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Is GAMSAT harder than UCAT?

Many students prepare for both the GAMSAT and the UCAT if they are applying for both four year and five year courses. It is important to realise however that fundamentally the two exams are different. Whilst you UCAT can be thought of as more of a general IQ test the GAMSAT tests advanced reasoning and scientific skills which had developed over a much longer period of time. Remembering that the GAMSAT is designed for graduates and UCAT for A level students it is not surprising that the tests are different in nature.

ACER state that the GAMSAT requires a broad understanding of 1st year undergraduate level chemistry and biology, and physics to a level or leaving certificate level. As such the assumed knowledge and inherent skills between the two exams are fundamentally different. If you are taking both exams you should therefore look carefully at the skills, knowledge and hence time scales each involves.

For Section 1 of the GAMSAT many of the skills learned for the you UCAT are equally relevant. However the general level of difficulty involved in verbal reasoning and passage interpretation is much more sophisticated for the GAMSAT. As such the exercises you should be working with must be specifically tailored to the higher level of the GAMSAT exam. This does not mean the skills you have acquired in preparing for the UCAT are wasted, but their application is different in the GAMSAT exam.

For Section 3 many of the pattern recognition and data analysis skills you will have studied for the UCAT will provide some foundation for the style of questions the GAMSAT asks, however fundamentally questions are asked at a much higher level, often making use of scientific pieces from research papers and journals. As such you should be looking to read much more highbrow material in relation to science. Of course the other key is the style of problem solving and reasoning that the GAMSAT presents. Try to focus on questions which are based around the core scientific topics the exam requires, but working within this problem solving framework 

In summary the skills acquired in studying for the UCAT are a basis for your GAMSAT studies, but be aware the exams are fundamentally different in the skills they require and level of difficulty. As such be sure to target your studies appropriately.