ATAR Facts Myths 3

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ATAR facts &

myths

November 2011



SESSION OVERVIEW

What is the ATAR?

Who is eligible for an ATAR?

What contributes to the ATAR?

How is the ATAR calculated? Mths and facts



The Australian Tertiar Ad!ission Ran" # a nu!erical !easure of a student$s o%erall

acade!ic achie%e!ent in the HS& in relation to

that of other students' It$s about (OSITION'

a nu!ber between )')) and **'*+

,onl ATARs abo%e -) are re.orted/

intended for use b uni%ersities to ran" and select school lea%ers for ad!ission to uni%ersit

WHAT is the ATAR?



WHO is eligible for an ATAR?To be eligible for an ATAR ou !ust satisfactoril

co!.lete at least 0) units of ATAR courses

including at least1 eight units of &ategor A courses

two units of English

three courses of two units or greater four sub2ects



WHAT contributes to the ATAR?

The ATAR is based on an aggregate of scaled !ar"s in

0) units of ATAR courses co!.rising1

# the best two units of English

# the best eight of the re!aining units3 which can include u. to two units of &ategor 4 courses

Mar"s can be accu!ulated o%er a fi%e#ear .eriod3 but if

a course is re.eated3 onl the latest satisfactor atte!.t

is used in the ATAR calculation' A scaled !ar" is calculated the ear the course is

co!.leted'



HOW is the ATAR calculated?STAGE 5

Truncate to

nearest .05

STAGE 1

controlling for

competition

STAGE 4

Year 7

percentiles

STAGE 2

determiningthe aggregate

STAGE 3

Year 12

percentiles



Stage 0 5 controlling for co!.etitionFor each course, examination marks and moderatedassessments are averaged to roduce a raw mark, !hich ischanged into a scaled mark.

"ca#ed marks are marks students !ou#d receive if a## the course

candidatures !ere the same$

The scaling algorith! starts fro! the .re!ise that a student$s .osition in a

course de.ends on1

# how good he6she is in that course3 and

# the strength of the co!.etition'

Scaling controls for the strength of co!.etition

Exam mark

Moderated

assessment mark

Ra mark !caled mark



Stage 7 5 deter!ining the aggregate

For each student an aggregate mark is formed byadding together the sca#ed marks of%

the best t!o units of 'ng#ish

the best eight units from the student(s remainingcourses,

)no more than t!o units from *ategory + courses can beinc#uded

Aggregate

0 unit

,English/0 unit

,English/0 unit 0 unit 0 unit 0 unit 0 unit 0 unit 0 unit 0 unit



Stage - 58ear 07 .ercentiles

0+) 7)) 7+) -)) -+) 9)) 9+)

A## -ear 12 students !ho are e#igib#e for an ATAR areranked on the basis of their aggregates$ ATARe#igib#eercenti#es, !hich sho! the osition of studentsre#ative to their ATAR cohort, are then determined for

these aggregates$

A T A R

# e l i g i b l e . e r c e n t i l e

Aggregate

*:':

*)':

;;')

+*':

97'0

7<'-

0-'0

(77% of the 2010 ATAR cohort received an aggregate mark of 350 or less)



.n 2010, / 221 studentsreceived an ATAR out ofaroximate#y 0 000students !ho started -ear !ith them$

To make N"3 ATARscomarab#e to ATARsca#cu#ated in other states,students( ositions re#ative tothe T4TA5 -ear cohort,inc#uding those !ho #eftbefore -ear 10 and those -ear12 students !ho !ere note#igib#e for an ATAR, areca#cu#ated$

Stage 9 5 8ear ; .ercentiles

8 e a r ; . e r c e n

t i l e

8ear 07 .ercentile



Stage + 5 deter!ining the ATARS

3hen the osition of each student re#ative to the fu## -ear

cohort has been determined, the 6na# ste is to truncatethese ercenti#es to the nearest 0$0/, starting at 77$7/$

8ere are some exam#es from the 2010 ca#cu#ations$

ATAR Range of .ercentiles =owest aggregate

**'*+ **'*+0#**'*** 9;<'7

**'+) **'+)0#**'+9* 9++'7**')) **'))0#**')9* 999':

*:')) *:'))0#*:')9* 9-)')



Mth or >act?

. can study certain sub9ects )such as 'xtension:aths and ;hysics to maximise my

ATAR$ M Y T

"

#$ % T

The on#y !ay you can maximise your ATAR isby achieving the highest ossib#e assessmentranks and exam marks in a## the courses youstudy$ -ou can achieve high 8"* marks

and a high ATAR regard#ess of the courses youstudy or the schoo# you attend$



Mth or >act?

.f . am studying 11 units, the sing#eunitcourse !on(t be counted in my ATARca#cu#ation$

M Y T "

#$ % T

A## your courses are converted to sing#e units,and the best units )after your best 2 units of'ng#ish are used to ca#cu#ate your ATAR$



Mth or >act?

. !i## get a higher ATAR if . study Advanced'ng#ish than . !i## if . study "tandard 'ng#ish$ M Y T

"

#$ % T

-our ATAR is determined by your ;4".T.4N inthe courses you study$ .t is ossib#e to achievehigh 8"* marks and a high ATAR regard#ess of

your choice of courses$



Mth or >act?

. can !ork out my ATAR from my tria# or 8"*marks$ M Y T

"

#$ % T

The ATAR is about osition, and even high 8"*marks don(t necessari#y mean a high ositionand therefore a high ATAR$

Fred and 5aura(s resu#ts sho! the #argedi<erence in ATARs arising from much sma##erdi<erences in 8"* marks$



&ourse HS& !ar" (ercentile HS& !ar" (ercentile

4iolog ;) -: :) ;)

4usiness Studies ;) -+ :) <<

English Ad%anced ;) * :) 9;

Mathe!atics ;) 7; :) ++

Modern Histor ;) 7+ :) =2

Visual Arts ;) 0+ :) +9

$T$R 57.05 &0.15

>red and =aura



>urther infor!ation

www'uac'edu'au6undergraduate6atar6

Re.ort on the Scaling of the 7)0)NSW Higher School &ertificate

The Australian Tertiar Ad!ission

Ran" in NSW 5 A technical re.ort

http://www.uac.edu.au/

http://www.uac.edu.au/

Documents

ATAR Facts Myths 3