Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
The ATAR is calculated by each state or territory's own state-level Tertiary Admission Center (TAC) for all domestic students studying within their geographical limits.
The list of state-level TACs are as follows: In June 2009, the Federal Minister for Education Julia Gillard announced the removal of all state-level university entrance scores and the introduction of a national Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for Year 12 students of 2009 within the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, and for the rest of the country, excluding Queensland, in 2010.
In 2020, Queensland switched to the ATAR as the primary tertiary entrance pathway, replacing the Overall Position (OP).
[12] In 2016, a computer error allowed 2075 students to receive their ATAR score five days earlier than they were supposed to be announced.
In all states, the ATAR is a percentile given between 0.00 and 99.95 which compares a student's performance in senior secondary with that of their peers.
Though there are differences in how each state calculates the ATAR, they are all primarily based on the student's scaled subject results.
Scaling is a process that is performed by all states which align student results along a common axis such that the same score in two subjects equates with the same level of achievement.
Students must pass an English subject in order to qualify for an ATAR as well as the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).
[21] The New South Wales ATAR is calculated by the University Admission Centre (UAC) using student results achieved in the Higher School Certificate (HSC).
[15] The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) ATAR is calculated alongside the NSW equivalent by the University Admissions Centre (UAC).
Students' results from the Office of Tasmanian Assessments, Standards and Certification (TASC) are provided directly to the university for calculation of scaling and ATARs.
Unlike in other states and territories, students do not need to complete an English course to qualify for a TCE or ATAR, though they must demonstrate an adult level of reading, writing and communication through another subject or through a safety net test.
The Tasmania ATAR is calculated from a Tertiary Entrance Score (TES), which is the sum of a student's scaled results in their five best pre-tertiary subjects.
The Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) is responsible for the calculation of students' ATARs in Western Australia.
TISC does not require that students complete an English subject, though they must demonstrate literary competency through their Year 9 NAPLAN results or an Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA).
[32] This move had mixed reception with WASSCO (Western Australia Council of State School Organizations) agreeing with TISC's decision, citing equality of opportunity.
Tony Buti, the West Australian minister for education at the time publicly urged TISC to rethink its decision.
