Australian Tertiary Admission Rank  

What is an ATAR?
Who gets an ATAR?
What is the LOTE bonus and Selection Rank?
How do I find out my ATAR?
So what are the advantages of the ATAR?
ATAR Calculator
2012 TEA/ATAR summary table
ATAR frequency tables
Australian 2012 Year 12 results comparison table
Tertiary entrance aggregate (TEA)

Entry into the public universities in Western Australia is a matching process of the people who want to go to university and the number of places that are available. To assist in this process, Year 12 students are ranked and places offered on the basis of this ranking.

What is an ATAR?

An ATAR ranges between 99.95 and zero, and reports your rank position relative to all other students. It takes into account the number of students who sit the WACE examinations in any year and also the number of people of Year 12 school leaving age in the total population. In 2008 the TEA (Tertiary Entrance Aggregate) replaced the TES (Tertiary Entrance Score). Your TEA will be calculated and then converted to an ATAR, which tells you where you are ranked relative to other students. This will be the same position as a ranking based on your TEA, but the TEA is not able to convey this information directly to you. If you have an ATAR of 70.00, for example, it indicates that you have achieved as well as or better than 70% of the Year 12 school leaver age population.

For a technical explanation of how the ATAR is calculated, click here.

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Who gets an ATAR?

Anyone who would normally have a Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) calculated automatically receives an ATAR.

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What is the LOTE Bonus and Selection Rank

As an incentive for WACE students to study a Language Other Than English (LOTE), Curtin University and The University of Western Australia provide a bonus, dependent on performance in a student's LOTE course. This results in a Selection Rank higher than their ATAR, for students who have studied a LOTE from 2011 onwards. The Selection Rank is then used, in place of the lower ATAR, for admission to Curtin University and The University of Western Australia courses. The University of Western Australia also provides a LOTE bonus to IB students. (See Admissions Requirements).

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How do I find out my ATAR?

All current year WACE students are able to access their Year 12 examination results and ATAR on this website from late December.

If you have at least one scaled mark in a WACE course, TISC will notify you of your results in your Universities Admission Advice Letter (UAAL), available online at the end of December.

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So what are the advantages of the ATAR?

The ATAR directly reports a student's position relative to other students. The ATAR allows for accurate comparisons from year to year. The ATAR calculation takes into account the number of students who sit the WACE examinations in any year and also the number of people of Year 12 school leaving age in the total population. The ATAR allows the results of any WA student applying for university admission interstate to be directly compared with results in other states. All states (except Queensland) report student rankings as an ATAR.

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2012 TEA/ATAR Summary Table

The following table gives an indication of the minimum Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) required to achieve at least a particular Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

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Australian 2012 Year 12 Results Comparison Table

The aim of this table is to provide 2013 Year 12 applicants with information about the comparability of their results across Australia. The table relates to 2012 results and must be used as a guide only.

Since the late 1990s all Australian states and territories (except Queensland) have used a common measure to rank Year 12 students for university admission. Until 2010, this rank had different names around Australia, eg TER, ENTER, UAI. The Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres, of which TISC is a member, agreed that, as of 2010, a common name for this measure would be adopted: the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

As the table shows, an ATAR of 81.00 in any state or territory (except Queensland) is the same as an ATAR of 81.00 from any state or territory (except Queensland). This means that if you undertake your Year 12 studies in 2011 or later in one of these states or territories, and plan to apply to institutions in other states or territories, your ATAR remains the same.

For Queensland applicants, the Queensland Studies Authority will provide TISC with an equivalent ATAR.

The table below shows how state and territory ranks equated to Overall Positions in 2012. This table can be used as a guide to how 2013 ATARs and Overall Positions will equate.

Note: When assessing Year 12 interstate applicants for selection, tertiary institutions throughout Australia abide by the principle that if the applicant has fulfilled the requirements for eligibility for selection into all courses in their home state, they should not be precluded from selection into courses in another state (subject to ATAR etc and any specific course requirements).

Please note the following:

• Eligibility for admission to the four Western Australian public universities requires fulfilling English competence requirements;
• Queensland Year 12 students not undertaking the standard tertiary entry pathway, ie those not eligible for an Overall Position, may not be considered for tertiary entry interstate and should contact the relevant institution for information.

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Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA)

In 2008 the TEA (Tertiary Entrance Aggregate) replaced the TES (Tertiary Entrance Score). The TEA is the sum of the best four scaled marks taking into account unacceptable subject combinations. The TEA is out of 400.

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