GAMSAT UK 2022

Purpose of This Post

After spending a little over a fortune and my sanity on the GAMSAT I am proud to tell you that I am now going to a university that didn’t need it.

I present this post as an antidote to my experience and hope that it offers you some insight and reassurance, particularly if you are sitting the GAMSAT very soon and for the first time.

Contents of this Post

Top 3 Lessons Learnt

The Acer Emails

There was a lot of lounging around before the exam started and this wasn’t because it started late.

Due to the many emails ACER sent us prior to the big day most of us were biting our nails and being extra cautious about everything.

The people hosting the exam were pleasant, calm and helpful but the fear building up to the day was unwarranted. What I’m trying to say is, do not worry too much about the little things – the organisers on the day made it quite simple.

I was so worried about folding my exam ticket wrong that I printed it twice and when I noticed a lot of jittery hands holding colour printouts in the waiting room, I worried again. I can now confirm that the tickets need not be printed in colour but don’t let that stop you from being paranoid – rules can always change.

Venue Review

The exam was held in a hotel near the Liverpool Waterfront, just a short taxi ride/walk away from Liverpool Lime Street Station. The view is great – especially if you need some time away from the room abuzz with the voices of GAMSAT veterans.

I’ve previously attended conferences at this location however doing an exam here was not quite the same. It was holiday time in a hotel and people were doing just that – holidaying – loud and clear. In fact, lifts and hallways filled with sweaty students may have been more of a nuisance to them, and in all fairness, I don’t think they knew we were students.

By the time we reached the grand finale – the science section – it felt like we were in a football pitch. A group of men just outside our window were honouring the old adage: football is a game for gentleman played by hooligans. This was quite disappointing given the amount of time and money (and hope) people had invested in this exam and all its arrangements – there were people who had flown in from other countries and were also paying for hotels and childcare.

UCAS Issues

This is something you should be aware of for both GAMSAT and BMAT. If you have previously owned a UCAS account and now made a new one then please keep reading.

UCAS is the online application system through which one applies to universities in the UK. The first time you ever register your details on UCAS you are given a UCAS Personal ID (PID) number – this is your original number that will always be associated with your name no matter how many times you make a new UCAS account (even if you use a different email and/or postal address).

GAMSAT and BMAT application forms ask you for this UCAS number so that they can attach your scores to it and send it to the universities.

The problem is that everytime you make a new UCAS account UCAS will generate a temporary new number for you but will automatically change this back to your original number without notifying you.

Students end up filling out their GAMSAT and BMAT application forms with their temporary new number. Universities then receive their UCAS application with the original old number. I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.

GAMSAT and BMAT will attach your results to the UCAS number you supplied them with – the wrong one. Universities will try and locate your results using the correct UCAS number. They won’t find it. They will contact you. You will wonder how you could possibly have typed all 10 digits in wrong.

Don’t worry – should this problem arise then the universities in question should contact you to ask for a screenshot of your grades once they are released. Universities and exam organisers appear to be well acquainted with this inconvenience as it happens quite frequently.

Top 3 Lessons Explained

1. The GAMSAT (especially section 3) is a marathon.

As a rule – when doing multiple choice with no negative marking – try not to leave questions blank. When I realised I would not be able to attempt all the questions in the time I had left – I quickly went through the whole exam selecting random answers to all the remaining questions. The only technique I applied here was that I flagged up the questions I felt (at a glance) I might be able to answer and went back to them as soon as I could. Your reading time, response time, educated-guesses, confidence and accuracy can all be improved with the correct practice techniques.

2. Knowledge helps

When I was cleaning out my papers this year I found the ACER practice tests and looked at the questions again. Lo and behold a year later (after tutoring a lot of A Level science students) I find the questions very easy – not only that, I find that most of the answers can indeed be gleaned from the stem of the question! So yes the GAMSAT is a logical reasoning test, but this reasoning is indubitably improved with knowledge and practice questions (I found the actual exam questions to be simpler than the ACER practice tests).

3. Do not stress!

For many (quite valid) reasons I had convinced myself that I would have to reapply so I had already made peace with potential disappointments. I was determined that I would go back, prepare better and definitely get in the following year. Why I was so sure of either of these things I will never know but it helped strike the right balance between being realistic and optimistic.

Graduate medical applicants have already passed the determination test – if you want to do this degree after one or two other degrees along with adult responsibilities then you must be a determined and dedicated (and slightly crazy) person – so don’t worry too much because that can affect your ability to perform well in any exam. Cumulative research evidence shows a rather unhappy correlation between test anxiety and exam performance – so if you can figure out a way to detach yourself from the final outcome then please do it!

I know it cost me a lot less than it cost people who had travelled from afar or who’d already had multiple attempts at this and needed to get into a GAMSAT specific university – but if this is what you want – don’t let an entrance exam scare you.

I wish all the GAMSAT applicants the best this year and every year – it is not an easy undertaking – the exam itself is a full day ordeal – you’ll get where you need to be sooner or later so stay in the game!