ATAR Interstate ATAR Recognition 4

Question 1

The ATAR is described as a percentile rank. If a student's ATAR is 85.00, what does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The student performed better than 85% of the national Year 12 age cohort

Answer

An ATAR of 85.00 means the student outperformed 85% of the national age cohort of people who were the same age when they started Year 12.

Question 2

The ATAR scale runs from 0 to 99.95. Why is the maximum 99.95 rather than 100?

Accepted Answer

It is theoretically impossible to outperform every single member of the cohort, including yourself

Answer

Since a student cannot outperform themselves, the maximum achievable rank is 99.95, meaning the student outperformed all others but not themselves.

Question 3

How does subject scaling work within an ATAR calculation, and why is it relevant to interstate recognition?

Accepted Answer

Scaling adjusts raw subject scores to reflect the difficulty and ability level of students taking that subject

Answer

Within each state, subject scaling adjusts raw marks to account for the relative difficulty of subjects and the academic ability of students who choose them.

Question 4

Which of the following correctly describes the relationship between a student's raw exam marks and their final ATAR?

Accepted Answer

Raw marks are moderated and scaled before being aggregated into a rank

Answer

Raw marks undergo moderation (to align school assessments with external exams) and scaling (to adjust for subject difficulty) before being combined to produce the final ATAR.

Question 5

In Western Australia, the ATAR is derived from a student's WACE results. What does WACE stand for?

Accepted Answer

Western Australian Certificate of Education

Answer

WACE stands for the Western Australian Certificate of Education, which is the credential upon which WA's ATAR calculation is based.

(ATAR) Australian Tertiary Admission Rank Practice Test

(ATAR) Australian Tertiary Admission Rank Practice Test

ATAR Interstate ATAR Recognition 4