In 2024, 497 of 843 GSSE sittings resulted in a pass. That is 59.0 per cent.1 First attempts passed at 70.2 per cent. Second attempts passed at 42.5 per cent.
Pass-rate figures for this exam get repeated often and sourced rarely. RACS publishes the real data once a year, in a single table inside its Activities Report. Everything below comes from those reports.
Overall pass rate by year
Every sitting, all attempts, Australia and New Zealand combined.
| Year | Sittings | Passes | Overall | Australia | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,008 | 603 | 59.8% | 56.6% | 80.3% |
| 2022 | 890 | 540 | 60.7% | 58.9% | 67.7% |
| 2023 | 830 | 495 | 59.6% | 57.9% | 70.3% |
| 2024 | 843 | 497 | 59.0% | 57.2% | 66.9% |
Table EXAM.1, RACS Activities Reports 2021 to 2024.1234
It barely moves. Across four years and more than 3,500 sittings the rate has stayed between 59 and 61 per cent, which is what you would expect from an examination whose minimum scores are adjusted after each sitting to hold the standard steady.5 Two sittings in five do not end in a pass, and that has been true every year on this table.
RACS notes that where a location is given it refers to the candidate’s mailing address, and is not necessarily where they trained.1 Read the country split as an indication rather than a clean measure.
Pass rate by attempt number
The 59 per cent is the least useful number on this page. Split it by attempt and it stops describing one exam and starts describing two.
| Year | 1st attempt | 2nd attempt | 3rd attempt | 4th attempt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71.1% | 40.1% | 38.7% | 41.9% |
| 2022 | 71.5% | 48.7% | 41.4% | 37.8% |
| 2023 | 69.3% | 44.8% | 26.8% | 41.7% |
| 2024 | 70.2% | 42.5% | 29.9% | 29.3% |
Table EXAM.1, RACS Activities Reports 2021 to 2024.1234
In 2024, 573 of the 843 sittings were first attempts, and 402 of them passed. Of the 120 second attempts that year, 51 passed.1
It is tempting to read that as the exam getting harder on a resit. It is not. The paper has no idea how many times you have sat it. The more likely explanation is that a resit cohort is, by definition, everyone who did not clear the standard the first time.
The lesson is not about resilience on the second attempt. It is about not needing one. Your first attempt is by a wide margin your best attempt, and that should shape how you decide whether you are ready to register.
Why this matters more once you are on SET
Prevocational doctors have unrestricted access and unlimited attempts. SET Trainees must complete the exam within two active clinical years and in no more than four attempts, and only February and June are open to them.7
Put the four-attempt limit next to the table above. Four attempts at roughly 70, 42, 30 and 29 per cent is not four chances at the same exam. It is one good chance and three that keep getting worse. Which is the argument for sitting the GSSE before starting SET, while a failed attempt costs money but not one of your four.
Pass rate by location, 2024
| ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | AUS | NZ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100.0% | 53.8% | 62.5% | 62.1% | 45.5% | 44.4% | 59.4% | 59.7% | 57.2% | 66.9% |
Table EXAM.1, RACS Activities Report 2024.1
Treat the small jurisdictions with caution. The ACT figure of 100 per cent rests on four sittings in the whole year.1 The Northern Territory and Tasmania are similarly small. Only NSW, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand carry enough volume for the rate to mean much year to year.
Why the numbers look like this
The pass rate is not an accident of difficulty. It follows from how the standard is set.
Two hurdles, not one
To pass you must reach the minimum required score for each component of anatomy, pathology and physiology, and separately reach the minimum required overall score built from the three.5
You cannot offset a weak subject with a strong one. Excellent at anatomy and below standard at physiology is a fail, whatever your total. So your weakest subject decides whether you pass, and it deserves disproportionate time. That is rarely where revision time actually goes.
The pass mark moves
RACS reviews and adjusts the minimum required scores after each sitting to account for differences in difficulty and to maintain standards.5 There is no fixed percentage to aim at, and any figure presented as one is an estimate.
The Minimum Standard Pass
There is one narrow ledge just below the pass mark, and it is worth knowing about before results day rather than after. A candidate who meets all three component minimums but misses the overall minimum fails, but becomes eligible for a Minimum Standard Pass if the overall score falls within one error width of the minimum. It converts to a pass only if the same result is achieved again at a subsequent attempt.5
No negative marking
There is no negative marking and no reading time.6 Across 153 Type X questions, each carrying four independent judgements, that is 612 separate chances to score. Every one you leave blank is a guaranteed zero that you chose.
How the papers are built and marked →
Where these figures come from
Every number on this page comes from Table EXAM.1, Non-SET cumulative attempts to pass Generic Surgical Science Examination by location, published by RACS in its Activities Reports for 2021 to 2024. We recalculated every percentage from the published candidate counts and they match the rates RACS publishes. The reports are public and linked below. We would rather you checked than took our word for it.
RACS notes that from 2018 this table reports non-SET attempts, because passing the GSSE became a prerequisite for applying to SET. In reports before 2018 the same table appeared as EXAM.10 and covered SET Trainees, so figures before and after 2018 are not directly comparable.1
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References
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Activities Report 2024, Section Four: Examinations, Table EXAM.1 (PDF). Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/reports-guidelines-publications/workforce-activities-census-reports/2024_RACS_ActivitiesReport_web_final.pdf
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Activities Report 2023, Table EXAM.1 (PDF). Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/reports-guidelines-publications/workforce-activities-census-reports/2023_RACS_ActivitiesReport_2023_V3_Final.pdf
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Activities Report 2022, Table EXAM.1 (PDF). Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/reports-guidelines-publications/workforce-activities-census-reports/2022_RACS_ActivitiesReport_Web_final.pdf
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Activities Report 2021, Table EXAM.1 (PDF). Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/reports-guidelines-publications/workforce-activities-census-reports/2021-12-31_RACS_ActivitiesReport_2021_V4_Final.pdf
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Passing the GSSE. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/en/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-preparation/passing-the-gsse
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Exam structure. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-preparation/exam-structure
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Key facts about the GSSE. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/en/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-general-information/key-facts-about-the-gsse
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