ATAR Subject Scaling and Moderation 4

Question 1

In Queensland's new ATAR system introduced in 2020, what replaced the previous OP (Overall Position) rank?

Accepted Answer

The ATAR calculated from a combination of school-based assessments and external exams

Answer

Queensland moved from the OP system to the ATAR in 2020, basing it on school-assessed coursework moderated against external exams.

Question 2

What is the maximum possible ATAR a student can achieve?

Accepted Answer

99.95

Answer

The ATAR scale runs from 0 to 99.95 in increments of 0.05, with 99.95 representing the top-ranking students.

Question 3

A student's ATAR of 85.00 means that they performed better than approximately what percentage of the eligible student population?

Accepted Answer

85% of the entire age cohort eligible to receive an ATAR

Answer

The ATAR is a rank relative to the entire age cohort (including those who did not complete Year 12), not just exam sitters.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a reason why scaling is considered necessary in the ATAR system?

Accepted Answer

Scaling rewards students for choosing unpopular subjects

Answer

Scaling is not designed to reward unpopularity; it adjusts for cohort ability differences so that results across subjects are comparable.

Question 5

When a board applies 'linear scaling' to a subject, what mathematical transformation is performed on the raw scores?

Accepted Answer

Raw scores are mapped using a straight-line function that adjusts the mean and spread

Answer

Linear scaling applies an affine transformation (y = ax + b) that shifts the mean and rescales the standard deviation to target values.

(ATAR) Australian Tertiary Admission Rank Practice Test