The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is a percentile rank reflecting a student’s overall Year 12 achievement, compared to all other year 12 VCE students in a given year.
The ATAR is calculated by the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) only for institutions to use for student admissions into some tertiary courses.
The ATAR is reported as a number between 0.00 and 99.95 with increments of 0.05. A student with an ATAR of 75.00 has achieved VCE results above 75 per cent of the Year 12 age group.
Subject to the rules and restrictions and study groupings that are described on the VTAC website, the studies
that can be used for the ATAR are:
all VCE Unit 3 and 4 sequences
Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses with Unit 3 and 4 sequences (both scored and unscored)
one approved higher education study.
The calculation of your ATAR begins with your VCE study scores, provided by the Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority (VCAA). VTAC then scales these scores to ensure fairness.
This produces scaled study scores.
An aggregate is created by adding up:
Your primary four -
The VTAC scaled study score in one of English, English Language, Literature or English as an Additional Language (EAL)
The three next highest VTAC scaled study scores allowed; and
Your increments -
10% of the fifth and sixth VCE study scores that are available
An unscored VET cannot be included in the primary four, but contributes to the ATAR as 'block credit'.
From 2019, the increment from an unscored VET will be calculated as 10 per cent of the fourth study score of the primary four.
Students are then ranked in order of their aggregates, which are placed on a percentile scale with intervals of 0.05.
The group of students with the highest aggregates will be assigned the highest ATAR of 99.95.
ATARs below 30.00 are reported as ‘less than 30’ on printed ATAR statements, however the actual ATAR is available through the online results service
VTAC calculates an ATAR for all VCE students who have successfully completed the VCE and satisfied minimum tertiary
entrance requirements.
Only applicants who have at least four VCE study scores in an acceptable combination will have an ATAR calculated.