What is an ATAR?
The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is a number that is used by universities to select which students, who have completed their HSC, will be offered a place in a course at university.
The ATAR is not a score, it’s a rank. If a student gets an ATAR of 80, this doesn’t mean they averaged 80%. It means they are 20% from the top of their age group.
How does the Atar work?
ATAR courses are those developed by NESA for which there are formal examinations that yield graded assessments. These courses contribute to your ATAR and are classified as either Category A or Category B courses. Not all of the many HSC courses will contribute to an ATAR.
Criteria for Category A courses: academic rigour, depth of knowledge, the degree to which the course contributes to assumed knowledge for tertiary studies, and the coherence with other courses included in the ATAR calculations.
Criteria for Category B courses: the level of cognitive and performance demands are not regarded as satisfactory in themselves, though their contribution to a selection index is regarded as adequate if the other courses included in the aggregate are more academically demanding.
WHO GETS AN ATAR?
HSC students who indicate on their HSC Entry Form that they wish to gain an ATAR will receive an ATAR Advice Notice from UAC. This will be available at the same time as they receive their HSC results.
There are two points at which a student will not show an ATAR. These include:
Students who achieve an ATAR between 0.00 and 30.00; they will have their ATAR reported as "30.00 or less".
Students who do not meet the ATAR rules; the statement ‘Not eligible for an ATAR’ will appear on the ATAR Advice Notice.
HSC 'subjects' and 'courses' and the ATAR?
The ATAR rules are slightly different to the HSC rules. This is to make sure that students who intend to go on to uni are well prepared for the demands of tertiary study.
To be eligible for an ATAR in NSW, you must satisfactorily complete at least 10 units of HSC courses. These ATAR courses must include at least:
8 units from Category A courses
2 units of English
three Board Developed courses of 2 units or greater
four subjects.