The definitive CASPer guide for Australian medical applicants. Format breakdown, the 9 core tenets, WPM strategy, and full Q1–Q4 example responses with examiner analysis.
CASPer (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics) is a situational judgment test used by several Australian medical schools — most notably the University of Wollongong, University of Queensland, and Notre Dame — as part of their admissions process. It assesses personal and professional qualities that academic scores alone can't measure.
The current CASPer format consists of 14 stations: 9 typed response stations and 5 video response stations. Each typed station gives you 5 minutes to answer 3 open-ended questions about a scenario. Video stations give you 1 minute to respond verbally to a single prompt.
CASPer assesses: collaboration, communication, empathy, equity, ethics, motivation, problem-solving, professionalism, and self-awareness. Every scenario maps to one or more of these — recognising which ones are being tested helps you give targeted responses.
Before anything else, measure your typing speed. You have 5 minutes per station to answer 3 questions, and CASPer is partly a typing test in disguise. At 40 WPM, you can produce ~65 words per question. At 80 WPM, you get ~130 words per question — literally double the content for examiners to mark.
If your WPM is below 50, spend two weeks on typing drills before you start practising scenarios. The ROI is enormous.
CASPer reports your results in quartiles — Q1 (bottom 25%) through Q4 (top 25%). For the University of Wollongong in particular, a Q4 CASPer is essentially required. Here's what separates each quartile, using a common scenario:
Scenario: You're a university student. During an exam, you catch your close friend clearly cheating — copying from a hidden phone. You and this friend have been close for years, and they've always been a strong student.
I would confront my friend after the exam and tell them what they did was wrong. If they didn't own up, I would report them to the professor. Cheating is unfair to everyone else.
I would speak to my friend in a non-judgemental and non-confrontational way and ask to speak privately. I'd tell them I saw what they were doing, give them the chance to own up, and allow them to confess to the professor in hopes of leniency. If they didn't, I would sadly have to report them myself.
This sounds like such a tough situation, and my friend is likely feeling really anxious and guilty. I'd want to approach carefully, as this could be delicate. I'd advise them I saw what they were doing and ask them to report themselves, despite how scary it is. I'd emphasise the greater good and offer to be there with them.
I can only imagine how desperate my friend is feeling, knowing how good of a student they've been in the past — they're likely quite vulnerable now. I'd approach carefully and mention how tough the exam was, to normalise the difficulty and set the scene for openness. I'd mention what I thought I saw and ask if they're okay — that is my priority. I'd encourage them to own up and offer to go with them for moral support. Then I'd workshop ways to prepare going forwards, like sharing study notes.
Each answer builds in analysis, views the situation with a wider lens, and acts more empathetically. The Q1 answer rushed to solving the problem with little regard for the person — ironically unethical despite "correct" action. Explicitly saying you'll act "non-confrontationally" and "non-judgementally" signals you've watched YouTube and are outputting a stock response without demonstrating the actual skills.
Q4 recognises past goodness and doesn't begin with negativity. The priority is the friend's wellbeing first — the confession is secondary. They stand by the person, are proactive, and offer long-term support. The answer takes the reader on a genuine human journey.
Remember your role. You are not being assessed on how well you act like a doctor — they want to see you're a good human who can act with decency. Don't force health advice into scenarios. CASPer assesses what you would do, not what you think you should do.
Ready to practise? Our free CASPer practice tool has 50+ real-style scenarios with timed stations and AI feedback calibrated to Dan's Q1–Q4 framework.