The Higher School Certificate is awarded to pupils in years eleven and twelve who complete their high school studies in New South Wales. As the highest certification you can attain at school, it’s an incredibly important part of your future, especially if you want to apply to enrol in a university course. Without an Australian Tertiary Admission Index score (ATAR), determined by your HSC, it’s difficult to get accepted. But, how do you calculate your ATAR from your HSC? Below, we’ll outline everything you need to know.
HSC Requirements
Before you can calculate your ATAR from your HSC, you need to make sure you’re eligible first. To do this, it’s essential to twelve units of preliminary courses and ten units of HSC courses. English and Maths are two mandatory qualifications – without them, you won’t pass the minimum standard of literacy and numeracy. However, this only applies to students taking the courses and exams from 2020.
How Is Your HSC Mark Calculated?
The equation is simple: the body takes the marks from your HSC exams and moderated assessments and finds the average score. This gives NESA a general understanding of how well you have performed in each subject. The NSW Education Standards Authority determines the overall grade.
Your HSC results, as well as other important criteria, including attendance and work experience, will be posted online. You can access your results via your account.
What’s ATAR?
The Australian Tertiary Admission Index is a score universities use to determine which applicants they accept on to their courses. In the past, ATAR was known as UAI and TER, but the ATAR is now the formally accepted barometer.
Universities are the bodies that calculate your ATAR and use the rank when formalising their decisions.
How Is Your ATAR Calculated From Your HSC?
It’s an aggregate rank of marks in ten unit courses. To calculate your ATAR rank, universities will take your:
- two best scores in English
- eight best marks from the remaining categories (only two of these can be Category B courses)
Once they have your HSC grades, they’ll convert them into scaled marks and find an aggregate sum. Unis then categorise them into percentiles and round them to the nearest 0.05.
What Does It Show?
It shows how well you have performed against other students in New South Wales. Remember that your ATAR is a ranking and not a grade.
Who’s Eligible For ATAR?
Any student in years twelve and thirteen who complete ten units of ATAR courses. As well as two English units, these must include eight Category A courses, three ATAR courses, and four subjects.
Students who sit HSC exams will receive a rank between 0.00 and 99.95 from the Universities Admission Centre (UAC).
Why Aren’t Your HSC Scores Used To Calculate Your ATAR?
It’s because there are different HSC subjects and courses, and it makes ranking students difficult as a result. It’s almost impossible to compare across disciplines, which is why scaled marks are used to calculate a percentile.
Hopefully, this helps you calculate your ATAR from your HSC and puts your mind at ease a little!