About TER (ATAR)

Western Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER (ATAR))

Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) Change of Name
What is a TER (ATAR)?
Who Gets a TER (ATAR)?
How Do I Find Out My TER (ATAR)?
So What are the Advantages of the TER (ATAR)?
TER (ATAR) Calculator
TEA/TER Summary Table
TER Frequency Table
Australian 2009 Year 12 Results Conversion 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.

Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) Change of Name

Since the late 1990s each state has used a common measure to rank Year 12 students for university admission. In each state this measure has had different names:

TER (Tertiary Entrance Rank) in Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania
UAI (Universities Admission Index) in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
ENTER (Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank) in Victoria.

The Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres (ACTAC), of which TISC is a member, has agreed that all states and territories (except Queensland) will replace these different names with a common name, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), during 2009 and 2010.

In Western Australia, the public universities have agreed that there will be a phased introduction of the name change over this period. The term TER will be replaced with the term TER (ATAR) in 2009 and ATAR in 2010. This will be reflected in students' Year 12 results published by TISC at the end of the year, in TISC publications and on the TISC website. This is a name change only, and will have no effect on students' ranking or the selection process for university.

The adoption by all states and territories (except Queensland) of the name Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) over the 2009 and 2010 period merely reinforces that the measures of overall achievement of Year 12 students in these states are the same.

What is a TER (ATAR)?

A TER (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 TEE/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 a TER (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 a TER (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 TER (ATAR) is calculated, click here.

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Who Gets a TER (ATAR)?

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

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How Do I Find Out My TER (ATAR)?

All students are able to access their Year 12 examination results and TER (ATAR) on this website from late December.

If you have at least one scaled mark in a WACE course or TEE subject, TISC will notify you in writing of your results when the Universities Admission Advice Letter (UAAL) is posted to you in January.

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So What are the Advantages of the TER (ATAR)?

The TER (ATAR) directly reports a student’s position relative to other students.

The TER (ATAR) allows for accurate comparisons from year to year. The TER (ATAR) calculation takes into account the number of students who sit the TEE/WACE examinations in any year and also the number of people of Year 12 school leaving age in the total population.

The TER (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 on the same scale. In Victoria it is called the Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER); in New South Wales and ACT it is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) (formerly UAI) and for South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory, the Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER). Western Australia has replaced the term TER with the term TER (ATAR).

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2009 TEA/TER Summary Table

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

TER	Minimum TEA for TER
30.00	124.7
40.00	147.5
50.00	169.3
55.00	181.3
60.00	192.4
61.00	195.0
62.00	197.4
63.00	199.5
64.00	202.0
65.00	204.4
70.00	217.6
71.00	220.3
72.00	222.7
73.00	225.6
74.00	228.1
75.00	230.8
76.00	233.6
77.00	236.1
78.00	238.7
79.00	241.6
80.00	244.7
81.00	247.8
82.00	250.7
83.00	253.4
84.00	256.1
85.00	259.2
86.00	262.6
87.00	266.4
88.00	269.8
89.00	273.5
90.00	277.6
91.00	281.4
92.00	285.6
93.00	290.6
94.00	295.8
95.00	302.4
96.00	309.3
97.00	317.8
98.00	328.9
98.50	336.1
99.00	345.7
99.50	358.2
99.70	369.4
99.90	384.4
99.95	392.7

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Australian 2009 Year 12 Results Conversion Table

All states (except Queensland) are phasing in the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) in 2009 and 2010. In June 2009 the ATAR replaced the Universities Admission Index (UAI) in NSW and the ACT, and in WA the term TER is replaced with TER (ATAR).

The aim of this table is to provide 2009 and 2010 Year 12 interstate applicants with information about the conversion of their results across Australia. The conversions are based on 2009 results and should be used as a guide only. The conversions are based on a common index which allows comparisons to be made across states/territories and across time.

Most states/territories have decided to use this index to report an overall measure of student achievement, but with different names. South Australia and the Northern Territory made this change in 1997, with the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia changing in 1998. From 2010 the name will be the same in all states except Queensland.

As the table shows, the measures of overall achievement for Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia will be exactly the same for 2009.

An Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) (formerly UAI) of 81.00 in NSW and ACT = a Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) of 81.00 in SA, WA and Tasmania = an Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) of 81.00 in Victoria. This means that if you are undertaking your Year 12 studies in 2009 in one of these states and you are planning to apply to institutions in another, you will not have to convert your result. For Queensland applicants, the Queensland Studies Authority will provide TISC with an equivalent TER (ATAR). The Overall Positions (OPs) shown below can be used as a guide.

The conversions for Australian data were developed by members of the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres, by agreement of the Taskforce on an Australian Tertiary Admissions System. The Taskforce, with members from each state and territory, was appointed by the then Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.

VIC ENTER NT, SA, TAS TER ACT, NSW ATAR WA TER (ATAR)	QLD OVERALL POSITION
99.95	1
99.50	1
99.00	1
98.50	2
98.00	2
97.50	2
97.00	3
96.50	3
96.00	3
95.50	4
95.00	4
94.00	4
93.00	5
92.00	5
91.00	6
90.00	6
89.00	7
88.00	7
87.00	7
86.00	8
85.00	8
84.00	9
83.00	9
82.00	10
81.00	10
80.00	10
75.00	12
70.00	14
65.00	16
60.00	18
55.00	20
50.00	22
45.00	23
40.00	24
35.00	25
30.00	25

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 TER, ENTER 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 (see Admission 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;
Northern Territory and South Australian students are treated as the one cohort (ie both NT and SA students need to complete four HESS G subjects as part of their Year 12 studies) and students from these states should check eligibility requirements with the relevant Tertiary Admission Centre or the desired universities themselves.

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Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA)

From 1998 to 2007 the Tertiary Entrance Score (TES) was used to determine a TER. From 2008 the TEA (Tertiary Entrance Aggregate) replaced the TES. 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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