HSC results 2024: Researchers call for rethink on Year 12 assessment as report reveals ATAR anxiety

There are calls for a rethink of Year 12 results as a new report reveals students are “torn between pursuing their passions, or conforming to the narrative” to optimise their ATAR.

17-year-old Sanchez Abraham from Liverpool Girls High School is one of the many students frustrated by the ATAR ranking system. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Researchers and high school students are calling for a new approach to end-of-school qualifications amid concerns the ATAR is reducing kids’ abilities to a single number, as some 71,000 Year 12s await their HSC results.

In workshops and interviews with 60 high schoolers and recent graduates, education think-tank Learning Creates Australia found many are left stressed and anxious by the HSC and its interstate equivalents.

‘The Whole Learner’ report found students feel “torn between pursuing their passions or conforming to the narrative” by picking “bright subjects” that will optimise their ATAR, rather than subjects that interest them or contribute to a well-rounded education.

Co-author Charlie Connell-Tobin, himself a recent graduate having completed the International Baccalaureate in Victoria in 2023, said South Australia’s ‘learner profile’ pilot program proves alternatives are possible.

“The people that we spoke to said the ATAR creates a really high pressure environment that inhibits their ability to enjoy learning, and it fails to recognise the diverse skills and capabilities they have,” he said.

17-year-old Sanchez Abraham from Liverpool Girls High School is awaiting her HSC results and ATAR. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“Some pressure is good, but the amount of pressure around a rank – when the system doesn’t allow kids to explore and discover themselves – just isn’t good for their wellbeing.

“What we want is a system that is more than a number.”

Learning Creates Australia researcher and 2023 high school graduate Charlie Connell-Tobin. Picture: Supplied

Interviewees reported feeling pressured either implicitly, or explicitly by their teachers, to pick certain courses.

“(When I consider) TAFE subjects … I feel like they think – oh, because you’re a TAFE student you’re obviously not sitting exams or … you’re not as smart,” one student commented.

“My whole education was around getting a good ATAR. The whole of Year 10 was preparing me for Year 12,” another participant said.

Liverpool Girls High School student Sanchez Abraham, 17, is among the thousands waiting anxiously for their final marks, and said while she chose subjects that best suited her interests and abilities, her classmates didn’t always feel the same freedom.

Sanchez plans to study social work at university, with a benchmark ATAR of 65 to guarantee her early entry. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew the field I wanted to go into, but some of my friends in the grade had to debate between doing different subjects to improve their scaling,” she said.

“They were thinking of doing extension and advanced subjects to bump up their ATAR – even if they’re not that good at maths, for example, they’d choose advanced maths because it scales better.”

Ms Abraham intends to study at university to become a social worker to “help the next generation”, and while she’s nervous about meeting the 65 ATAR required, considers herself lucky to have supportive parents easing the pressure rather than adding to it.

An excerpt from The Whole Learner report by education thinktank Learning Creates Australia. Picture: Supplied

“I think if scaling and ranking wasn’t a thing, it would improve students’ mental health as a whole – we wouldn’t have to reach a certain number, and students would be able to follow their passions,” she said.

The Universities Admissions Centre has said the ATAR remains the “most effective and fairest tool” for enrolling Year 12s in high-demand higher education courses.

“While the ATAR is often criticised because it is a single number, it is calculated using many inputs to provide the best summation of a student’s achievements from senior secondary schooling in comparison to their peers,” UAC said.