What Is A Good ATAR Score? | Zen Tutes (2023)

FAQs

What Is A Good ATAR Score? | Zen Tutes? ›

An ATAR score of 80+ is generally considered 'good' and an ATAR of 90+ is generally considered 'great'. Students who score ATARs of 95+ often put in countless hours of study, work consistently throughout the year, and get extra help through private tutoring.

The ATAR is a number from 0 and 99.95 in intervals of 0.05. The highest rank is 99.95, the next highest 99.90, and so on. The lowest automatically reported rank is 30.00, with ranks below 30.00 being reported as 'less than 30'.

Your rank is based on how you went compared to other Year 12 students. So even if your test scores are lower than you'd hoped, if you're still ranked in the top 20% of students, then you'll receive an ATAR of 80. As long as you try your best with what you have, chances are, you'll do better than you expect.

ATARs range from 00.00 to 99.95 and compare your child's performance with their cohort on a percentile basis. An ATAR of 90 means that your child did better than 90% of their peers. So how is the ATAR calculated? A student's HSC scaled marks from their two units of English, and their best remaining eight units.

All you need to get 70 (pretty much), is get roughly 30 for each subject. So around the C+ and the B mark for exams and SAC's.

For instance, to score an ATAR of 95, you would need to score in the top 16% of Physics and 18% of Chemistry, but you need to be in the top 8% of Biology. Students who have fair numeracy should definitely consider taking Physics and Chemistry.

As the ATAR is a percentile, a 99.95 ATAR means that you are in the top 0.05% of your state. Likewise, an ATAR of 99 means that you are in the top 1% of your state. Generally an ATAR of 99+ is considered as competitive for entry into Medicine (dependent on performances in the UCAT and Interviews).

Like an OP1, getting a 99 ATAR or even that elusive 99.95 ATAR isn't impossible. It's a process that involves a lot of passion for learning and commitment to constant improvement.

You can't calculate GPA from Atar since the Atar is a rank, not a grade.

That said, to get an ATAR of 90 you must score in the top 5%, so that might be enough to answer your question. It SHOULD be “hard”, for it to be worth anything anyway. As for choosing subjects, choose what you enjoy, as you'll then be prepared to put in the required effort to do your best and maximise your score.

What is 85% as an ATAR? ›

NSW. In NSW in 2020, the aggregate required for an 85 ATAR was just above 340. This corresponds to an average scaled score per unit of 34 across 10 units (including two English units).

Each year, and for every study, the mean (average) study score is set at 30 with a standard deviation of 7. This means that a score between 23 and 37 shows that you are in the middle range of students (approximately 68% of the population); a score of 38 or more indicates that you are in the top 16%.

A study score of 35 indicates you are in the top 26% of the state, so if you think about it, it's a pretty amazing score! A 35 is not like getting a 70% and a 40 is certainly not like getting 80%. The problem is that it's hard to estimate what ATAR you'll get based on your SAC mark….

In Australia, the lowest minimum ATAR required by a medical program is an ATAR of 90 (Monash University) or adjusted ATAR of 90 (University of Adelaide). If you're a rural student, you could also apply to La Trobe's medical program, which has a minimum unadjusted ATAR requirement of 80.

If a course has a low scaled mean it tells us that the ability of the students in that course ranges from high to low. (It doesn't mean that you can't get a high ATAR if you study that course.)

Well a 95 ATAR means that you're in the top 5% of students of Australia that year.

17 per cent of students received an ATAR of 90.00 or above, 33.9 per cent received an ATAR of at least 80.00 and 50.3 per cent at least 70.00. The median ATAR was 70.15 this year, slightly higher than in 2019.

You may be scaled up in a subject, scaled down or even NOT at all! Typically subjects like Physics ATAR, Chemistry ATAR, Maths Specialist ATAR, English ATAR, Literature ATAR and Languages can be scaled up. HOWEVER! Whether or not subjects get scaled up or down SHOULD NOT DICTATE SUBJECT CHOICE!

The final ATAR score is an indication of the students rank within their year. For example, a score of 97 indicates that the student has performed better than 97% of students. ATAR scores are given in intervals of 0.05, and the highest possible score is 99.95.

What is the lowest ATAR ever? In theory, the ATAR is a number ranging from 0.05 to 99.95 in intervals of 0.05. The lowest rank is 0.05, the next lowest 0.10, and so on. But the lowest reported rank is 30.00, with all ranks below 30.00 simply reported as 'less than 30'.

Can you get 99.9 ATAR? ›

The elusive 99.95 ATAR is something a lot of people strive for but few achieve. No matter what your goals are, it helps to learn from someone who's achieved a top ATAR before, if only to learn some useful tips and tricks from them.

To even have a chance of success, you need a really top-tier ATAR in addition to an excellent UCAT score. This statistic tells us that scoring lower than 99.25 is not considered 'strong' performance when you compare yourself against other students aiming to gain entry into medicine.

Raw scores are the results of the individual assessment components of each subject. For example, say you have a raw score of 10.4 in Biology. This tells us where you sit in relation to other Biology students.

“27,245 of these students also received an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank), with 33 achieving the highest possible result of 99.95 after studying a combination of 13 different subjects including Mathematical Methods, English, Engineering, Physics and Languages.

If you're studying the HSC, VCE, QCE, SACE, WACE or any other equivalent local curriculum, you can 100% use your ATAR rank (the holy grail being the 99.95) as part of your application to international universities like Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and more.

80% is a "B" grade (Good) in high schools across Australia. To achieve an "A" grade (Excellent), you must earn at least 85% and above in any given subject, course, or assignment.

In fact, a study of students at Victoria University showed many low-ATAR students achieved high marks in their first year, particularly when they were appropriately supported by the university to succeed.

Your ATAR is calculated from the results of 10 course units and at least four subjects, so even if you excel in one, two or even three subjects, you won't receive your best ATAR unless you work equally hard in each of your courses. This applies to subjects within the course, too.

Band 6 = 90 – 100 marks. Band 5 = 80 – 89 marks. Band 4 = 70 – 79 marks.

What does 75 ATAR mean? ›

Once these scaled study scores are added together, they form an aggregate. This is then converted into your ATAR. So if you get an ATAR of 75, you've performed better than 75% of Year 12 students in that year.

There is a little correlation, but I wouldn't say that "if you have a high IQ you'll get a high ATAR and if you have a low IQ you'll get a low ATAR". One of the most brilliant mathematicians I know didn't get a great ATAR (ie. 97+) or great math study scores.

A score of 77 out of 85 on a test, assignment or class is a 90.59% percentage grade. 8 questions were wrong or points missed. A 90% is an A- letter grade.

The 50 study score is an elusive and haunting number. It is a badge of achievement – and rightfully so – for those who have worked incredibly hard and excelled in their subject all year.

A raw study score of 50 means that you performed in the top 0.3% of students enrolled in the subject.

Each year, and for every study, the mean study score is set at 30. A score of between 23 and 37 shows that you are in the middle range of students; a score of 38 or more indicates that you are in the top 15%. For studies with large enrolments (1000 or more): 2% of students will get a score on or above 45.

The raw study score is between 0 and 50, however, this is not a score out of 50.

Study scores between 30 and 40 are above average and study scores above 40 are exceptional. Similarly, study scores between 20 and 30 are below average.

ATAR score

Achieve an ATAR (or notional ATAR) of at least: 72.00 for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Design or Bachelor of Science. 78.00 for the Bachelor of Commerce.

That said, to get an ATAR of 90 you must score in the top 5%, so that might be enough to answer your question. It SHOULD be “hard”, for it to be worth anything anyway. As for choosing subjects, choose what you enjoy, as you'll then be prepared to put in the required effort to do your best and maximise your score.

What school has the best ATAR score? ›

Each year, and for every study, the mean (average) study score is set at 30 with a standard deviation of 7. This means that a score between 23 and 37 shows that you are in the middle range of students (approximately 68% of the population); a score of 38 or more indicates that you are in the top 16%.

If you're studying the HSC, VCE, QCE, SACE, WACE or any other equivalent local curriculum, you can 100% use your ATAR rank (the holy grail being the 99.95) as part of your application to international universities like Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and more.

Niche, a ranking and review site, recently published its list of the “2023 Hardest Colleges to Get Into.” Using data from the U.S. Department of Education on various colleges' acceptance rates and SAT/ACT scores, they found, unsurprisingly, Harvard University to be the most difficult college to get into.

In general, maths and science subjects are scaled up and arts subjects are scaled down. English and business subjects will usually remain the same. There is a misconception that this scaling is based on how difficult the subject is but, in general, subjects are designed to offer the same level of challenge.

Chemistry: This is the highest-scaling science subject. It is also a prerequisite for some courses in particular medicine and so a lot of high-achieving students tend to take it. This means that it can be slightly more difficult to get a high raw score which is the reason Chemistry scales pretty highly.

The basic idea is that without scaling, some students would be disadvantaged by doing subjects where it's harder to score well in. If you're interested, you can read a bit about it here. → With that in mind, yes, it is definitely possible to achieve a 90+ ATAR with those subjects.

Bachelor of Arts (BA or AB; from the Latin baccalaureus artium, baccalaureus in artibus, or artium baccalaureus) is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines.

If you do not meet the ATAR requirement set out in your early conditional offer, it will not be converted into a firm offer. But don't sweat. There are a number of entry schemes and alternate pathways you may be eligible for to study your dream degree at UNSW, for more information see here.