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QTAC

ATAR

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What is QTAC?

  • Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre
  • A not-for-profit organisation owned by seven Qld universities
  • Centralised application service

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What do they do?

  • Assess approximately 75,000 applications a year
  • Make offers in 1,700 undergraduate courses on behalf of 16 institutions

What is QCAA?

  • Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
  • Statutory body of the Queensland Government

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What do they do?

  • Develops and revises syllabuses and guidelines for K - Year 12
  • Issue Senior Results Statement and certification (QCE / QCIA)

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What is ATAR?

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Primary mechanism used nationally for tertiary admissions

Indicates a student’s position relative to other students

2,000 point scale from 99.95 down to 0.00

ATARs less than 30.00 will be expressed as “30 and below”

Calculated by QTAC for entry into tertiary courses

The standard pathway for Qld Year 12 students

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Eligibility

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5 General Subjects�

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4 General

Subjects

+

either:

  • Applied Subject
  • Completed Cert III or Higher VET

Qualification

ATAR

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2025 ATAR Eligibility by Subjects

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English – Compulsory Subject

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Students must successfully complete one of the following:

  • English
  • Literature
  • Essential English*

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Successfully Complete = “C” letter grade

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* Check any course ‘pre-requisites’ or ‘assumed knowledge’ for university

eg: English may be required

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Possible ATAR eligibility scenarios

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                  • Literature (G)
                  • Accounting (G)
                  • Modern History (G)
                  • Religion & Ethics (A)
                  • Music (G)
                  • General Mathematics (G)
  • English (G)
  • Dance (G)
  • Visual Art (G)
  • General Mathematics (G)
  • Religion and Ethics (A)
  • Cert III in Business (V)

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                  • English (G)
                  • Mathematical Methods (G)
                  • Specialist Mathematics (G)
                  • Physics (G)
                  • Chemistry (G)
                  • Study of Religion (G)

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Achievement in subjects and ATAR

Year 11 and Year 12

Units 1 & 2

Results for QCE/feedback

Units 3 & 4

Numerical outcomes

Accumulate for ATAR

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  • Summative units only
  • General result based on 3 Internal Assessments + 1 External Assessment
  • Applied results based on 4 Internal Assessments

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Units 3 & 4 (General & Applied subjects)

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External Assessment

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  • Developed and marked by QCAA
  • Conducted in term 4, same time, same day, all schools
  • Assessing subject matter from Units 3 and 4 only
  • Mathematics and Science subjects have 50% external assessment
  • All other General subjects, have 25% external assessment

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VET for tertiary entrance

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Completed Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses will still be used for tertiary entrance in two ways:

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  1. VET incorporation into ATAR; and/or
  2. VET as the basis of admission through a rank

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How will VET be included in the ATAR?

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Each VET qualification level will have a single scaled score

that can be included in the student’s ATAR

E.g. Cert III in Hospitality and Cert III in Business will have the

same scaled score, regardless of duration or content

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A scaled score for a VET Diploma will be higher than a

Certificate IV, which in turn will be higher than a Certificate III

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2025 VET Contributions towards ATAR

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VET as Basis for Admission?

Institutions determine if, and how, VET will be considered for tertiary entry.

QTAC guides, published each year, provide details of requirements for courses

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SIA: Subject Selection 🡪 Year 10 Personal Futures

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College website: Year 10 Personal Futures 🡪 Personal Futures Resources

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VET Qualification Ranks

Institutions will vary (only a guide):

Certificate III qualification: minimum rank 68.00

Certificate IV qualification: minimum rank 74.00

Diploma qualification: minimum rank 82.00

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Sequence of Events

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QCAA collects unit 3 & 4 subject results and completed VET qualifications

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QTAC receives results from QCAA

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QTAC scales results

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QTAC releases ATARs

(December)

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ATARs calculated on best five scaled results aggregate for each student

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Subject Scaling

Scaling is necessary so that student results in different subjects can be compared fairly.

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If a student of a given ability studies a less challenging Maths subject they might get 90 / 100.

But if the same student studied a more challenging Maths subject they might only get 80 / 100.

However, if scaling works, they should end up with the same scaled score.

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Important

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Students should continue to choose subjects

  • they enjoy,
  • that they are good at, and
  • that are prerequisites for the courses they want to apply for

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Choosing to study ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ subjects will not help with scaling or results

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Mythbusting

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Can certain subjects like Physics increase a student’s ATAR?

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NO. A student can only maximise their ATAR by performing well in their subjects

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What pattern of subjects will guarantee an ATAR of 99.95?

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No pattern will. The ATAR is entirely data driven, so if a student’s results place them in the top percentile, then they will get the top ATAR.

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Subject

ATAR – 98.25

Raw Score

Grade

Chemistry

Literature

Mathematical Methods

Physics

Specialist Mathematics

Religion & Ethics

85

89

88

97

84

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A

A

A

A

A

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Subject

ATAR – 98.25

Raw Score

Grade

Business

Literature

General Mathematics

Modern History

Study of Religion

ICT

83

89

81

91

94

A

A

A

A

A

A

Subject

ATAR – 93.50

Raw Score

Grade

Chemistry

English

General Mathematics

Biology

Literature

Study of Religion

86

86

87

89

83

86

A

A

A

A

A

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Subject

ATAR – 93.50

Raw Score

Grade

Chemistry

Literature

Mathematical Methods

Biology

Specialist Mathematics

Religion & Ethics

77

83

78

85

77

B

A

B

A

B

A

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Publications

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Do QTAC be release the actual scaled subject information? YES, in February the year after

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https://www.qtac.edu.au/publications/

SIA: Subject Selection 🡪 Year 10 Personal Futures

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College website: Year 10 Personal Futures 🡪 Parent Resources

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https://schoolbox.shalomcollege.com/homepage/6679

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Audience:

  • Students & Parents

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SIA: Subject Selection 🡪 Year 10 Personal Futures

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College website: Year 10 Personal Futures 🡪 Parent Resources

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QTAC ‘ATAR Navigator’

  • QTAC have recently released an ATAR estimator program to provide students with an ATAR range
  • Students can use this to help set goals for subject achievement if they know the minimum ATAR for a course.
  • Remember that this is only an estimate

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And that’s all folks

  • That brings us to an end of the Senior Subject Selection video.
  • Key reminders:
    • You will receive an email to book a SET plan interview – please follow these steps, book a time and make sure you attend with your child.
    • Your child should have a green SET plan form that needs to be filled out – now is the time to ask for that form. If they have lost it, please send them to see me and I can provide a new one.
    • There will be a Subject Information Afternoon where parents and students can drop in to the bottom floor of Coolock to speak directly to HoDs – the exact date and time of this will be communicated when this video is sent out.
    • If you have any questions please get in contact with me either by email or by phone and I will help to explain things.

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