ATAR Explained

What is the ATAR?

ATAR stands for the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank. The ATAR is the way that universities compare the HSC performance of students who do different subjects. ATARs range from 00.00 to 99.95 and compare your child’s performance with their cohort on a percentile basis. An ATAR of 90 means that your child did better than 90% of their peers.

So how is the ATAR calculated?

A student’s HSC scaled marks from their two units of English, and their best remaining eight units. These combine to form a mark of 500. A student must do at least four different subjects to be eligible for receive an ATAR. No more than 2 units can be from ‘Board-Endorsed’ courses. This mark is then compared with every other students’ mark to determine the student’s ranking.

Wait scaled marks what’s that?

Scaling is a series of changes made by the University Admissions Centre (UAC). This enables student results to be compared across subjects and levels, you can read our overview of scaling here.

Why should students aim for their best ATAR score?

Most universities use the ATAR as the primary determinant for entrance into their courses. As universities want the most talented students, they usually give offers in descending order of ATAR until they have no more places. This means that stuednts with higher ATARs will have more choice on what courses they can undertake than other students

Doing their best

When students understand how they learn, have excellent mentors and work hard, they tend to do their best academically. At Potentia Tutoring we are here to help maximise your childs marks and make sure they get the most out of their education. 

For more about how your ATAR is calculated, check out the UAC website here.