GAMSAT Essay – What is the criteria used by markers to mark your essay?

GAMSAT Section two requires you to write two essays and you must have often wondered about what the GAMSAT markers look for in an essay and how they do the marking. Unlike the objective questions or the multiple choice type questions where there is only one correct answer, the process of marking an essay is much more tedious and complex because there is no simple right or wrong. Moreover, the case of essay marking in GAMSAT is a bit different from other essay writing tests. One of the main reasons for such a difference is that the candidates who sit for GAMSAT come from varied backgrounds, for some candidates English is their first language while for some others English is their second language. Hence, the organisers have set a different set of standards to mark the GAMSAT essays.

According to the ACER GAMSAT info booklet, the most important aspect that a marker looks for in a GAMSAT essay is ‘the quality of thinking about a topic’ and the other thing that they look for is ‘the control of language demonstrated in its development’, which means that the essay is marked on how it is developed. Proper organisation of thoughts and topics is a must in GAMSAT essay. Here it must be mentions that your essay will not be assessed on the propriety of the attitude or thoughts portrayed.

The other benchmarks for assessing a GAMSAT essay includes some of the very basic aspects of essay marking. Your essay will be marked on the aptness of the thoughts and ideas in the essay, whether they conform to the requirements of the essay. The introduction must cover the ideas that you would be elucidating on in the body of the essay. Try to include detailed analysis of the topics that you mention in the introduction. Do not expect high scores if your essay is superficial and sketchy. Supporting your views in the essay with examples will surely fetch you more marks. The other important issue that the marker looks into is the conclusion and, to see whether it sums up the views portrayed in the body of the essay.

Now that you know what the markers look for in your essay, I hope that the job of essay writing and essay marking has become less of a mystery. So what are you waiting for? Select a theme and write an essay in 30 minutes. Once you finish writing, mark your own essay according to the above mentioned criteria … see for yourself where you stand. This strategy will help you to a great extent in your GAMSAT preparation.