- Every generation believes it has arrived at the end of history.
- Progress is a comfortable word for change we happened to like.
- A society can be measured by what it is willing to stop doing.
- We call it progress when the costs land on someone else.
GAMSAT Section 2 essay practice: Task A and Task B
Section II is two essays in 65 minutes, each responding to a set of statements on a shared theme. Here’s how the tasks differ, how they’re marked, how to plan under time pressure and some practice prompts to write against.
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Task A and Task B
Section II, Written Communication, asks for two pieces of writing. Each task gives you a handful of short statements or quotes on a common theme. Your job is to write a response that develops an idea about that theme.
- Task A deals with socio-cultural issues, such as justice, progress, freedom or the role of science, and usually suits an argued, analytical essay.
- Task B deals with personal and social themes, such as friendship, ambition, solitude or change, and leaves room for a more reflective or personal response.
You have 65 minutes for both tasks, so budget roughly half of it for each.
How Section 2 essays are marked
ACER assesses each essay on two broad criteria:
- Thought and content: the quality of what you say. Is there a clear, considered idea? Is it developed with reasons and examples, and does it engage with complexity rather than settling for the obvious?
- Organisation and expression: the quality of how you say it. Does the essay have a structure that carries the argument? Is the language clear, precise and controlled?
Neither criterion rewards a particular essay template. A focused argument that admits its limits usually reads better than one that tries to cover every angle.
Practice prompts to write against
Original statements written by Get Into Med in the style of the exam. Set a timer for 30 minutes and write a response to one set.
- Being alone and being lonely are different rooms in the same house.
- Most of what we know about ourselves we learn when no one is watching.
- Solitude is a luxury for some and a sentence for others.
- We fill silence quickly because we fear what it might say.
A plan for each 30 minutes
- Read and choose an angle (3 to 5 minutes). Read every statement. Look for where they disagree; that tension is usually where the best essays start. Decide what you actually think.
- Sketch the argument (2 to 3 minutes). Write your main idea as one sentence, then two or three points that develop or complicate it, each with an example.
- Write (about 20 minutes). Open with the idea, not a restatement of the quotes. Give each paragraph one job. Use specific examples from history, current events, science, literature or your own life.
- Check (2 minutes). Reread the opening and closing. Make sure the ending says something the opening couldn’t, and fix any sentence that’s hard to follow.
After each practice essay, ask whether a reader could state your main idea in one sentence. If they couldn’t, the plan needs more work than the prose.
Section 2 practice on Get Into Med
A pass includes Task A and Task B prompts to write against the clock, with a review of your essay so you can see what to work on next.
Common questions
How long should a GAMSAT Section 2 essay be?
There’s no required length. What’s marked is the quality of the thinking and the writing, not the word count. Most candidates aim for something they can plan, write and briefly check in about half the section’s time.
Do I have to quote the statements in my essay?
No. The statements are there to prompt your thinking about the theme. You can respond to one, several or the theme they share, and you don’t need to quote them directly.
Can I prepare essays in advance?
You can prepare ideas, examples and a reliable way of structuring an argument. Memorised essays tend to read as off-topic, because the themes and statements change every sitting.
More GAMSAT guides
- What is the GAMSAT?The three sections, how long each takes, how it’s scored and who sits it.
- Free GAMSAT practice questionsSample questions for all three sections, each with a worked answer.
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- GAMSAT Section 3 tipsWhat to study first, maths without a calculator, pacing and non-science advice.
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- GAMSAT study planHow long to prepare, what to do in each phase and a sample study week.
- GAMSAT score calculatorWork out your overall score and see what makes a score competitive.
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