ATAR - TASC

1 ATARCALCULATING THE AUSTRALIAN TERTIARY ADMISSIONS RANK (ATAR) FOR SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN TASMANIAUNDERSTANDING THEUNDERSTANDING THE ATAR2 CONTENTS Introduction ..3T h e ATA ..6 University entrance ..6 Your journey to achieving an ATAR - A snapshot ..7 Tertiary Entrance scores ..8 TCE credit points ..9 Calculating your Tertiary Entrance score ..10 Replacement or repeated courses ..11 High Achiever Program and University Connections Program courses ..12 Course awards ..14 Award requirements ..15 Comparing awards ..17 Converting course awards into course scores ..17 Scaling ..18 TASC Scaling Committee ..19 How it works ..20 Planning your senior secondary to highly competitive university programs.

2 25 Wrap up ..27 Frequently asked questions ..28 Test your ATAR knowledge ..31 This document was published in September : the information contained in this document is considered to be correct at the time of thank the following schools for providing photos: Fahan School, Guilford Young College, The Hutchins School, New Norfolk High School, Rosny College, Scotch Oakburn College and St Marys District THE ATARINTRODUCTION 3 When developing your learning plan in Year 10, and working out what you would like to do in Years 11 and 12, you will have a lot of questions to think about: What courses do you want to study? What are you good at? What career would you like to have?

3 What do you want to do after Year 12? Do you want to go on to other formal training or university?Thinking through these questions can help you decide what education and training you want to complete in your senior secondary years to help you achieve your you are planning to attend university after Year 12, or if you want to make sure that going to university straight after Year 12 is an option for you, it is important to understand the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). The ATAR is one of many factors universities can take into account when deciding which school leavers they will offer places to. Understanding the ATAR will help you understand: the purpose of the ATAR and what it means the eligibility requirements to receive an ATAR how your ATAR and Tertiary Entrance score are calculated the process for course scaling, and how course scores are assigned how to select courses that will give you the best chance of success what to do if you do not achieve the minimum ATAR for your preferred speaking, if you plan to undertake vocational education or training, professional training that is not provided at university, or if you secure full time employment after Year 12, then you may not need to receive an ATAR.

4 Speak with your school if you have further questions or would like help to plan your education and career pathway. This document explains the ATAR and then provides information about Tertiary Entrance scores, course awards, scaling and course planning in an order that makes it easier to understand. The sequence of events you will experience as you progress through your senior secondary studies is shown in the side can navigate to specific sections of this document by clicking on the relevant side RTERTIARY ENTRANCE SCORESSCALINGCOURSE AWARDSCOURSE PLANNINGT H E ATA RUNDERSTANDING THE ATAR4 ATA RT H E ATA RThe ATAR is a rank of the overall academic achievement of eligible students within a year group who finished their senior secondary schooling.

5 The ATAR is calculated the same way in each Australian state and territory, no matter where you live, based on an overall result that is determined for each student from the senior secondary courses they completed. The Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC) calculates the ATAR each year based on students Tertiary Entrance (TE) scores using the results from eligible courses. For more information about TE scores, see page 8. An ATAR received in Tasmania is equal to the same ATAR issued somewhere else in Australia. For example, an ATAR of in Tasmania means the same as an ATAR of in Victoria, in New South Wales and in every other state and territory in Australia.

6 The ATAR tells universities how a student s overall academic achievement compares with every other student in that year group. It helps universities decide who they will offer places to. The ATAR is a rank between and It is not a mark or grade. If you achieve an ATAR of , this means that your overall academic achievement is greater than 45% of people in your year group. An ATAR of means that your overall academic achievement is greater than of your year group, and so on. Your overall academic achievement is measured by your TE score. How well you rank in the ATAR therefore depends on your TE score, and how it compares to other students in your year ATAR will depend on how your overall academic achievement compares with your peers It is important to remember that the ATAR is a ranking, not a mark.

7 By definition, only 1% of students can be in the top 1%. This means that only 1% of students can achieve an ATAR of or above. To receive an ATAR of or above, you must be in the top 20%. In other words, your overall academic achievement must be higher than 80% of all other people in your year group: How you rank among your peers will depend on the TE scores achieved by others in your year group. The ATAR provides a fair and equitable comparison of students overall academic achievement with other students in the same year group. Let s take a very simple example, based on just ten students. Their TE scores can be seen below. In Year A, a student with a TE score of ranked in the top 20% of that year group, resulting in an ATAR of or above.

8 In Year B, the same TE score of would not rank the student in the top 20%.YEAR ATE scoreYEAR BTE scoreTo p 2 0 %To p 2 0 % THE ATARTERTIARY ENTRANCE SCORESSCALINGCOURSE AWARDSCOURSE PLANNINGELIGIBILITYW hile the ATAR itself is calculated in the same way throughout Australia, the eligibility requirements to receive an ATAR may be different in each state and territory. The University of Tasmania is the Tertiary Admissions Centre for Tasmania and determines the eligibility for Tasmanian students to receive an ATAR. In Tasmania, to be eligible to receive an ATAR you must complete two years of post-Year 10 study. During these two years, you must: achieve the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE), and achieve a Satisfactory Achievement or better in at least four courses that are scaled (see below).

9 At least three of these courses must be in your final year (either Year 12 or Year 13).You must have completed Year 12 or Year 13 to be issued with an ATAR. Year 11 students are not issued with an ATAR. You won t be able to tell what your ATAR might be until you reach the end of Year ENTRANCEU niversities take into account a range of factors when making the decision about who they will offer places to. The ATAR is most relevant for school leavers who want to go straight to university after Year 12 or 13. Often, universities will set a minimum ATAR as a requirement for entry into a particular course. This is common when entry into a course is very competitive.

10 A university may also set other requirements for entry, such as: the outcome of an audition performance in the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) or other aptitude test submission of a portfolio completion of pre-requisite courses, or previous qualifications and work university determines the entry requirements for the courses it offers. If you intend to go to university, it is important to find out from the university what the specific requirements are for your preferred course. If you don t achieve the minimum ATAR for your preferred course, this doesn t necessarily mean you can t achieve your goals. Many universities offer alternative entry pathways and have different requirements for students who are not school leavers.