GAMSAT UK Preparation Courses and Books

For 2023-2024 entry, 11 graduate entry medicine (GEM) programmes and 1 dental surgery programme in the UK accept the following GAMSAT scores and degree classifications (equivalent to GPAs in some countries):

There may be additional requirements, which are not listed in the summary below. For a more detailed list of GEM entry requirements in the UK, click here: GAMSAT Scores & Results 2023-2024 UK Of course, we strongly suggest that you also visit the website of the respective school to which you are applying.

Disclaimer: The information in our website does not replace the personal responsibility that each applicant has to access objective information and/or academic counselling regarding their choice to apply to a medical school or to study medicine. We have provided this free service for years only as a means to attempt to summarise a complex procedure with many moving parts. If you notice any information that is not consistent with your own research, please let us know as it could be of assistance to other candidates.

GAMSAT generally evaluates your ability to solve problems, think critically and express your ideas effectively in writing through your performance in three areas; namely, Humanities & Social Sciences, Written Communication, and Biological & Physical Sciences (see the corresponding test sections in the table below). Although assumed knowledge in certain subjects would be helpful to some extent, the stimulus material used during the exam will often explore advanced-level content in order to assess your reasoning skills and ability to interpret graphs, tables, and mathematical relationships.

Currently, the GAMSAT exam is administered in testing centres with individual computers for each candidate. However, in cases of strict quarantine or lockdown restrictions (such as during the May-June 2020 sitting and in select locations in September 2020), the exam is delivered online via remote proctoring. Sitting the exam in a testing centre lasts approximately 6 hours with all three sections completed in a single day (shown in the table below). On the other hand, in exams done remotely, candidates sit Section 1 and Section 2 together in a single day while Section 3 is scheduled for a different day.

*MCQs: multiple-choice questions, 4 options per question with only 1 best answer. Note that the 'old' GAMSAT had a dedicated 'reading time' of 10 minutes for each of Section 1 and 3, and 5 minutes for Section 2. During that reading time, students were not permitted to write or mark their exam paper in any way. The new digital GAMSAT has added time for each of the 3 exam sections as a legacy to 'reading time'; however, in practice, you can use your exam time in any way that you see fit. **It might be a good idea to allocate a whole day to sit the GAMSAT test to allow for any contingencies and/or technical issues that you might encounter. Before the 2020 sittings, the exam-day experience lasted more than 7 hours excluding added traffic and queues at the larger testing centres (i.e. London, Dublin, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth). Safety measures and health protocols should be carefully anticipated when making travel arrangements and accommodations to and from the testing centre.

A science background is not a prerequisite in sitting the GAMSAT. If your first degree is in a non-scientific or a non-clinical field of study, you can still sit the GAMSAT and be possibly chosen for admission to a graduate-entry programme as long as you meet any of the following qualifications:

• Has a completed Bachelor's degree in any discipline
• Will be enrolled in a penultimate (second-last) year of a Bachelor's degree
• Is in the final year of study for a Bachelor degree at the time of sitting the GAMSAT

However, it must be stressed that GAMSAT success is unlikely without knowledge and ability in the biological and physical sciences. And of course, academic excellence in the humanities and social sciences is encouraged and recognised. A study conducted by Annette Mercer, et al, published in 2015, unsurprisingly indicates the following:

"Candidates with Arts and Social Science qualifications score highest in Sections 1 and 2 and candidates with Physical Science-based qualifications score highest in Section 3, suggesting that performance in individual sections of GAMSAT is dependent on discipline-specific skills and that each section is assessing different attributes." (From GAMSAT: A 10-year retrospective overview, with detailed analysis of candidates' performance in 2014)

Source: Mercer, A., Crotty, B., Alldridge, L. et al. GAMSAT: A 10-year retrospective overview, with detailed analysis of candidates' performance in 2014. BMC Med Educ 15, 31 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-015-0316-3

GAMSAT Preparation for Non-Science Background

Sitting the GAMSAT with a non-science background and eventually getting accepted to a medical school in the UK is entirely possible. Of course, getting a high GAMSAT score involves a problem-based learning approach in your preparation and adopting proven strategies such as the 70/30 formula as discussed by the experienced GAMSAT teacher, Dr Brett Ferdinand, in this video:

GAMSAT scores are mapped onto a scale which ranges from a high of 100 to a low of 0. Note that more than 95% of candidates will receive a scaled GAMSAT score between 40 and 80.

GAMSAT scores are based on Item Response Theory (IRT) which depends on the cohort and the degree of exam difficulty. IRT is a statistical adjustment to ensure that GAMSAT scores are comparable from year to year. Your GAMSAT score is not a direct equivalent to your raw score (i.e. how many correct answers divided by how many questions in Section 1 or 3), nor is your GAMSAT score a simple percentage.

Your GAMSAT results will be available in November for the September sitting. Results for GAMSAT held in March will be available in May. An email will be sent to you explaining how to access your results online. You will receive a score for each of the three sections, together with an Overall GAMSAT Score. The Overall Score is a weighted average of the three component scores. Each of the four GAMSAT scores is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. Again, these are not percentage marks.

Note: The Overall Score is calculated to several decimal places. It is not possible for candidates to replicate this process.

What is a good GAMSAT score?

Average, good and high GAMSAT scores are relative terms and, as such, are dependent on perspective, the cohort and the medical school to which you intend to apply.

The following table provides a general guide. Please keep in mind that the percentile rank indicates your test performance relative to all the students who sat the same test on the same day. It records the percentage of students whose scores were lower than yours.

*Please note, a "good" score may be good enough for admittance to one particular medical school but below the cutoff of another. Consult the websites of the medical institutions to which you intend to apply.

An average GAMSAT score is often around 56-58 and a high GAMSAT score is over 65. Technically, the highest possible GAMSAT score is 100; however, only 0.1% of students score over 80. When you hear a student make the claim "I scored 100", they are usually rounding their percentile rank as opposed to providing the scaled score.

Please keep in mind when evaluating the statistics provided and the graphic: this data is meant to give you a general idea of the process. The numbers can vary somewhat from one exam sitting to another. And as mentioned previously, you cannot replicate the scoring system at home since there is no formula provided to convert raw scores into official GAMSAT scores.

You can sit the GAMSAT in the UK twice a year, in March and September, in each of the UK, Ireland and Australia, as well as selected international locations. The following is a table with key dates to keep you on track with registration and sitting dates. For detailed information such as past GAMSAT release dates and application deadlines to graduate entry medicine programmes, please go to our GAMSAT Scores & Results UK page.

How much does the GAMSAT cost?

GAMSAT registration fee is £286 per sitting. If you register late, you'll need to pay the late fee of £69.

How do I register for the GAMSAT exam?

Registrations for both the March and September exams are done online. You are required to provide a valid email address in creating an online account at the Australian Council for Educational Research's website. For more information about the registration process, please go to ACER's official GAMSAT website.

GAMSAT UK Test Centres

GAMSAT test centres in the UK for September are located in Birmingham, Cardiff, Derry/Londonderry (NI), Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Norwich, Plymouth, Sheffield and Sunderland. GAMSAT test centres outside the UK are located in Singapore, Washington D.C. and Wellington, New Zealand. As described above, students applying to medical schools which accept the GAMSAT in the UK, Ireland or Australia can sit any of the two available exams during the year. Students can opt to sit the GAMSAT in March in Bristol, Derry/Londonderry (NI), Leeds, Liverpool and London. No other GAMSAT testing centres are available in the UK

There is no limit to the number of times you can sit the GAMSAT. You may even choose to sit the exam twice in one year. It is important to note that any two tests on different examination dates will have, essentially, the same format; however, many questions are changed for each exam. GAMSAT scores from either the March or September sitting are also interchangeable and can be used to apply to any university in the UK, Ireland and Australia that requires the GAMSAT.

However, please note that GAMSAT scores are valid for only 2 years in the UK and Ireland, and 4 years in Australia. Make sure that your scores have not expired if you are using a score from a previous sitting of the GAMSAT. Otherwise, you choose the GAMSAT score that you wish to submit for consideration for admissions.