ATAR explained: How the new tertiary entrance system works

It’s touted as superior to the overall-position system it replaces, but how does the Australian tertiary admission rank actually work?

The ATAR university placement system that will set the future course for thousands of Sunshine State school leavers this weekend has been touted across the country as more precise than the OP ranking, and will bring Queensland in line with other states.

Students will be ranked on a 2000-point scale from 0.00 to 99.95 in increments of 0.05 across the state, as opposed to being rated within their school under the OP system.

It is a percentile rank, not a mark, and indicates a student’s position relative to others in their age group in any given year.

The ATAR ranking is calculated through the University Admissions Centre with different scales for courses based on the performance of students that year, setting a more even playing field.

All Year 12 students receive scaled marks for their top 10 subjects with each unit counting towards a total score worth 50 points, giving a final score out of 500 for all units.

Then, if a student’s score is better than 70 per cent of the students in that year, their ATAR result will be 70.

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is used by universities to select students after graduating high school, and is said to ensure a better understanding and easier comparison of student outcomes to identify high achievers.

Experts including Federal Education Committee chairman Andrew Laming and Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre chief executive John Griffiths have voiced support for the new system.

University of Southern Queensland vice-chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie said students should follow their passion when applying for uni.

“The graduates of 2020 are an incredibly resilient group who have been through so many firsts – first to do the Prep year of primary school in Queensland, first grade 7s in high school, first to get an ATAR, first to do their final year of high school in the midst of a pandemic – it’s been an amazing year,” she said.

ATAR results will be released on Saturday at 9am.