What Is the GSSE? Format, Cost and Pass Rates Explained

Before you can apply for surgical training anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, you have to pass the GSSE. It is the written examination that establishes a minimum standard of knowledge in the surgical sciences of anatomy, pathology and physiology, and it sits between you and every SET program there is.¹

It runs three times a year, over two consecutive days. In 2024 there were 843 sittings and 497 passes, which is 59.0 per cent.⁹ Put the other way round, four sittings in ten did not end in a pass.

The essentials

Format	Two 150-minute papers, sat on a computer at an allocated centre⁵
Subjects	Anatomy, physiology, pathology³
Weighting	Anatomy 50%, pathology 25%, physiology 25% (approximate)⁶
Sittings	February, June and October²
Venues	Ten centres across Australia and New Zealand⁷
Fee (2026)	$4,850 inc GST in Australia; $5,425 inc GST in New Zealand, per attempt⁸
Pass rate (2024)	59.0% overall; 70.2% at first attempt⁹
Attempts	Unlimited before SET; four attempts within two years once on a program²

Who sits it

Every Specialty Training Board has mandated successful completion of the GSSE as a Surgical Education and Training selection criterion.² You pass it in order to apply. Passing does not get you a place, and RACS says so plainly, but not passing keeps you out of the process altogether.²

So you sit it as a prevocational doctor, where you have unrestricted access, unlimited attempts, and all three sittings a year open to you.²

There is no version of this where you sit it later. The GSSE is not a hurdle you clear during training, it is the gate on applying for it. The only question is which sitting you take, not whether you can put it off.

What it tests

The syllabus covers anatomy, physiology and pathology, and the questions are drawn wholly from the subject matter it sets out.³ Nine subject areas are named: anatomy; genetics and molecular biology; general pathological phenomena and tissue response to injury; immunology; microbiology; neoplasia; pathology; pharmacology and therapeutics; and physiology.⁴

The standard is pitched to provide a sound basis for training in any surgical specialty.³ Foundational science, not specialty knowledge.

The full syllabus, topic by topic →
The textbooks RACS recommends →

How the papers are built

Two and a half hours on day one, then you go home, sleep on it, and do it again the next morning. Day one is anatomy: 60 MCQs and 20 spot test questions, worth about half the total mark. Day two is pathology (65 MCQs) and physiology (60 MCQs), worth about a quarter each.⁵

There is no reading time, so the clock starts on the first question. There is no negative marking, so a wrong answer costs you exactly what a blank one does. Question types, mark values and scoring →⁵

How hard it is to pass

The overall pass rate has sat between 59 and 61 per cent since 2021.⁹ That figure is worth less than the one underneath it.

The attempt you are about to sit is the best one you will ever get. In 2024, first attempts passed at 70.2 per cent. Second attempts passed at 42.5 per cent.⁹

The paper does not get harder on a resit, and the people resitting are not the ones who did no work. What changes is the composition of the group: a resit cohort is, by definition, everyone who did not clear the standard the first time.

Part of the reason sits in how the pass mark is built. You have to clear a minimum in anatomy, a minimum in pathology, a minimum in physiology, and a minimum overall.⁶ Being excellent at anatomy buys you nothing in physiology.

Pass rates by year, by attempt and by location →

Dates and deadlines

Sittings are February, June and October. Registration opens about three months out and closes about two months out, so the window is roughly three weeks wide, and RACS does not accept late registrations under any circumstances.⁷

Miss it and your next sitting is four months away. Put the opening date in your phone now.

Every confirmed sitting and deadline for 2026 and 2027 →

What it costs

The 2026 fee is $4,850 including GST in Australia and $5,425 in New Zealand.⁸ Per attempt. Two attempts is $9,700 before you have paid for a flight, a hotel, the leave you burned, or a single textbook.

The full cost of sitting the GSSE →

Where to start

Because each component carries its own minimum, your weakest subject decides the result. Which is inconvenient, because your weakest subject is also the one you least want to open on a Sunday afternoon.

Most people revise what they enjoy and call it preparation. The only way to know where you actually stand is to be measured on it, by subject, before the exam does it for you.

References

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Generic Surgical Science Examination (GSSE). Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse
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
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. What does the GSSE test?. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/en/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-general-information/what-does-the-gsse-test
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The GSSE syllabus. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-preparation/the-gsse-syllabus
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. 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. GSSE dates and locations. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-application-information/Dates-and-locations
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. GSSE fees. Available at: https://www.surgeons.org/Examinations/generic-surgical-sciences-examination-gsse/gsse-application-information/gsse-fees
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

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