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Looking for a GAMSAT ® study syllabus that covers every section of the exam? ACER does not publish an official GAMSAT ® exam syllabus , so most candidates need a practical GAMSAT ® topic checklist instead. The test still rewards breadth across humanities, written communication, and biological and physical sciences. This free GAMSAT ® study guide and downloadable GAMSAT syllabus PDF list topics for Sections 1, 2, and 3 so you can organise preparation, tick areas off as you go, and prioritise the skills each section actually tests. For overall strategy see GAMSAT ® preparation; for exam basics see what is the GAMSAT ®?
The GAMSAT ® exam covers a wide range of varying areas, making it difficult to prepare for without a comprehensive study plan. If you’re not sure where to start, our expert tutor, Georgia, provides tips on how to use our GAMSAT ® Study Syllabus in this video guide.
One of the most common questions we hear is whether there is a syllabus for the GAMSAT ® exam. Although ACER does not publish a formal topic-by-topic GAMSAT exam syllabus, the test still draws on predictable skill areas within each section. At GradReady, we have compiled a GAMSAT study syllabus — a practical topic checklist based on the content that comes up time and again across Sections 1, 2, and 3.
Our GAMSAT ® study syllabus is a free overview of the exam and how to approach it. View the GAMSAT syllabus PDF below or download it to use offline. Tick off topics as you work through them, and use the list to structure a GAMSAT ® study schedule that matches your timeline.
The safest way to use any GAMSAT ® syllabus is to treat it as a study checklist, not as a promise that every listed topic will appear. ACER's GAMSAT ® Information Booklet gives the official section structure, skill expectations, and Section 3 knowledge levels; this page turns those boundaries into a practical GAMSAT topic checklist you can work through.
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You can also access our more detailed week-by-week GAMSAT ® Study Guide by signing up for our free trial here: GAMSAT ® Free Trial. Our Free Trial includes a complete breakdown of the GAMSAT ® Syllabus, 40 free MCQs as well as a wealth of other preparation materials to help you kickstart your preparation.
This GAMSAT ® study syllabus is designed to guide your GAMSAT ® preparation and doubles as a section-by-section topic checklist. It summarises the recommended content for each part of the GAMSAT exam syllabus and includes study tips from our expert tutors on how to tackle each section.
Start by marking each topic as confident, needs revision, or unfamiliar. Then turn the list into a weekly plan: foundations first, practice questions second, timed mixed sets last. The checklist is most useful when every topic is paired with an action, such as reviewing a core concept, answering MCQs, writing an essay plan, or logging the reason for a wrong answer.
A GAMSAT ® topic list is only useful if it helps you prioritise. Start with the section that creates the biggest bottleneck for your score and confidence, then use the syllabus checklist to make that work specific. Candidates from a non-science background usually need more time on Section 3 foundations, while science-background candidates often gain more by improving Section 1 interpretation, Section 2 writing, and timed decision-making.
GradReady’s GAMSAT ® Study Guide will help you to gain an overview of the GAMSAT ® exam and its core components and is a useful tool in planning your preparation. To make the best use of it, you should also ensure to do the following:
Time management and studying efficiently is a core skill to succeeding in the GAMSAT ® . Getting into a steady routine is vital in managing your preparation, reducing stress, and improving performance. For example, planning ahead gives you more direction over your study, so that you always know whether you are on track, and what you need to study when you sit down at your desk for the day. To help you with this, we have created a free GAMSAT ® Study Schedule which provides a framework and some key checkpoints along your study journey.
The GAMSAT ® exam tests knowledge and skills across many different areas, so it is important to have a thorough understanding of what exactly you will be assessed on. While this GAMSAT ® Study checklist gives you an insight into the GAMSAT ® exam, it is only an overview of the process. To learn more about the GAMSAT ® exam, you can read our comprehensive guides for each Section:
The practical GAMSAT ® exam syllabus is different for each section. Section 1 and Section 2 are mainly skill-based, while Section 3 is the only area where ACER publishes discipline proportions and assumed knowledge levels. Use the section summaries below to decide what belongs in your topic checklist and what belongs in separate practice.
For Section 1 (Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences) of the GAMSAT ® Exam you will be asked questions on a wider array of different media which may include the following (this list is not exhaustive):
Section 2 of the GAMSAT ® exam, also known as ‘Written Communication’, assesses your ability to generate and develop ideas in writing. Each of two tasks currently offers four statements on a common theme.
Task A generally deals with socio-cultural issues and is best suited to an argumentative style of essay. Some example themes include:
Task B centres around themes targeted at more personal and social issues and allows for students to express themselves through a more creative or reflective essay style. Some example themes include:
For further ideas, head to our GAMSAT Section 2 Essay Quote Generator.
For Section 3 (Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences), the GAMSAT Section 3 syllabus is split across three discipline areas along the following ratios:
You are advised to have a level of basic knowledge equivalent to first-year university levels of biology and chemistry, along with a Year 12 level of physics. The questions usually require you to interpret new information, apply relationships, analyse data, and reason through unfamiliar scenarios rather than simply recall definitions. For deeper subject-specific preparation, see our GAMSAT biology , chemistry , and physics guides, and our GAMSAT physics formula sheet for quick reference.
Below is the GAMSAT biology syllabus checklist — the biology topics to include in any GAMSAT ® Section 3 study plan. Treat this as a topic list for building enough biological language to interpret unfamiliar stems, not as a memorisation-only biology course.
Below is the GAMSAT chemistry syllabus checklist — the chemistry topics to cover for Section 3. General chemistry, organic chemistry, laboratory techniques, units, and quantitative reasoning often overlap, so practise moving between formulas, graphs, reaction logic, and written explanations.
Below is the GAMSAT physics syllabus checklist — the physics topics most commonly tested in Section 3. Focus on relationships, units, proportional reasoning, graphs, and estimation; these are the physics skills that make a GAMSAT ® formula sheet useful under time pressure.
You may have heard that the GAMSAT ® 'cannot be studied for', or that it only tests your general intelligence meaning there is no point in preparing. However, a review of more than 50 academic studies of over 130,000 participants finds that in general, preparation improves performance on any test. In the context of the GAMSAT ® exam, this is the case because:
When learning new content, focus on asking questions, putting information in context, and summarising information. Then, revisit the material periodically and test yourself regularly. One of the biggest pitfalls students encounter is simply passively reading information, which they are likely to forget immediately. It’s important to remember that the GAMSAT ® exam is not designed to test your recall of knowledge but rather your reasoning skills - As such, it’s important to think critically as you work through practice questions and consider the type of skills they’re testing.
Spending all your time on chemistry doesn’t help you much if you are already a science whiz but can’t write an essay within the allotted time. Before you start spending a lot of time on studying a specific area, assess whether it will actually help you do better on the exam. Use our GAMSAT ® Study Guide to get a quick overview of the various areas in the exam.
You don’t need to know what score or university you want, but it is helpful to have some perspective of why you are sitting the exam. You most likely want to get into a study program that leads into a healthcare field that you are passionate about. Having this goal somewhere (and tangible reminders of it) to refer back to in tough times will help keep you on track.
The GAMSAT ® curriculum is quite broad. However, the subjects which are needed for the GAMSAT ® exam may still be defined for each section:
Question stems in Section 1 draw from a variety of topics, including literature and psychology. In terms of what subjects you should be studying, this question is complex. A student would benefit from reading widely in both fiction and non-fiction. For fiction this includes short stories, poems, and novels. For non-fiction, this includes long-form journalism, opinion pieces, essays and books.
At times you will be asked to interpret graphs and tables, and this could be described as analytics. Subjects which may be most useful for these kinds of questions include statistics, philosophy and psychology, as many involve assessing causality.
For more information, check out our GAMSAT ® to Med School Podcast episode which specifically covers GAMSAT ® Section 1 advice and best practices.
There are no particular subjects which are needed for Section 2. Content and subject matter in the essays is up to the student but restrained by the quote sets, which may draw themes/quotes from sociology, politics, climate science, technology and more. Perhaps the most useful subjects to study at University-level might be sociology, english literature and political science.
Practice is key for GAMSAT® Section 2, which is why we've created a GAMSAT ® Quote Generator that you can use for free.
Section 3 is broken down into the following overarching subjects (proportion of questions in %):
The actual sub-topics which are required for these overarching subjects may vary slightly from exam to exam, but are usually predictable.
E.g for chemistry, there will be some questions on organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, chemical bonding. Please refer to the section syllabus to see these in more detail for each subject.
The main risk with any GAMSAT ® syllabus PDF is using it like a university exam outline. The checklist should help you decide what to study, but it should not delay practice or make you chase every possible detail.
ACER can update test delivery, timing, registration, and official preparation material details, so always check the current GAMSAT ® Information Booklet before your sitting. The practical GAMSAT ® syllabus areas are more stable: Section 1 interpretation, Section 2 written communication, and Section 3 biology, chemistry, physics, and maths foundations.
No. ACER publishes official test information and preparation materials, but not a complete topic-by-topic GAMSAT ® syllabus. GradReady's GAMSAT ® syllabus PDF is a practical study checklist built around the official section structure and the topics candidates commonly need to prepare.
No. Move into free GAMSAT ® practice questions early. A topic is not complete just because you have read it; it is complete when you can use it to reason through a new stem, essay prompt, graph, table, or experiment.
Start with the area that most limits your current performance. If you are from a non-science background , that may be biology, chemistry, physics, and maths foundations. If your science base is strong, the better first move may be Section 1 reading, Section 2 writing, timing, or mixed practice review.
Detailed enough to drive action, but not so detailed that it becomes a distraction. For each syllabus item, record whether you need concept review, practice questions, timed practice, or error-log review. Keep the topic checklist tied to outcomes you can verify.
After you have a GAMSAT ® syllabus checklist, use these pages to turn topics into practice and a study plan:
Overall preparation strategy once your topic checklist is set.
Week-by-week planning against the syllabus topics above.
Free resource library of guides and tools to support syllabus study.
Short worked examples to test topics as you tick them off.
Timed full-length practice after you have covered the core checklist.
Humanities and social sciences reasoning strategy.
Written Communication technique and essay practice.
Biology, chemistry, and physics reasoning for the science section.
Content resources for working through syllabus topics.
How to sequence science catch-up against this checklist.
Scoring and percentile context once practice starts reflecting your syllabus progress.
Official practice materials and test-environment resources to benchmark your preparation after working through the checklist.