Sample essay written for demonstration; AI-marked
A mid-range-band Section II essay, marked for real
Clear and well-organised, but agrees with the prompt and leans on generic examples without analysis.
Overall
54 / 84
calibrated GAMSAT scale
Examiner summary — verbatim
This essay sits in the lower end of the Competent band. While it is technically clear, grammatically sound, and structurally organized, it suffers from a profound lack of intellectual depth. It treats a complex philosophical prompt as a simple lesson in anti-procrastination, relying on historically flawed examples and high-school level analogies rather than grappling with the systemic or intergenerational tensions of the prompts.
Reading note: examiner commentary sometimes names bands on the 0–100 criterion scale (the three bars above); the overall 54 is the platform's calibrated score on the GAMSAT 40–84 reporting scale.
The prompt · Responsibility to the future
“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.” — Proverb
“We build the future with inherited hands — every generation is the tenant of choices it never made.”
Write a response to one or more of the above statements. Your essay will be assessed on the quality of your thinking, how well it is organised, and the control of your written expression.
The essay
The proverb tells us that we should take responsibility for the future and not delay important actions. This is an important message that applies to many areas of life, and I agree with it strongly. In this essay I will discuss why acting early is so important, using examples from history, the environment, and our everyday lives to support my argument.
Throughout history, many great achievements have taken a very long time to complete, such as the pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China. These enormous projects show that people are capable of working towards long-term goals even when the rewards are far away in the future. If the people who started them had decided to wait, then these wonders would never have been finished at all. This proves that starting early is the key to achieving great things.
We should also think carefully about the environment, because it is something that affects all future generations. Climate change is a very serious problem in the world today, and if we do not act now, then future people will surely suffer the consequences of our inaction. Simple actions such as planting trees, using less plastic and saving energy are all things that we can do today which will help to protect the planet for tomorrow.
The same idea can also be applied to our own personal lives and goals. For example, if a student studies a little bit every single day instead of leaving all of their revision until the last minute, they will almost always achieve much better results in their exams. Good habits take a long time to build up, and so the best time to start building them is always right now, today.
In conclusion, the proverb reminds us that we should take responsibility for the future and not delay important actions any longer. Whether it is in history, the environment, or our own personal goals, the best time to act is always now, and we should all try our best to do our part and make the world a better place for everyone.
Examiner margin notes
“In this essay I will discuss why acting early is so important”
Announcing your essay's structure so explicitly ('In this essay I will...') is a low-level expository technique. Instead, integrate your thesis statement directly into a sophisticated opening argument.
“such as the pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China.”
These historical examples are historically flawed. The Pyramids and Great Wall were built under dynastic coercion and forced labor, not as a result of collective, forward-thinking 'responsibility for the future.'
“If the people who started them had decided to wait”
This is a truism that adds little analytical value. Instead of stating the obvious, analyze *why* societies struggle to initiate long-term projects, such as the tension between immediate survival and future legacy.
“Simple actions such as planting trees, using less plastic and saving energy”
This reduces the complex, systemic crisis of climate change to individualistic, cliché solutions. A stronger GAMSAT essay would address the structural, political, or economic barriers to environmental action.
“if a student studies a little bit every single day”
Transitioning from monumental historical projects and global climate change to a student's study habits feels like a major regression in scale and intellectual depth. It trivializes the prompt's philosophical weight.
What earned marks
- Strong technical control of basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation, which ensures the essay is highly readable and free of mechanical distractions.
- Clear and logical paragraphing that follows a standard, easy-to-read five-paragraph essay structure.
- Direct engagement with the literal meaning of the first proverb, maintaining a consistent focus on the theme of prompt action.
The path up
- Elevate the intellectual depth of your arguments by moving away from high-school level clichés (like student study habits or basic recycling) and instead exploring systemic, philosophical, or socio-political dimensions of path dependency and intergenerational responsibility.
- Avoid formulaic signposting (e.g., 'In this essay I will discuss') and repetitive paragraph starters (e.g., 'Throughout history', 'We should also think', 'The same idea can also'). Instead, use conceptual transitions that link the ending thought of one paragraph to the beginning of the next.
- Critically evaluate your historical and contemporary examples for accuracy and nuance. Rather than framing the Pyramids as voluntary long-term planning, analyze how authoritarian structures historically solved the 'present-bias' problem, and contrast this with the difficulties democratic societies face today when addressing long-term crises like climate change.
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Common questions
Is this a real student's GAMSAT essay?
No — it is a sample essay written for demonstration; AI-marked. We never publish real student essays without explicit written consent, so every model essay on this site is written in-house for teaching purposes and then run through the platform's real marking pipeline.
Who marked this essay?
Two independent AI examiners (Gemini 3.5 Flash and Claude Sonnet 5) marked it blind through GAMSAT Coach's Section II pipeline, and their verdicts were reconciled into the single report shown here. Every score, rubric value and margin note is the pipeline's real output, not hand-written.
What does the 54/84 score mean?
The overall is the platform's calibrated score on the GAMSAT 40–84 reporting scale. The three rubric criteria (thought & content, organisation & development, written expression) are each marked 0–100; examiner commentary sometimes describes bands in that 0–100 criterion space, which is why its numbers can read higher than the calibrated overall.
Can I get my own essay marked like this?
Yes — the free essay-marking tool runs your essay through the same dual-examiner pipeline, with the score, rubric breakdown and margin annotations, in about a minute. One free mark per person, no account needed.