ATAR Eligibility and Prerequisites 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Australian state or territory does NOT use the term 'ATAR' for its tertiary admission rank?
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Queensland
- None — all states and territories now use the ATAR (Correct answer)
Correct answer: None — all states and territories now use the ATAR
All Australian states and territories adopted the ATAR as the common tertiary admission rank by 2010 to facilitate cross-state university applications.
Question 2: A student who migrated to Australia in Year 11 wants to sit the HSC and obtain an ATAR. What is the key eligibility requirement they must meet?
- They must have been an Australian citizen for at least five years
- They must be enrolled in a registered Australian secondary school and meet the study requirements (Correct answer)
- They must pass an English proficiency test set by the Board of Studies
- They must have completed the equivalent of Year 10 in Australia
Correct answer: They must be enrolled in a registered Australian secondary school and meet the study requirements
Eligibility is based on enrolment in a registered Australian school and meeting the study requirements, not on citizenship or residency duration.
Question 3: What is the role of the 'Universities Admissions Centre' (UAC) in the ATAR process in NSW?
- It sets the ATAR eligibility criteria for NSW students
- It processes university applications and receives ATAR results from NESA to match students to courses (Correct answer)
- It calculates the ATAR using raw exam scores
- It conducts moderation of school-based assessment marks
Correct answer: It processes university applications and receives ATAR results from NESA to match students to courses
UAC processes university applications in NSW and uses ATARs provided by NESA to match applicants to university courses.
Question 4: A student's ATAR is 72.00. What does this percentile rank mean?
- The student scored 72% on average across all their exams
- The student performed better than 72% of the age group used as the reference cohort (Correct answer)
- The student ranked 72nd out of 100 in their school
- The student is eligible for courses requiring an ATAR of 72 or above
Correct answer: The student performed better than 72% of the age group used as the reference cohort
An ATAR of 72.00 means the student performed better than 72% of the relevant age-group cohort, not 72% of exam-takers alone.
Question 5: Which of the following scenarios would make a student ineligible to receive an ATAR in Victoria (VCE)?
- Studying at a Catholic school instead of a government school
- Completing fewer than the minimum required number of VCE units (Correct answer)
- Choosing not to study a science subject in Year 12
- Completing an English subject below the standard required level
Correct answer: Completing fewer than the minimum required number of VCE units
In Victoria, students must complete the minimum required VCE units, and falling below this threshold makes them ineligible for an ATAR.
Question 6: What typically happens to a student's ATAR eligibility if they are absent from a mandatory external examination without an approved reason?
- They receive a score of zero for that examination
- The school-based assessment mark is doubled to compensate
- They may not receive an ATAR for that year and would need to reapply (Correct answer)
- They are automatically granted a supplementary examination
Correct answer: They may not receive an ATAR for that year and would need to reapply
An unexplained absence from a mandatory external exam can result in the student not receiving an ATAR for that examination year.
Question 7: In which circumstance can a student receive an ATAR in a year they did not sit any external HSC examinations?
- If they scored above 90% in all school-based assessments
- If they received approved illness/misadventure provisions for all affected exams (Correct answer)
- If they completed the required units in previous years and deferred their ATAR
- If their school principal submits a formal exemption request to NESA
Correct answer: If they received approved illness/misadventure provisions for all affected exams
Students with approved illness or misadventure provisions for all external exams may still receive an ATAR based on estimated exam marks.
ATAR Eligibility and Prerequisites 5
Which Australian state or territory does NOT use the term 'ATAR' for its tertiary admission rank?