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Is GAMSAT harder than HPAT?

The GAMSAT is a much bigger and broader exam than the HPAT. Whilst you HPAT 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 HPAT for leaving cert. students it is not surprising that the tests are different in nature. For Section 1 of the GAMSAT many of the skills learned for the you HPAT are equally relevant. However, the general level of difficulty involved in verbal reasoning and passage interpretation is much more sophisticated for the GAMSAT.

For Section 3 many of the pattern recognition and data analysis skills you will have studied for the HPAT 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.

In summary the skills acquired in studying for the HPAT are a basis for your GAMSAT studies, but be aware the exams are fundamentally different in the skills they require and level of difficulty