweighted GAMSAT (mean of 3 sections) + 50% GPA, GPA as tiebreaker. Final offer: UQ does not publish a weighting. Interviewed applicants are ranked by tier and merit order within each pathway, with CQ-WB RMP and DD-SW MP offers determined first; where final scores tie, the MMI score is the tiebreaker; non-bonded (CSP) places are offered before bonded (BMP).
UWA
Crawley, WA · dual entry
Graduate Pathway: minimum GAMSAT 55 overall with no section below 50. Scores are valid for four years as at the application closing date — for 2028 commencement the earliest accepted sitting is September 2023 and the latest March 2027. Applicants holding more than one valid score may use their best, not necessarily the most recent. 2027 interview shortlist: 60% GPA + 40% GAMSAT (both GAMSAT and GPA are standardised before shortlisting, and all scores are standardised prior to final ranking). Domestic applicants who were successful in obtaining an interview for 2026 entry averaged GAMSAT 68.53 (GEMSAS) — an interview-invite average, not an offer-holder average; UWA and GEMSAS publish no offer-holder figures.
Wollongong
Wollongong, NSW · graduate entry
Minimum 50 overall, no section below 50. Minimum 50 overall with no individual section score below 50. For 2027 entry GAMSAT is a pure qualifying hurdle: "GAMSAT score will not be used in ranking for interview or place offers once the hurdle has been met." International applicants may substitute MCAT (495 overall, no section below 123).
The numbers
School-by-school GAMSAT cut-offs
Median GAMSAT and GPA thresholds for each Australian school. Cut-offs shift cycle to cycle — these are our latest tracked numbers from the cycle ending 2026 and indicative for 2027 applicants.
| School | State | GAMSAT (median / threshold) | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANU | ACT | Minimum Overall 50 AND minimum 50 in each section to be considered for interview; meeting the minimum does not guarantee an interview. ANU accepts GAMSAT results as valid for four years. Used at 50% weight in the interview-ranking composite alongside the standardised weighted GPA (50%), with a higher-degree research bonus applied to the combined score (standalone Honours 2%, Masters by Research 2%, PhD 4%; highest only). ANU publishes no median or cut-off GAMSAT for offer-holders. International applicants have a published interview guarantee at GAMSAT 60 overall with 50+ per section (or MCAT 515 with 125+ per section) alongside weighted GPA 6.0. | Minimum weighted GPA 5.0 to be considered for interview — ANU states plainly that meeting it "does not guarantee an interview". The GPA is a 3-year weighted calculation over 3.0 FTE of the most recent eligible degree: final year x3, final-1 x2, final-2 x1. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants have a lower published minimum weighted GPA of 4.5. The only published interview GUARANTEE is for INTERNATIONAL applicants: weighted GPA 6.0 plus GAMSAT 60 overall (50+ per section) or MCAT 515 (125+ per section). ANU publishes no 5.6 threshold and no median offer-holder GPA. |
| Deakin | VIC | Minimum 50 in each section + 50 overall. Minimum 50 in each of the three GAMSAT sections and 50 overall, obtained within four years preceding the year of application. Deakin publishes the average GAMSAT of its commencing cohort, not a cut-off: 65.9 for the 2026 intake and 66.39 for the 2025 intake (Deakin course page). These are cohort averages, not thresholds — Deakin publishes no competitive or guaranteed score. General-stream interview shortlist: GPA + GAMSAT + adjustments, equally weighted. General-stream interview shortlist: GPA + GAMSAT + adjustments equally weighted. | Minimum 5.0/7.0 weighted. GEMSAS weighting (Final-2 × 1 + Final-1 × 2 + Final × 3) / 6; each GPA year must contain at least 0.25 FTE of graded results and 2020 calendar-year results are excluded. The degree must have been awarded within 10 years of the projected commencement date; applicants outside that window may still be considered if they complete the equivalent of 0.5 FTE of AQF Level 8 or higher study, finished by 31 July in the year of application. This currency rule does not apply to RTS Tier 1 applicants. Minimum weighted GPA 5.0/7.0 over the most recent three FTE years, progressively weighted x1, x2, x3. A GPA year must contain at least 0.25 FTE of graded results, and 2020 calendar-year results are excluded from the calculation. Deakin publishes the average GPA of its commencing cohort, not a cut-off: 6.72 for the 2026 intake and 6.68 for the 2025 intake (Deakin course page). |
| Flinders | SA | Minimum 50 in each section (a hurdle, not a competitive score). Flinders publishes the realised cut-offs on the MD course page: for 2027 entry the overall GAMSAT score cut-offs to be INVITED TO INTERVIEW were Rural Bedford Park 61, Humanitarian Visa Holders 60, Flinders Graduate 64, Flinders Graduate Reserved 64, and Non-Flinders Graduates/Non-Rural/Non-Humanitarian 76. SARM and NTMP cut-offs are not published because selection there is also priority-based. These are interview cut-offs, not offer cut-offs; Flinders notes they are 'based on the main round of interview offers' and will be updated if further interview offers are made, and that they 'are dependent upon the profile of the applicant pool and places available for each sub-quota, and therefore vary every year'. The overall GAMSAT score is calculated as ((1 x Section I) + (1 x Section II) + (2 x Section III)) / 4. | Minimum Flinders-equivalent non-weighted GPA of 5.00 from the most recent Bachelor degree to be ELIGIBLE to apply (2027 Domestic Application Guide). Flinders does not publish the GPA profile of successful applicants, so no 'typical' figure should be quoted. Note the eligibility GPA is not the figure used for ranking: once you pass the interview, Flinders recalculates a WEIGHTED GPA over your last three full-time-equivalent years, with the final year counted triple and the year before it double ((Yr3 x 3 + Yr2 x 2 + Yr1) / 6); applicants still completing their degree at the end of 2026 are weighted over the last 2.5 FTE years using first-semester final-year results. Postgraduate qualifications (Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas, Masters, PhDs) are excluded from the wGPA and from the selection rank entirely. |
| Griffith | QLD | Minimum 50 in each section AND 50 overall. Interview shortlist rank: 50:50 unweighted GPA (as %) + overall GAMSAT (out of 100). Final offer rank: 50% interview-selection rank + 50% GUMSAA interview score. Minimum GAMSAT 50 in each section (Griffith MD 5099 page), with GEMSAS additionally requiring an overall score of at least 50; scores must be no more than four years old at the time of application. Griffith does not publish an intake average — it publishes the median GAMSAT for a GUMSAA interview invitation, which was 69 for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 intakes. GEMSAS: 'there is no discrete cut-off point for GAMSAT. | Minimum 5.0/7.0. Griffith explicitly states "a GPA required for interview selection is likely to be significantly higher than 5.0". Minimum eligibility is an unweighted GEMSAS-schema GPA of 5.0/7.0. Griffith does not publish an intake average — it publishes the median GPA for a GUMSAA interview invitation: 6.831 (2024 intake), 6.792 (2025 intake), 6.729 (2026 intake). |
| Macquarie | NSW | Minimum 50 overall, 50 in each section. Used at 50% weight (alongside 50% GPA) for interview shortlist. Minimum 50 overall and 50 in each of the three sections, sat within four years of intended enrolment. Weighted at 50% (alongside 50% weighted GPA) for the interview shortlist only — GAMSAT carries no weight at the offer stage. Macquarie publishes no GAMSAT data for interviewees or offer-holders, stating only that "entry is competitive" and that scores of candidates selected for interview "are likely to be significantly higher than the minimum entry requirements". | Minimum 5.0/7.0 (or WAM 65). Minimum weighted GPA 5.0/7.0, or WAM 65, to be considered for interview; weighted 50% for the shortlist and 50% again for the offer. GEMSAS notes only that "entry is competitive and a GPA required for interview selection is likely to be significantly higher than 5.0 out of 7.0" — neither Macquarie nor GEMSAS publishes interviewee or offer-holder GPAs. |
| Melbourne | VIC | Minimum 50 in each of the three sections. Ranking formula uses GAMSAT at 25% post-interview (MMI 50%, GPA 25%, GAMSAT 25%). Pre-interview shortlisting weights GPA and GAMSAT equally (50/50). UoM does not publish accepted or cut-off GAMSAT scores for any cycle, and because it ranks on the three sections weighted equally rather than on ACER's overall score, an 'average accepted GAMSAT' is not a figure its process produces. No Tier-1 source confirms one. | Minimum weighted GPA 5.0/7.0. UoM weighting formula: (Final-2 × 1 + Final-1 × 2 + Final × 2) / 5. A completed PhD — not a Masters — can earn re-ranking in the applicant's favour: it must be in a health-related or biological sciences discipline and completed within 10 years of MD commencement. UoM publishes a quota of up to 10 places for applicants re-ranked on this basis, but states the Selection Committee is not required to fill it and that any unused places are allocated as normal; its current Selection Guidelines add that re-ranking is decided case-by-case each year and that the detail is not disclosed to applicants. |
| Notre Dame Fremantle | WA | Minimum 52 overall + 50 in each subsection (UNDA averages the three sections rather than using the overall weighted GAMSAT). Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW (not of successful entrants), for Fremantle and Broome combined: 64.65 (2024 intake), 66.10 (2025 intake), 65.50 (2026 intake); Broome is included only from the 2026 intake. These exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated-interview eligibility. They are descriptive averages, not cut-offs: Notre Dame states that interview selection also weighs Casper and bonus points, and that place offers additionally take the interview score into account. The published hard minimum remains an unweighted GAMSAT average of 52 with at least 50 in every subsection. | Minimum weighted GPA 5.2/7.0 as calculated by GEMSAS over the three most recent FTE years, progressively weighted final-minus-2 x1, final-minus-1 x2, final x3. Notre Dame's published average GPA of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Fremantle and Broome: 6.58 (2024 intake), 6.66 (2025 intake), 6.60 (2026 intake), excluding applicants assessed on rurality or facilitated-interview criteria. These are interview-offer averages, not thresholds — interview selection also weighs Casper and bonus points. No 'competitive' GPA threshold is published. |
| Notre Dame Sydney | NSW | Minimum total of 52 with at least 50 in each subsection; UNDA uses the unweighted average of the three GAMSAT sections, not the overall weighted score. Notre Dame publishes the average GAMSAT of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 67.84 (2024 entry), 68.08 (2025 entry), 68.23 (2026 entry). These are interview-shortlist averages, not the scores of applicants who received a place, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No cut-off is published. | Minimum weighted GPA of 5.2/7.0 over three FTE years, with GPA years progressively weighted Final-minus-2 x1, Final-minus-1 x2, Final x3. Notre Dame publishes the average GPA of applicants OFFERED AN INTERVIEW at Sydney: 6.68 (2024 entry), 6.76 (2025 entry), 6.74 (2026 entry). These are shortlist averages, not thresholds, and UNDA states they exclude applicants considered on additional criteria including rurality and facilitated interview pathway eligibility. No official source supports a ~6.3 'competitive target' or any 2023 figure. |
| Sydney | NSW | Hard minimum 50 in each of the three sections (USyd MD Admissions Guide); Minimum 50 in each of the three GAMSAT sections (Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences; Written Communication; Reasoning in Biology and Physical Sciences - the S1/S2/S3 numbering was retired in 2024). Ranking uses individual section scores; overall and average GAMSAT scores are explicitly not used. Sydney may weight sections but does not publish the weighting or the order of priority, states that past threshold scores 'will not be published or provided', and 'does not disclose the ranking of applicants' GAMSAT scores'. Under the Indigenous and rural facilitated entry schemes Sydney 'may make offers to applicants with scores that are below the cut-off for standard admission'. No offer-holder GAMSAT figure is published, and no overall-score median can exist because Sydney never computes an overall score for ranking. Only results from the past 2 years accepted. | Minimum 5.0/7.0 weighted GPA (4.5 for rural applicants). GPA functions as a hurdle only — a 5.1 and 7.0 rank equally once above the floor. |
| Tasmania | TAS | Previous-higher-education route: minimum score of 50 in all three sections of GAMSAT. Accepted sittings are the same as those used by GEMSAS, although the application itself goes direct to UTAS, not through GEMSAS. From 2027 the UTAS Bachelor of Biomedicine (M3X) quota also requires GAMSAT 50 in all three sections; the retiring BMedRes (53E) pathway required no admission test. UTAS publishes no offer-holder GAMSAT score. | Previous-higher-education entry: minimum unweighted GPA 5.25 — the bar for an application to be considered, not a competitive GPA. Calculated across all tertiary study at AQF 7 and above (the first Bachelor degree is calculated at its completion). A completed Masters by Research adds 0.2 points; a completed PhD adds 0.4 points. UTAS publishes no offer-holder GPA. |
| UQ | QLD | Minimum 50 in each of Sections I, II, III (any section below 50 = ineligible). Interview shortlist: 50% unweighted GAMSAT (mean of 3 sections) + 50% GPA, GPA as tiebreaker. Final offer: UQ does not publish a weighting. Interviewed applicants are ranked by tier and merit order within each pathway, with CQ-WB RMP and DD-SW MP offers determined first; where final scores tie, the MMI score is the tiebreaker; non-bonded (CSP) places are offered before bonded (BMP). | Minimum 5.0/7.0 in key degree. Currency rule: degrees > 10 years before commencement require ≥ 0.50 FTE subsequent coursework at GPA ≥ 5.0. |
| UWA | WA | Graduate Pathway: minimum GAMSAT 55 overall with no section below 50. Scores are valid for four years as at the application closing date — for 2028 commencement the earliest accepted sitting is September 2023 and the latest March 2027. Applicants holding more than one valid score may use their best, not necessarily the most recent. 2027 interview shortlist: 60% GPA + 40% GAMSAT (both GAMSAT and GPA are standardised before shortlisting, and all scores are standardised prior to final ranking). Domestic applicants who were successful in obtaining an interview for 2026 entry averaged GAMSAT 68.53 (GEMSAS) — an interview-invite average, not an offer-holder average; UWA and GEMSAS publish no offer-holder figures. | Graduate Pathway minimum GPA 5.5 at the time of interview selection, unweighted, calculated over the most recent three full-time-equivalent years (3 FTE = 144 credit points at UWA), excluding credit/advanced standing. A completed PhD, or a completed UWA Doctor of Dental Medicine, is deemed a GPA of 7.0; a completed Masters by research adds a 0.2 bonus. There is no 10-year rule. Domestic applicants who were successful in obtaining an interview for 2026 entry averaged GPA 6.82 (GEMSAS) — an interview-invite average, not an offer-holder average and not a threshold; the published minimum is GPA 5.5 at the time of interview selection. Assured Pathway: students complete the 3-year Bachelor of Biomedicine (Specialised) with the Integrated Medical Sciences and Clinical Practice major (TISC application code UG056; UWA course code BP056), holding the conditional MD place by achieving a selection GPA of at least 5.5 within the first two years; the major carries one year of credit into the MD, so both degrees finish in six years. |
| Wollongong | NSW | Minimum 50 overall, no section below 50. Minimum 50 overall with no individual section score below 50. For 2027 entry GAMSAT is a pure qualifying hurdle: "GAMSAT score will not be used in ranking for interview or place offers once the hurdle has been met." International applicants may substitute MCAT (495 overall, no section below 123). | Accurate as far as it goes, but two published conditions are missing: offers to applicants finishing a degree in 2026 are "conditional on maintenance of the minimum required weighted GPA of 5.5", and qualifying degrees used in the GPA calculation "must be completed by 23 December 2026". There is also a ten-year currency-of-qualification rule that can render an applicant ineligible for both interview and place. |
Plan your prep
Preparation timelines
Two realistic prep plans — 6 months for science graduates with a working knowledge of first-year biology, chemistry and physics, and 12 months for humanities and life-sciences graduates who need to build up Section 3 content from scratch.
6-month plan
- Month 1. Take a diagnostic full ACER practice paper under timed conditions. Score every section honestly. Map weak areas — most science graduates discover Section 1 (humanities) is their actual weak point, not Section 3.
- Months 2-3. Section 3 content review across biology (cell biology, physiology, genetics), chemistry (organic mechanisms, kinetics, equilibria), and physics (mechanics, electricity, waves). 90 minutes per day, weighted 40/40/20.
- Months 2-3 in parallel. Section 1 daily reading habit — one essay, one poem, one philosophical or social-science extract per day. Practise inferring tone and argument structure. Use ACER's practice questions and past sittings.
- Month 4. Section 2 writing practice — one Task A and one Task B per week, marked against the ACER scoring criteria. Build an idea bank around 8-10 themes (justice, technology, identity, freedom).
- Month 5. Three full timed practice papers, one per week, with full essay sections completed. Review every mistake; classify by content vs reasoning vs time-pressure error.
- Month 6. Two more full practice papers in the first half, then taper. Focus on sleep, exam logistics and pacing in the final week. Sit the test.
12-month plan
- Months 1-3. First-year university biology + chemistry from a structured textbook (Campbell Biology and Atkins or Clayden chemistry are standard). Two hours per day, six days per week. The goal is fluency, not memorisation.
- Months 4-6. First-year physics (mechanics, electricity, waves, thermodynamics). One hour per day; less than biology and chemistry because physics is less of Section 3 by content weight.
- Months 4-6 in parallel. Section 1 daily reading practice — build the close-reading muscle early, it's easier to maintain than to acquire.
- Months 7-9. Section 3 reasoning practice — applying the content you've built up. ACER practice questions, third-party question banks, and full timed sections.
- Months 10-11. Section 2 essay practice, weekly. Three to four full timed practice papers across the two months.
- Month 12. Two final timed papers, gap analysis, taper. Sit the test.
Both plans assume 90-120 minutes per day on weekdays plus longer weekend blocks. Doubling that does not double improvement — fatigue and burnout are real risks. Sustainability matters more than intensity.
Avoid these
Common pitfalls
- Under-prepping Section 1. Most science graduates assume Section 1 is the easy section because there's no content to learn. It isn't. The humanities passages reward close reading at a depth most candidates haven't practised since secondary school. Treat Section 1 with the same discipline as Section 3.
- Ignoring Section 2 until the last month. Essays are weighted equally with Section 1 in the overall composite, and they're the easiest section to lift with structured practice. Two essays per week from month 4 onward beats a panicked sprint in month 6.
- Treating Section 3 as a content test. The science section assumes content but tests reasoning. Candidates who memorise reaction mechanisms and forget to practise applying them to novel stimuli underperform their content knowledge. Practise reading complex prompts and extracting the experimental claim before reaching for memorised facts.
- Under-pacing Section 3. 150 minutes for 75 questions sounds generous. It isn't — most candidates run out of time on the final 10 questions. Practise a strict 2-minute-per-question pace from month one and learn to flag-and-return rather than dig in on a hard question.
- Burning out before the sitting. GAMSAT is a five-and-a-half-hour exam. Practising late nights for six months in a row produces a tired candidate, not a prepared one. Build in two rest days per week and one full rest week per month.
Choosing your test
GAMSAT vs UCAT-ANZ — which to take
For most Australian applicants the choice is determined by the pathway, not preference. School leavers applying to undergraduate medicine sit UCAT-ANZ; degree holders applying to graduate medicine sit GAMSAT.
The decision tree:
- You finish year 12 in 2026 and want a 5-6 year undergraduate MD → UCAT-ANZ.
- You already hold a bachelor degree (or will by 2026 entry) and want a 4-year graduate MD → GAMSAT.
- You hold a bachelor and want flexibility across both pathways → sit both. Several applicants do this each cycle. Costly but maximises school choice.
- You're looking at Monash → its school-leaver stream is UCAT-ANZ + ATAR + MMI (no Casper), and its graduate-entry MD requires no admissions test at all, being open only to graduates of approved Monash bachelor degrees. A GAMSAT score buys you nothing at Monash.
The two tests share almost no skills. UCAT-ANZ rewards fast pattern recognition, mental arithmetic, and lateral reasoning under intense time pressure. GAMSAT rewards depth, written expression, and applied science reasoning. Most candidates find one materially easier than the other after taking a diagnostic of each.
For more on the differences and a UCAT-ANZ deep-dive, read our UCAT-ANZ guide and the broader undergraduate vs graduate pathway guide.
Free GAMSAT sample questions
ACER sells the only official GAMSAT practice material — the registration fee includes the Practice Test A e-book, with further e-books and online practice tests from AUD $22. Book a one-to-one GAMSAT diagnostic with a tutor who's sat the test.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Keep reading
Related Australian medicine guides
The undergraduate test — structure, schools, prep timeline.
The situational judgement layer used at Monash, Curtin and others.
Pathway, length, cost and maturity trade-offs.
22 universities, full entry requirements and post-interview chances.