ATAR score shouldn’t be the only way to get into uni, principals say

The ATAR should be dumped as a stand-alone means of university entry, the SA Secondary Principals Association says.

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The ATAR should be dumped as a stand-alone means of university entry, the SA Secondary Principals Association says.

The national percentile ranking of Year 12s makes it easy for unis to compare students, but SASPA president Peter Mader said “a number out of 100” was not the best indicator of “aptitude, readiness and suitability”.

Mr Mader said employers chose workers on a range of measures including knowledge, skills, experience, attitude and potential, and unis should do the same when selecting students.

He is not calling for the ATAR to be scrapped altogether, but for selection to be based on “multiple measures” that may or may nor include the ATAR.

Entrance to medical courses, for example, already requires a combination of ATAR, interview and a test known as UMAT.

Mr Mader said maximising an ATAR had become the overriding goal for too many high school students, skewing Year 12 subject choices and, as the State Government’s SACE review found, prioritising “getting in” over “getting ready”.

“Consequences of the ATAR being such high stakes include an increase in student anxiety and depression in Year 12, and schools gaming the system to maximise scores, albeit within existing rules,” he said.

Mr Mader pointed to NSW research that found “almost no relationship” between Year 12 scores and first year university grades, while Flinders University research showed the SACE Research Project was a better predictor of uni success.

Mr Mader acknowledged unis had already broadened entry pathways — a key driver of that change being the “demand driven” system making more uni places available. But the proportion is still high for school leaver applicants.

Flinders University said around four in five of its school leaver entrants were by ATAR alone, and the rest combined ATAR with other assessments such as a portfolio.

But for all Flinders students, only about a third came via ATAR alone. Another third were transfers between courses, or graduates of foundation or bridging courses. Work and life experience and VET study were other major pathways.

Flinders said it offered a variety of selection methods across all courses.

“ATAR is a useful predictor of success at uni, but not the only useful predictor. (Our) methods are always evidence-based, to ensure those we admit to study are well placed to succeed,” deputy vice-chancellor Clare Pollock said.

Adelaide University said: “Increasingly, the blunt tool that is ATAR will diminish in relevance, and entry … will be even more personalised.”

UniSA said it would work with high schools to evaluate non-ATAR alternatives “but it is important we maintain principles of equity and transparency”.

Universities Australia said fewer than half of all people starting uni were school leavers with an ATAR as the basis or partial basis of admission.