ATAR Details 2019 – Know Eligibility, Courses, Calculation

Are you graduating from a high school this year or the next? There is no denying the fact that students work hard to increase their chances of getting into the colleges of their choice. The Australian universities provide innumerable career choices to students. But what does it take to get into the college of your choice? Out of several ways to enter into a university, ATAR is one of them. In this article, you will find everything you need to know about ATAR.

1. What is ATAR?
2. Who is eligible for an ATAR?
3. ATAR Courses
4. How is the ATAR Calculated?
5. How to get your ATAR?

What is ATAR (Australian Territory Admission Rank)?

In order to judge every student on similar criteria, University Admission Centre (UAC) calculates a rank of every student called ATAR or Australian Territory Admission Rank. It is simply a numerical value of ranging from 0 to 99.95. It indicates the position of a student among all the students of the same age group. No matter what courses the student selects in their HSC, ATAR compares all of them in a similar way.

Therefore, it is unlike the calculation of HSC marks for the students as those are calculated based on the performances of students in individual courses. If a student gets an ATAR of 70.00 it means that the student holds a rank in top 30% of all students of the age group. With this rank, the universities select students for different courses.

The average CTR scores are generally high ground 70.00. However, if every student in a territory participates in ATAR calculation the average scores can be as low as 50.00. But many students leave school early and may choose different options to get into a University so the average ATAR is high.

Who is eligible for an ATAR?

In order to be eligible for ATAR calculation, one must complete at least 10 units of ATAR courses. These 10 units must include at least:

1. 2 units of English
2. 4 subjects
3. 3 board developed courses of 2 units or greater
4. 8 units from category A

Some students not necessarily require ATAR:

• Students who hold an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
• Students who undertake Open Foundation and Tertiary Preparation Certificate (TPC)

ATAR Courses

All HSC courses are not included in ATAR courses. Students can find the complete list of HSC board developed courses that will be examined in 2018 and 2019 at the UAC website. HSC courses that are eligible for ATAR are divided into two categories namely:

Category A: These courses provide in-depth academic knowledge to the students.

Category B: These courses can be included as a contributory course in the aggregate.

To be a successful student, one must find extra help. With time constraints, it can be difficult to find the right learning resources for difficult subjects such as Math, Science, etc.

READ MORE: 10 Guaranteed Ways to Improve Grades in High School [A MUST READ]

How is the ATAR Calculated?

If a student has completed more than 10 units of ATAR courses then the ATAR scores are calculated by taking:

• best two units of English
• best 8 units of the remaining courses (these 8 units can include a minimum of two units of category B courses)

For each subject the USC attributes 4 marks to it and calculates the ATAR scores of a student:

• HSC mark
• Assessment mark
• Performance band
• Examination mark

Assessment mark: the school rank of a student highly affects the calculation. This process is called School Scaling. It determines the assessment mark of a student. The assessment mark is calculated based on the highest and lowest marks and the rank obtained by the student.

HSC mark: based on the marks received by a student they are allotted bands. For instance, band 6 is for marks obtained in the range 90 -100. To obtain the HSC mark an average of assessment marks and examination marks is used.

Scaling: every subject is different hence we need a standard way to compare them all. Therefore, different scaling factors are applied to the HSC marks of a student and scaled marks are created from them which are called ATAR points of a subject.

Aggregate: each unit is allotted 50 points. Hence, for a total of 10 units, scale marks are given to student out of 500. The total marks obtained are called aggregate marks.

READ MORE: Online Tutoring Vs In-Person Tutoring: Which is better?

How to get your ATAR?

The ATAR marks are calculated for every student who is eligible for it. These marks are disclosed to the student and to all the institutions to which the student has applied. For 2018, the students can view their ATAR scores on December 14 after 9 am on the UAC app or website. Students are given a UAC pin along with a 12-year student number. By entering these numbers, the students can view you all the ATAR courses they have studied, the category of those courses and how many units of those courses have contributed in the calculation of the ATAR score. The students can then download the ATAR official notice and save it for further use.

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