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The ATAR: Frequently Asked Questions About
The ATAR: Frequently Asked Questions About
Fast facts
The ATAR is a rank that indicates a students position overall against other
students. HSC marks indicate their performance in each of their courses.
Toof ATAR
be eligible for an ATAR, students must satisfactorily complete 10 units
courses, including: 8 units from Category A courses, 2 units of
English, 3 Board Developed Courses of 2 units or greater, and 4 subjects.
Bonus points do not change a students ATAR; they change the students
selection rank for a particular course or institution. A Year 12 students
selection rank = ATAR + bonus points.
Contacting UAC
1300 ASK UAC (1300 275 822) UAC www.facebook.com/
from mobiles: (02) 9752 0200 Locked Bag 112 universitiesadmissionscentre
from overseas: +61 2 9752 0200 Silverwater NSW 2128
The ATAR Advice Notice includes: Does the school attended matter?
the ATAR No. The school attended does not feature in
the ATAR calculation. The ATAR calculation
a list of ATAR courses studied and their category is based only on marks provided by BOSTES; no other
the number of units of each ATAR course that information is used.
contributed to the calculation of the ATAR.
If a student receives an ATAR between 0.00 and Does the students postcode matter?
30.00 the notice will read 30 or less. If a student No. This information is not used in the ATAR
hasnt met the requirements of the ATAR the notice calculation. However, some institutions
will read not eligible. apply regional bonus points if the students
permanent residence is in, or the student attended
If a student loses the ATAR Advice school in, the catchment area of the institution.
Notice, can they get another one? Bonus points do not increase the ATAR but are used
Yes. If a student loses the ATAR Advice in addition to the ATAR for entry into some courses at
Notice posted to them in December, they can request some institutions.
a reprint of it up to the end of the following February.
After that, UAC can issue a replacement ATAR Advice Can ATARs be recalculated?
Notice on payment of the relevant fee. To request a Generally speaking no, but there are
replacement, students need to print out the form on some instances in which ATARs will
UACs website at www.uac.edu.au/undergraduate/ be recalculated:
faq, fill it in and post it to UAC, Locked Bag 112,
Silverwater NSW 2128. if BOSTES provides amended HSC results
if additional courses are completed in
Who else gets notified of ATARs? subsequent years
ATARs are only accessible on UACs website if courses already completed are repeated in
or mobile app by individual students or subsequent years.
their authorised agents and the ATAR Advice Notice is
sent to the student at their registered address. ATARs Are students notified if ATARs are
are also released to institutions for the purpose of recalculated?
making offers to courses. UAC doesnt give ATARs Yes. ATARs will be recalculated if HSC
to parents, schools or careers advisers. It is the results change, additional courses are completed or
students choice if they wish to tell others about courses are repeated, and the student will receive a
their ATAR. new ATAR Advice Notice.
Can choosing certain courses (eg The exception is Mathematics, where you can
Physics) increase a students ATAR? complete Extension 1 and Extension 2 without
No. The ATAR indicates a students overall completing 2-unit Mathematics (but you must
position; therefore, a student can only maximise their complete HSC Mathematics Extension 1 to count
ATAR by choosing courses they enjoy and do well in. HSC Mathematics Extension 2).
It is a myth that choosing certain courses increases
the ATAR. Does an extension course have to be
completed at the same time as the
What patterns of study are taken by corresponding 2-unit course?
students who achieve an ATAR of 99.95? No. The 2-unit course can be completed one year
and the extension course completed in a later year.
While most students who achieve an ATAR
If a student withdraws from an extension course, the
of 99.95 take at least one extension subject, there
marks from the 2-unit course are still available for
are many different patterns of study observed every
inclusion in the calculation of the ATAR.
year. Students present anywhere from 10 to 15 units,
some accumulating over two years and some over
three years. If a course has a high percentage of
students in Band 6, does this affect the
In recent years some candidates have achieved scaled marks for that course?
an ATAR of 99.95 studying English as a Second No. Performance bands and scaled marks relate
Language. Further, some students in the 99.95 group to two distinct processes. BOSTES uses raw HSC
did not study mathematics at all; instead, their study marks to align performance bands and calculate
patterns typically consisted of HSC English Extension 1 HSC marks, while UAC uses the same raw HSC marks
and languages or HSC English Extension 1, Modern to undertake the scaling process and calculate the
and/or Ancient History and subjects like Business ATAR. Therefore, performance bands and scaled
Studies or Studies of Religion II. Remember, students marks cannot affect each other.
should select subjects in which they are interested
and which prepare them for their future careers.
Can students get a better ATAR by
studying more units?
What happens if a course isnt No. Students cannot assume that simply
satisfactorily completed? by studying more units their ATAR will be increased.
If a student doesnt satisfactorily complete While students who study more units tend to gain
a course, that course will not count towards meeting higher ATARs, there are a number of reasons why,
their ATAR requirements. If the course is a 2-unit such as each students interest, motivation, effort
course with an associated extension course in which and time management.
the student is enrolled, the extension course will not
count either. How many units of maths can be
Receiving a mark for a course on the students included in the calculation of the ATAR?
Record of Achievement issued by BOSTES is Only four units of calculus-based maths
an indication that the student has satisfactorily can be included in the ATAR calculation. HSC
completed that course. Mathematics Extension 1 has a different weighting
(in terms of units) depending on whether its paired
with Mathematics or HSC Mathematics Extension 2.
Can an extension course contribute to the
ATAR if the corresponding 2-unit course If students study Mathematics (2 units), then HSC
has not been satisfactorily completed? Mathematics Extension 1 accounts for 1 unit.
The general answer is no. For example, you must If students study HSC Mathematics Extension 2
complete English (Advanced) to count HSC English (2 units), then HSC Mathematics Extension 1
Extension 1 (and you must complete HSC English accounts for 2 units. This is calculated by doubling
Extension 1 to count HSC English Extension 2). the mark received for the 1-unit course.
Why is one course counted towards the Geography and German Continuers have the same
ATAR when another course with a higher HSC mark of 94. German Continuers has a higher
HSC mark doesnt count? scaled mean than Geography but the scaled mark for
This is because scaled marks are the marks included Geography is higher. This is because the Geography
in the ATAR calculation, not HSC marks, and a higher mark represents a higher percentile (position) than
HSC mark does not always mean a higher scaled the German Continuers mark.
mark. The scaled mark in a course will be influenced
by the students position in the course and the
scaled mean for that course. Two students have similar HSC marks,
but they dont have similar ATARs.
The example below shows a set of HSC and scaled Why not?
marks corresponding to results at the 90th percentile The ATARs will only be similar if the courses are
for each course. the same. If the courses are different and have
different scaled means, the ATARs may be very
Scaled HSC Scaled different.
Course mean mark mark
Ancient History 48.8 89.0 77.2 Here are some examples.
Biology 53.2 87.0 78.4
Liam and Kellie are in the 50th percentile in all of
Business Studies 47.6 89.0 76.4
their courses. Their average HSC marks are similar,
Society and 77.0 and 78.2 respectively, but their ATARs are quite
47.0 91.0 75.4
Culture
different, 55.25 and 78.90 respectively.
Physics 61.0 89.0 84.0
English
38.2 79.0 60.0 Liam
(Standard)
Even though the highest HSC mark was for Society ATAR Course Scaled mean HSC mark
and Culture, it will not be included in the ATAR 55.25
calculation. This is because, apart from English, Dance 45.6 78
Society and Culture has the lowest scaled mark of all English
the courses. Remember, two units of English must be 38.2 68
(Standard)
included, even if they are the lowest scaled marks.
Music 1 42.6 82
How are extension courses scaled? How do students know if theyre eligible
For most extension courses the scaled for bonus points?
means and standard deviations are Some tertiary institutions apply bonus
determined by the performance of the extension points if a student does well in a subject related
students on the corresponding 2-unit course. to the course they have chosen. These are subject
bonus points.
To watch a video about the ATAR and how its Some tertiary institutions apply bonus points if a
calculated, visit www.uac.edu.au/media-hub/ student lives in a designated region, others apply
videos.shtml. bonus points if a student attends school in a
designated region, and some institutions do both.
These are regional bonus points.
How is English scaled?
English (Standard) and English (Advanced) Many institutions also apply bonus points if a student
are scaled as a single group. However, has experienced long-term educational disadvantage
the same HSC mark gives different scaled marks in beyond their control, including attending a school
English (Standard) and English (Advanced) because that the government has identified as being
scaled marks are based on raw HSC marks, not the disadvantaged. These are Educational Access
HSC marks provided to students. Schemes (EAS) bonus points.
For more information on bonus points, visit our
For detailed information on the calculation website and check with the relevant institution.
of the ATAR, see the latest Report on the
Scaling of the NSW Higher School Certificate
at www.uac.edu.au/publications/atar.shtml. Do ATARs include bonus points?
No. If institutions allocate bonus points,
they are not added to the ATAR. Bonus
Are certain courses always scaled up or points are not ATAR points, they are just that bonus
scaled down? points. Bonus points dont change a students
No. Scaling is determined by how well a ATAR; they change the students selection rank for a
courses candidature does, and this can change particular course or institution.
each year. If the quality of the candidature changes,
the scaled mean will also change, and this change
If bonus points dont increase the ATAR,
will, in turn, determine how the marks are scaled.
then how do they work?
Institutions allocate bonus points
for different circumstances. Examples include
Bonus points performance in HSC subjects, living or attending
There are a number of different types of bonus school in an area defined by the institution and
points for Year 12 students seeking entry to tertiary applying for consideration of long-term educational
study. Most institutions offer subject bonus points disadvantage through Educational Access Schemes
and some also offer regional bonus points. Each (EAS).
institution sets its own criteria for allocating these. For many Year 12 applicants, their selection rank
Some institutions require students to achieve a for tertiary entrance is their ATAR. However, if
minimum ATAR before they are eligible to receive any institutions allocate bonus points to a student for a
bonus points. Students should carefully check each particular course, then their selection rank for that
institutions requirements. course = ATAR + bonus points. As the bonus points
Bonus points can also be awarded because of an schemes for each institution, and often for each
application through Educational Access Schemes course, are different, a students selection rank can
(EAS). Bonus points do not affect a students ATAR, be different for each course they list in their course
but they do affect a students selection rank. preferences.
Year 12
Applying to Uni: Its Easy if You Know What to Do
(PowerPoint presentation)
Applying as a Year 12 (video)
Applying as an International with an Australian
Year 12 or IB (video)