GAMSAT vs UCAT-ANZ — which test should I sit?
2027 Entry · Decision matrix · Schools · Prep time · Cost
For most Australian medical applicants, the choice between GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ is decided by pathway rather than preference. School leavers applying to a 5-6 year undergraduate Doctor of Medicine sit UCAT-ANZ; graduates applying to a 4-year postgraduate MD sit GAMSAT. This guide walks through the decision matrix, lists every Australian medical school by the test it uses, compares prep time and cost head-to-head, and identifies the small group of dual-pathway schools where sitting both tests opens additional options.
The decision matrix
Three variables drive the choice: your degree status (already hold a bachelor or finishing year 12), your target programme length (4-year graduate or 5-6 year undergraduate), and your strongest academic profile (sciences vs humanities, depth vs speed).
| If you… | Recommended test | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Finish year 12 in 2026, target undergraduate MD | UCAT-ANZ | Every Australian undergraduate medical programme uses UCAT-ANZ + ATAR for school-leaver entry. |
| Hold a bachelor degree, target graduate-entry MD | GAMSAT | Every 4-year graduate-entry Australian MD uses GAMSAT (plus GPA and interview). |
| Hold a bachelor but want maximum school flexibility | Both | Sitting both unlocks undergraduate MDs (Monash, UWA, USyd) and graduate-entry MDs in one cycle. |
| Hold a bachelor and prefer a shorter, faster programme | GAMSAT | Graduate-entry MD = 4 years vs undergraduate MD = 5-6 years. Eight programmes available across the country. |
| Apply to dual-pathway schools (Monash, UWA) | Depends on stream | Undergraduate stream uses UCAT-ANZ + CASPer; graduate stream uses GAMSAT. Commit to one stream. |
Head-to-head — what each test is
GAMSAT
Graduate Medical School Admissions Test · ACER
- Length: 5.5 hours, single sitting
- Sections: Humanities (62 MCQ), Written communication (2 essays), Sciences (75 MCQ)
- Frequency: March + September each year
- Cost: ~AUD $560 / sitting
- Score validity: 2 years
- Schools: 14 Australian medical programmes
UCAT-ANZ
University Clinical Aptitude Test - ANZ · Pearson VUE
- Length: 2 hours, single sitting
- Sections: Verbal reasoning, Decision making, Quantitative reasoning, Abstract reasoning, Situational judgement
- Frequency: July window each year
- Cost: ~AUD $310 / sitting
- Score validity: Current cycle only — one shot per year
- Schools: 9 Australian medical programmes
Prep time and study load
GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ ask completely different things of your prep. The mistake is to budget the same hours for each — UCAT-ANZ rewards a sharp, short build; GAMSAT rewards a structured, sustained one.
- UCAT-ANZ — 6 to 12 weeks. 60-90 minutes per day, mostly question banks and timed mini-sections. The skill is pacing and pattern recognition: a candidate who has done 3,000+ practice questions under timed conditions will out-score one who has memorised theory but never raced the clock.
- GAMSAT (science background) — 6 months. 90-120 minutes per day. Content review on Section 3, daily reading practice for Section 1, weekly essay practice for Section 2 from month four onwards. Three full timed practice papers in the final month.
- GAMSAT (humanities background) — 12 months. First-year university biology + chemistry + physics from scratch in months 1-6, then reasoning practice from month 7 onwards. The longest, hardest prep path of any Australian medicine route.
See the full preparation timelines in our UCAT-ANZ guide and GAMSAT guide.
Cost — total spend, not just registration
Registration is the smallest line item. The full cost of a competitive prep cycle includes materials, mocks, tutoring hours and (for some) a year of postgraduate science to bridge into GAMSAT Section 3.
GAMSAT — typical total cost
- Registration: AUD $560 per sitting (often x2)
- ACER practice papers: AUD $80-200
- Third-party question banks: AUD $250-600
- Tutoring (10-30 hours): AUD $800-3,000
- Realistic total: AUD $2,000-4,500 over 6-12 months
UCAT-ANZ — typical total cost
- Registration: AUD $310 (single sitting)
- Question bank subscription: AUD $200-450
- Mock-test platform: AUD $100-250
- Tutoring (10-25 hours): AUD $700-2,500
- Realistic total: AUD $1,200-3,500 over 2-3 months
Every Australian medical school by test (2027 entry)
22 programmes across two streams (3 dual-pathway) — choose the column you can sit and build your shortlist from there.
| School | State | Pathway | Test(s) | Intake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | SA | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ | 136 domestic places per year (Adelaide degree finder); ~600 applicants invited to interview annually. Admission offer weighting: Academic 40% + UCAT cognitive 20% + Interview 40%. |
| ANU | ACT | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027 cycle: 63 CSP + 26 BMP + up to 30 international + uncapped Indigenous. Total domestic ~89, total cohort ~115-120 (GEMSAS ANU). |
| Bond | QLD | undergraduate | Bond-Test | Up to ~180 places/year across two intakes (May + September), 80% undergraduate / 20% graduate. Full-fee only — does NOT participate in BMP. |
| Charles Sturt (Rural) | NSW | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ | 2024-2026 (JPM era): ~120 places combined with WSU. 2027 standalone CSU program: ~47 CSP places; ~80% rural-pathway, ~15-20 non-rural. |
| Curtin | WA | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ + CASPer | 2024 intake ~110 places (CSP + BMP combined). Curtin 2024 Domestic Admissions Guide. |
| Deakin | VIC | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027: ~160 total (up to 100 CSP + 45 BMP + 15 international + 30 RTS reserved subset). Maximum 220 interview offers; implied interview-to-place ratio ≈ 1.6:1 (GEMSAS Deakin page; Fraser's Deakin 2027 guide). |
| Flinders | SA | graduate | GAMSAT | Bedford Park CSP (~75% reserved for Flinders graduates) + SARM up to 60 + NTMP up to 24 + International separate. Bonded CSP indicative fee AUD $13,241/year (2024). |
| Griffith | QLD | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027 cycle: 148 CSP + 60 BMP + 80 BMedSci pathway + up to 35 international = ~323 total (GEMSAS Griffith). |
| JCU | QLD | undergraduate | None | ~150 CSP domestic + ~40 international per year. Mix of CSP, BMP, and Rural Access Scheme (NOT 100% MRBS — MRBS is a closed legacy scheme nationally). |
| Macquarie | NSW | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027: ~60 full-fee domestic + ~20 international. No CSP/BMP at Macquarie (full-fee program; no Commonwealth-mandated bonded allocation). |
| Melbourne | VIC | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027 cycle: 179 CSP + 71 BMP + up to 105 Full-fee domestic ≈ ~355 total (GEMSAS UoM page). 2024 intake was 177 CSP + 70 BMP — year-on-year delta within ±2 places. |
| Monash | VIC | dual | UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT | Direct Entry (Clayton): ~264 domestic (234 + 30 ERC). Graduate Entry (Gippsland): ~70 domestic + 30 Rural End-to-End + ~30 international. Total combined ~390+ (Fraser's Monash MD 2027 guide). |
| Newcastle / JMP | NSW | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ | ~170 CSP per year across JMP (UoN + UNE combined), including ~48 BMP. International stream separate (AskUON: How many places are available in the JMP?). |
| Notre Dame Fremantle | WA | graduate | GAMSAT + CASPer | 2027 cycle ~127 total: 80 CSP (60 Fremantle + 20 KCRMT Broome) + 32 BMP + up to 15 international + uncapped Indigenous. Significant +17 expansion vs 2026 (110) driven by KCRMT Broome pathway and Commonwealth Indigenous policy change. |
| Notre Dame Sydney | NSW | graduate | GAMSAT + CASPer | 2027 cycle: 40 CSP + 17 BMP + up to 57 Full-fee domestic + up to 35 international = ~149 total (Fraser's Notre Dame MD 2027 Guide; GEMSAS Notre Dame Sydney). |
| Sydney | NSW | graduate | GAMSAT + ISAT | ~300 domestic (210 CSP + 90 BMP) + ~70-80 international (Metropolitan stream) = ~370-380 total per year (Fraser's aggregated from USyd MD Offer Preferences PDF). |
| Tasmania | TAS | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT | Total not publicly aggregated; estimated ~110-135 domestic (school-leaver) + 25 graduate. TRTS 20 places; Medical Research Stream ~12-13 within graduate intake. |
| UNSW | NSW | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ | ~189 domestic offers (~135 CSP + ~54 BMP) plus ~40-60 international = ~230-250 total annual cohort (Fraser's UNSW Undergraduate Medicine Guide). |
| UQ | QLD | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027 graduate intake: 107 CSP + 43 BMP + up to 190 international = up to 340 total (reduced from 350). Plus ~140 Provisional Entry CSP (school-leaver) with 28% reserved for Rural Access Scheme. |
| UWA | WA | dual | UCAT-ANZ + GAMSAT | 2027 cycle (Graduate): 74 CSP + 29 BMP + up to 40 international ≈ 143-145 domestic. Note: gradready reports ~103 domestic and Fraser's reports 143 — discrepancy likely reflects different counting bases (graduate-only vs combined Direct + Graduate). Direct Pathway via UP056 Bachelor of Biomedicine TISC ranks 96.65 (2024) → 97.50 (2025). |
| Western Sydney | NSW | undergraduate | UCAT-ANZ | ~120 places total per year (CSP + BMP + ~20 international); specific split not published by WSU (WSU MD Enrolment Places page). |
| Wollongong | NSW | graduate | GAMSAT | 2027 cycle: 37 Unbonded CSP + 30 CSP Rural End-to-End + 27 BMP + 15 International = ~109 total (GEMSAS UOW). |
Which test plays to your strengths?
The honest answer comes from sitting a diagnostic of each — not from guessing. If you can spare the AUD $870 in combined registration, sit a March GAMSAT diagnostic AND a UCAT-ANZ practice mock in your first month of prep. The score gap will tell you the right test more reliably than any self-assessment.
That said, the heuristics are real:
- Strong science degree + comfortable with timed essays? GAMSAT plays to your hand.
- Fast quantitative thinker + good under time pressure? UCAT-ANZ rewards that profile.
- Humanities degree + slow careful reader? GAMSAT Section 1 will favour you, but Section 3 is a real climb.
- Anxious under timed conditions + need recovery time? GAMSAT's longer breaks suit you better than UCAT-ANZ's rapid-fire pacing.
Free GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ diagnostics
Sample GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ questions from our tutoring team — built to the same difficulty as official released materials. Sit both, then book a one-to-one with a tutor who has cleared the test you choose.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I sit both GAMSAT and UCAT-ANZ?
- Yes. Several applicants sit both each cycle, particularly graduates targeting both undergraduate dual-pathway streams (Monash, UWA) and 4-year graduate-entry programmes. It is expensive (roughly AUD $1,100 combined) and time-consuming, but maximises school choice. Most candidates with a clear pathway commit to one test.
- Which test is easier?
- Neither is inherently easier — they test different skills. UCAT-ANZ is a two-hour psychometric test rewarding fast pattern recognition and time management. GAMSAT is a five-and-a-half-hour reasoning test rewarding depth, written communication and applied science. Take a diagnostic of each and let your scores decide.
- How long should I prepare for each?
- UCAT-ANZ: 6 to 12 weeks of focused practice, typically 90 minutes per day. GAMSAT: 6 months for science graduates, 12 months for humanities graduates needing to build first-year university science from scratch. GAMSAT prep is a marathon; UCAT-ANZ prep is a sprint.
- When are the test windows?
- UCAT-ANZ runs over a single window in July each year. GAMSAT runs twice — once in March and once in September. The September GAMSAT sitting is the decisive one for most applicants because results release in mid-November aligns with graduate-entry application deadlines.
- Is GAMSAT more expensive than UCAT-ANZ?
- Yes. GAMSAT registration is approximately AUD $560 per sitting; UCAT-ANZ is approximately AUD $310. GAMSAT also typically requires more prep materials and tutoring hours because of its breadth (humanities, writing, three sciences) so the total cost difference is larger than the registration gap.
- Do MD programmes accept either test?
- No — each programme specifies a test. Undergraduate MDs (5-6 years, entry from year 12) use UCAT-ANZ. Graduate-entry MDs (4 years, entry post-degree) use GAMSAT. Dual-pathway schools (Monash, UWA) run separate streams, each with its own test. You cannot apply with the wrong test for a given pathway.
- Which test is better for international applicants?
- International applicants to Australian medicine generally sit GAMSAT for graduate-entry programmes. A handful of schools (notably Sydney MD) accept the ISAT in place of GAMSAT for international applicants. UCAT-ANZ is sat by both domestic and international school leavers applying to undergraduate medicine.
- If I have a degree already, must I sit GAMSAT?
- Not necessarily. You can still apply to a 5-6 year undergraduate medical programme with UCAT-ANZ even after completing a degree, though some schools require you to compete in the school-leaver pool with ATAR + UCAT-ANZ. Graduate-entry MDs (4-year) require GAMSAT specifically. Pathway choice depends on programme length and competitive position, not just credentials.
Related Australian medicine guides
- GAMSAT guide
Structure, scoring, school cut-offs and prep timelines.
- UCAT-ANZ guide
Subtests, the July sitting and cut-offs by school.
- Undergrad vs graduate medicine
Pathway length, cost and maturity trade-offs.
- All Australian medical schools
22 universities, full entry requirements and post-interview chances.
Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 28 May 2026