The AI-powered Des O'Neill alternative
Des O'Neill's prep series was where Australian GAMSAT preparation started — community forums still remember the Red, Green and Purple booklets. The business closed in 2014 and the books are out of print, circulating only second-hand and as scanned copies of unverifiable quality. Meanwhile the exam itself changed: GAMSAT has been digitally delivered since 2020, Section III is now 75 questions in 150 minutes (it was 110 in 170), and in 2026 the essays are typed under remote proctoring. Here's an honest comparison between those books and a live platform built for the current exam.
The books that started GAMSAT prep can't see the exam you'll sit.
Print-era practice against a paper exam that no longer exists, versus timed, on-screen practice at the current format's clock — with your essays typed and marked the way you'll actually be tested.
Your scaled Section II score
76
Your essay — not a sample — scored on our calibrated rubric in seconds, by two AI examiners. Illustrative.
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The reasoning style — not recall
We treat forgetting as a failure — a lapse to be patched with reminders and records. Yet a mind that kept everything could not think; it would drown in the undifferentiated noise of every moment it had ever lived. To forget is not so much to lose information as to decide, mostly without our noticing, what was never worth keeping.
The author's argument relies most directly on which unstated assumption?
Pick an option to see how the tutor reasons to the answer — not just whether you were right.
Not quite — the answer is B.
Work backwards from the conclusion: a mind that ‘kept everything’ supposedly ‘could not think.’ That only follows if thinking means leaving most of experience out — so B is the premise the argument quietly rests on. A raises reliability, which the passage never weighs; C contradicts ‘mostly without our noticing’; D smuggles in a claim about intellect the passage never makes. The question rewards finding the hidden premise, not recalling a fact.
What Des O'Neill does well
- Pioneered Australian GAMSAT preparation — community discussion credits it as the first dedicated prep series
- Era reviews rated the practice questions close to the real exam's style and difficulty of the time
- A disciplined, section-by-section structure that many past sitters swear by
If you already own the original books, the reasoning practice in them isn't worthless — good reasoning ages well, and a well-written MCQ from 2013 can still teach you something. What has aged is everything around it: the format, the timing, the delivery mode and the essay conditions have all changed since 2014, and a print series can't mark your work or adapt to your gaps.
Where GAMSAT Coach is different
Built for the exam as it exists now
Digital delivery, current section timings (S1 62 questions in 100 minutes, S3 75 in 150), and Section II practised the way 2026 tests it: typed, timed, under the clock.
Your essays actually get marked
The original service ended in 2014. Here, two AI examiners mark every essay in about a minute — with line-level annotations and the one change most likely to lift your next draft.
Practice that adapts instead of a fixed booklet
Weak topics get targeted, past mistakes resurface at the right moment, and every question carries an honest explanation plus an AI tutor for follow-ups.
Free to start, no hunting
No second-hand listings, no scanned PDFs of unknown quality or provenance — sign up free and do real, current-format practice today.
Switch to GAMSAT Coach if…
- You're preparing for the current computer-based exam and want practice at its real timings
- You want your Section II essays marked, not just described in a chapter
- You'd rather not gamble on second-hand copies or scans of unverifiable quality
- You want explanations you can interrogate, not just printed answers
Des O'Neill may suit you if…
- You already own the original books and want extra reasoning drills alongside current-format practice
- You specifically prefer working on paper for first-pass content review
Des O'Neill alternative — FAQ
Are Des O'Neill's GAMSAT books still available?
Not new. The business closed in 2014 and the books are out of print; copies circulate second-hand, and scanned PDFs float around online without any rights or quality assurance. A website using the Des O'Neill name appeared in late 2024 selling reprints, with no stated connection to the original business and no company details listed — we can't verify its provenance either way, so buy with care.
Is Des O'Neill still good GAMSAT preparation in 2026?
The reasoning practice holds up better than the logistics. The exam has changed materially since the books were written: GAMSAT has been digitally delivered since 2020, Section III is now 75 questions in 150 minutes (the books drilled 110 in 170 — a different pace per question), and in 2026 the essays are typed under remote proctoring. Books from that era can still sharpen reasoning, but they train the wrong clock and the wrong writing conditions.
What's the closest modern equivalent to the Des O'Neill approach?
His model was disciplined, question-heavy practice — the modern equivalent adds the things print can't do: timing against the current format, marking for your actual essays, and explanations you can question. GAMSAT Coach does all three, free to start.
Should I buy the scanned PDFs I've seen online?
We'd steer clear. They're unauthorized scans with no quality control — pages and figures are sometimes missing or illegible — and the money doesn't reach anyone connected to the original work. Free, current-format practice exists; that's a better starting point.
Try the AI-first way to prep — free
A timed diagnostic, an AI tutor on every question, instant essay marking, and a plan built around your test date. No credit card.
Start freeBased on publicly available information, last verified 1 August 2026. Des O'Neill is a trademark of its respective owner; GAMSAT Coach is independent and not affiliated with Des O'Neill. GAMSAT® is a registered trademark of ACER.