Gamsat Syllabus Section 3 | Science Syllabus Paper Three
This Gamsat syllabus section 3 gives you a complete science syllabus for paper three of all the topics you need to study for biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics.
To get the complete list of topics for section 3 please click here - GAMSAT Syllabus
You can also download it as a free PDF from that link.
Official Syllabus?
It is important to point out that while this a recommended syllabus based on our in depth studies of the test over many years, there is no "official syllabus" published by ACER who manage and administrate the test.
The official ACER guidance on which topics you should study is simply that you need biology and chemistry to first year degree level and physics to final year high/secondary school level which is A level standard in the UK or year 12 in Australia.
However while the official ACER guidance may seem vague and uncertain it is not actually that difficult to work out a reasonably accurate working syllabus based on the information they give.
For example the topics covered at science A level are very easily established by looking at the topics set by the various different exam boards.
There may be some marginal variation from exam board to exam board but broadly speaking all the core topics are exactly the same.
This can be established by looking at the chapter headings and topic lists contained in the contents pages of science A level text books. This basically composes the entire syllabus.
Comparison of the chapters from books geared to different exam boards will demonstrate what I have proposed above. Namely that 80% or more of the syllabus is the same from exam board to exam board.
Now this covers the physics quite nicely.
Chemistry and Biology
But what about the chemistry and biology? The official level for these is stated to be "first year degree level".
Well, in this case an A level syllabus also works quite well.
Allow me to explain.
In most universities the first year of the course usually mostly consists of A level topics but just taken to a slightly higher level.
But remember not everyone who has done A level biology or chemistry will have achieved the top possible grade. So when they start university the first year is really more about leveling up the students.
So if you study to a good A level standard for Gamsat then you can have confidence that you've reached the recommended level.
Another big advantage to sticking to A level resources is that they are plentiful and reasonably cheap. You can easily find plenty of text books, question practice books, revision aids etc etc.
At this point let me emphasize that the preceding is not just based on pure theory but also on the practical results of real GAMSAT candidates. When I personally sat the test in 2005 I used exactly this system. Since then literally thousands of my students have also used it to plan their studies and achieve success in the test.
Further Resources
For more help with GAMSAT please check out Griffiths GAMSAT Review Home Study System which takes you step by step through all three sections with advanced strategies for each.