GAMSAT UK Test Structure

The purpose of GAMSAT is to assess your ability to understand and analyse material, to think critically about issues and, in the case of the Written Communication section, to organise and express your thoughts in a logical and effective way.Since problem-based learning techniques are central to modern medical curricula, GAMSAT is constructed with a major focus on the assessment of  problem solving ability across a wide range of subject areas.

Section I Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences    75 questions – 100 mins

The Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences section tests skills in the interpretation and understanding of ideas in social and cultural contexts. Different kinds of text will be usedas stimulus, including passages of personal, imaginative, expository and argumentative writing.Questions in this section demand varying degrees of complex verbal processing and conceptual thinking, logical and plausible reasoning, and objective and subjective thinking

Section II Written Communication    2 Essays -  60 mins

The Written Communication section is a test of the ability to produce and develop ideas in writing. It involves two thirty minute writing tasks. Each task offers a theme and a number of ideas relating to that theme. The themes are general rather than specific in nature. The first task deals with sociocultural issues, while the second deals with more personal and social issues.

Section III Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences    110 Questions -  170 mins

In addition to testing problem solving within a scientific context, this section examines the recall and understanding of basic science concepts. Stimulus material is presented in a variety of formats including verbal, mathematical, graphical and visual. Section III is made up of questions in three discipline areas in the following proportions:
Chemistry 40%  Biology 40%  Physics 20%
Questions from the three discipline areas are integrated throughout the section and are in multiple choice format.