Australian Tertiary Admission Rank

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is a numerical measure of a student’s overall achievement in the Higher School Certificate in relation to other students.

It is a number between 0.00 and 99.95 and indicates a student’s position relative to all the students who started high school with them in Year 7. So, an ATAR of 80.00 means that a student is a 20 per cent from the top of their Year 7 group, not their Year 12 group.

It allows a comparison of the achievement of students despite them having completed different courses.

The ATAR is calculated solely for use by tertiary institutions to rank and select school leavers for admission.

The ATAR is a rank

If a student wishes to use their HSC to gain admission to a university they need to satisfy the requirements for a ATAR.

Rule 1 – Eligibility for a ATAR

To be eligible for a ATAR a student must complete at least ten units of Board Developed courses including at least two units of either English Advanced or Standard.  The Board Developed courses must include at least three courses of two units or greater, and at least four subjects.

Rule 2 – Categorisation of Subjects

Board Developed courses are classified by the universities as Category A or Category B.  The criteria for Category A courses are academic rigour, depth of knowledge and understanding, and the degree to which the course contributes to assumed knowledge for tertiary studies.

Only the best TWO units from Category B courses are available for inclusion in the calculation of the ATAR. All of the VET courses eligible for an ATAR are Category B.

Rule 3 – Calculation of the ATAR

The ATAR will be based on an aggregate of the scaled marks in the best ten (10) units of Board Developed courses comprising:

• The best two units of English;
• The best eight units from the remaining units,
• Subject to the provision that no more than two units of Category B courses be included.

The Universities process each student’s marks and rank each student from 0 – 99.95 as if all students had completed the same courses.

The ATAR is then presented as a percentile eg. 99.95, 99.94

ATARs below 30 are not reported.