There’s a lot to understand about the ATAR system, so we’ve put together a few facts that might interest you.
- Your ATAR score is valid for life. You can use it to apply to study at university regardless of your age, provided it meets the entry requirements for your course.
- The national median ATAR is around 70.00, but changes every year. That’s because the averages in each state varies too. For example in 2021 the median ATAR in Queensland was 78.85, in Western Australia it was 82.3, and in New South Wales it was 70.41.
- Your ATAR is a nationally recognised number, so if you live in Queensland and your ATAR is 85.00, it’ll be the same no matter which state you apply to study in.
- Only 48.57% of students who were admitted to the University of Sydney in 2022 did so solely based on ATAR, regardless of adjustment factors
- Getting a low ATAR isn’t the end of the world. These days, universities and other tertiary institutions offer stacks of alternative pathways to get in.
- You can still change your preferences after you’ve received your ATAR results. So if you’ve scored lower or higher than expected you’ve still got time to adjust your preferences to reflect that.
- You can’t ‘waste an ATAR’ – if you score 99.95 and choose to study a course with an entry requirement of 80.00 because it’s your top choice, go with it. Scoring a high ATAR simply means there are more courses that you’re eligible to apply for, you’ll have more options.
- No ATAR – no problem. Some VET and other tertiary qualifications don’t necessarily require you to have an ATAR. These qualifications also provide nationally recognised qualifications and some universities will accept them as eligibility (sometimes even credit towards first year studies) if you’d like to apply to uni in future.
- Once you’ve got into uni or another tertiary institution, nobody is likely to ask what your ATAR was again, let alone use it as criteria for course or job selection.
- You aren’t defined by your ATAR and your opportunities in life won’t be limited by that number. You may have to take a different pathway to the one you’d originally planned, and it may take a little longer is all.
- Using online “ATAR calculators” aren’t necessarily accurate, as scaling changes every year, so don’t take the results as gospel.
- Studying more units could potentially get you a higher ATAR (if you apply yourself to all subjects the same). Since admission centres select (e.g.) 8 of your best results to calculate your aggregate score, which determines your rank position.
- Taking advanced subjects doesn’t mean you’ll get a higher ATAR; only the amount of work and effort you put in can do that.
