dMAT General Academic Module

What it asks you to do

Four kinds of reasoning come up, grouped here by what separates a right answer from a tempting one. This is our description of the documented format, not an official g.a.s.t. taxonomy — the exam does not label its items.

General Academic Module practice questions

Eight worked items in the documented format, with the reasoning underneath each one — including why the tempting option fails, which is the part that transfers.

These are practice questions written by AdmitVerse to the format g.a.s.t. publishes. They are not official or past dMAT papers — no past papers exist for this exam, since the first sitting is on 26 September 2026.

1. Q1 · Reading what the data shows

   A laboratory records the yield of a reaction at four temperatures. Which statement does the data best support?

   Temperature    Yield
      30 °C        41 %
      40 °C        58 %
      50 °C        66 %
      60 °C        64 %

   AYield rises without limit as temperature increases

   BYield peaks somewhere between 50 °C and 60 °C

   CYield is directly proportional to temperature

   DYield is unaffected by temperature
   Solution: Yield climbs from 30 °C to 50 °C and then falls by 60 °C, so it must turn over between those last two readings — that is the only claim the four numbers force. It cannot rise without limit, because it already stopped rising. It is not proportional: the steps are 17, 8 and −2, nowhere near constant. And it plainly is affected by temperature. The module rewards saying exactly what the data shows and no more.
2. Q2 · Cause versus correlation

   A department finds that students who attended an optional weekly tutorial scored on average 12 marks higher in the final exam, and concludes the tutorial raises marks. Which finding would most weaken that conclusion?

   AStudents who chose to attend already had higher marks in the previous year

   BThe tutorial was taught by the same lecturer as the course

   CBoth groups sat the identical final exam

   DAttendance was recorded electronically
   Solution: If the attendees were already stronger, the 12-mark gap may reflect who chose to attend rather than any effect of the tutorial — the two groups were not comparable before the tutorial happened, which is exactly what a causal claim needs them to be. The other three describe how the study was set up without touching that step: the same lecturer, an identical exam and electronic registers are all consistent with the tutorial working perfectly.
3. Q3 · What the passage actually claims

   A passage states: “In the sample studied, cities that expanded their tram networks after 2010 saw car use fall, though the decline was smaller in cities where parking remained cheap.” Which option best matches the passage?

   AExpanding a tram network always reduces car use

   BCheap parking prevents any decline in car use

   CCar use fell in the sampled cities that expanded trams, by less where parking stayed cheap

   DCities should raise parking charges before expanding tram networks
   Solution: Option C is the passage with nothing added or removed — including “in the sample”, which the passage says and the others drop. A overshoots on two words: “always”, and the loss of the sample restriction. B contradicts the passage, which says the decline was smaller, not absent. D is a recommendation; the passage describes what happened and advises nothing. The whole item turns on quantifiers, which is where most marks in this question type are lost.
4. Q4 · Reading what the data shows

   A university reports applications and offers for four years. Which statement is best supported?

   Year    Applications    Offers
   2022        4,200          1,050
   2023        4,900          1,120
   2024        6,100          1,180
   2025        7,400          1,210

   AThe number of offers fell over the period

   BThe proportion of applicants receiving an offer fell over the period

   CThe university became less popular over the period

   DApplications and offers rose at the same rate
   Solution: Offers rose every year, so A is false on its face. But applications rose far faster — 25% of applicants got an offer in 2022 against about 16% in 2025 — so the proportion fell, which is B. C reverses what the applications column shows. D is the trap for anyone who notices both columns rise without checking by how much: applications grew about 76%, offers about 15%. Two columns moving the same direction is not two columns moving at the same rate.
5. Q5 · Drawing a conclusion that follows

   A study reports: all participants who completed the programme improved their scores; some participants did not complete it; the participants who did not complete it were not tested again. Which conclusion follows?

   AThe programme improves the scores of everyone who takes it

   BParticipants who did not complete the programme did not improve

   CEvery tested participant who completed the programme improved

   DMost participants improved their scores
   Solution: C restates the first finding and nothing else, which is the whole test here. A extends the result to non-completers, whom the study never tested. B asserts a result about those same untested people — absence of evidence stated as evidence of absence. D needs to know what share completed, and “some did not complete” does not tell you whether completers were most of the group. A conclusion follows only if every step of it is in the scenario.
6. Q6 · Cause versus correlation

   A city introduces a cycle-hire scheme and reports that road accidents fell 8% in the following year. Which additional finding would most support the claim that the scheme reduced accidents?

   AThe scheme was widely covered in the local press

   BComparable cities without a scheme saw no change in accidents over the same year

   CCycle-hire membership grew steadily through the year

   DThe city had introduced a similar scheme once before
   Solution: The weakness in the claim is that something else about that year might explain an 8% fall — weather, fuel prices, a national road-safety campaign. A comparison group of similar cities that had no scheme and saw no change removes most of those explanations at once, which is why B supports the claim most. Press coverage and membership growth show the scheme existed and was used, not that it changed accident numbers. A previous scheme says nothing about this year.
7. Q7 · What the passage actually claims

   A passage states: “Trials of the drug reported fewer side effects than the existing treatment, although the trials followed patients for only twelve weeks.” What does the final clause most likely indicate?

   AThe drug is unsafe

   BThe trials found no side effects at all

   CLonger-term side effects would not have been detected

   DThe existing treatment was tested for longer
   Solution: A twelve-week follow-up can only report what appears within twelve weeks, so the clause flags a limit on what the finding covers — C. A converts a limitation into a verdict the passage does not give. B contradicts “fewer side effects”, which is not the same as none. D compares trial lengths, and the passage states only this trial’s. Noticing that a qualifying clause bounds a claim rather than reversing it is one of the module’s recurring moves.
8. Q8 · Drawing a conclusion that follows

   A survey of 360 graduates finds: 250 work in the field of their degree, and 60 of those 250 changed employer within two years; of the 110 who work outside their field, 40 changed employer within two years. What follows about graduates who changed employer within two years?

   AThey are mostly working outside their field

   BThey number exactly 100

   CThey make up a third of all graduates surveyed

   DThey all moved to a job outside their field
   Solution: Every graduate is either inside their field or outside it, and the survey counts the movers in both groups: 60 and 40, so exactly 100 — option B. A has it backwards, since 60 of those 100 are inside their field. C is the trap for anyone who rounds: 100 of 360 is about 28%, not a third, and the total is 360 rather than the 300 the eye expects. D adds a claim about where they moved to, which the survey never records. Add up what is counted, and check the denominator you were actually given.