What do I do with my ATAR score? FAQ

[Eriny]

The original thread with this information is over in the archives, here: http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,8774.0.html
Repost of thread from 2 yrs ago. Enwiabe edit: I actually went thru and replaced every ENTER w/ ATAR :p

How was my ATAR score calculated?
This is more or less one of the most complex questions to answer. The short answer: you do exams, your scores go into a computer, your study scores and ATAR come out the other end.

This is what your study scores mean:
    *  2% of students will get a score on or above 45
    * 9% of students will get a score on or above 40
    * 26% of students will get a score on or above 35
    * 53% of students will get a score on or above 30
    * 78% of students will get a score on or above 25
    * 93% of students will get a score on or above 20.

A more detailed answer on the calculation of study scores is available here:
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/exams/statisticalmoderation/statmod.html

More or less, your SAC scores themselves don't go into the computer, your rank relative to the rest of your class goes in. Then, the top exam score gotten by someone in your class will be equivalent to the top SAC score (which might not have been achieved by the same person). You always keep your own exam score. The link above is much more comprehensive and I recommend that anyone who is interested in the VCE read it.

In case you're wondering, each 'GA' you see corresponds with a different 'graded assessment'. It is always in order of each graded assessment which is specific to each subject.
So for English (and others with one exam)
GA1: SACs unit 3
GA2: SACs unit 4
GA3: Final exam

For Chem (and others with a midyear)
GA1: Mid-year exam
GA2: Overall SACs
GA3: End-of-year exam

For Methods (and others with 2 end-of-year exams)
GA1: Overall SACs
GA2: Exam 1
GA3: Exam 2

For French (and other LOTES)
GA1: Unit 3
GA2: Unit 4
GA3: The oral and the written combined

For Studio Arts (and similar)
GA1: School Assessed Task 1
GA2: School Assessed Task 2
GA3: Exam

Once you have your study scores (calculated by the VCAA), scaling takes place. VTAC issues a scaling report each year which details what a score in each subject goes up or down to:
http://www.vtac.edu.au/pdf/scaling_report.pdf

Why scaling? It's to ensure that each person's final study score (after scaling) is fair. Subjects such as Business Management scale down quite a lot because it requires a lower percentage of correct exam answers to get a C+ (or A+, for that matter) than for, say, Methods, which in turn scales up. The person who got a 30 after scaling in Business Management should have demonstrated an equivalent amount of ability as the person who got a 30 in Maths Methods after scaling.

LOTEs scale up even more than the regular amount due to a state government initiative to provide extra incentives for students to learn a language.

Then, your 4 best subjects (which must include an English subject) plus 10% of your score for up to 2 more subjects is all added up. The number your scores add up to is called an aggregate. The people who get the highest aggregate get a 99.95, and it goes from there. VTAC brings out an aggregate to ATAR conversion table each year:
http://www.vtac.edu.au/pdf/aggregate-ATAR.pdf


I have a problem with my ATAR/study scores!
This happens! This happens a scary amount! If you think that one of your study scores is wrong, contact the VCAA. If you think that your ATAR is wrong (without anything being wrong with your study scores), contact VTAC.

I got a lower ATAR than expected!
If your ATAR is still high enough to get into most of your preferences, don't worry about changing them around. Entry scores change every year. If your ATAR will only get you into a few courses, you will have to change your preferences. Look at courses at other unis. Often the same degree is offered at a number of different universities, with varying entry scores. TAFEs also provide a great pathway to university while you get to spend a year studying a field that you're interested in. Repeating year 12 is also an option, however, universities will be much more impressed at a good mark you got in a related discipline in a TAFE course, than by another round of year 12. Transferring mid-year or at the end of year either within a university, from one university to another or from TAFE to uni is quite commonplace.

Remember, you are not a failure for not doing as well as expected! Your ATAR is a number that lets you get into tertiary institutions - it shows nothing of your worth as a human being. You have to be older than 17/18 to be assessed on that one!

I got higher than expected!
If the course on the top of your preferences is the course you want to do, no matter what the required ATAR is, keep it there. By doing something you don't like, for fear of 'wasting' your ATAR, you're leading yourself down a troublesome path of despair. Do what you want to do, not what other people expect of you.

A high ATAR is an extremely powerful thing to have. For about a month. After that, you'll still have to prove yourself over and over again and assess what it is you want in life, not what your ATAR can do for you. Think long-term. Just because you have more options available, doesn't mean you have to take them.

I feel really bad. Everyone on this site got such high scores and I didn't.
VN isn't exactly the best cohort to compare yourself with. The community is made up of people who care a lot (in some cases, a scary amount) about their studies. Also, you're only seeing the scores that members are prepared to make public and you must also remember that on the Internet, it's extremely easy to lie about ATAR and study scores.

If someone gets a higher ATAR than you (and, unless you get a 99.95, it is likely that they will), it does not mean that they are better than you are, or even smarter than you are. It just means that they have more options available to them now. Don't take your ATAR score too seriously and remember to keep doing your best.

If you got, say, a 95, and are disappointed, then you really need to put your achievement in perspective (even though it's hard!) a 95 (or a 90, or an 80) is something to be proud of. Rather than thinking of the 5% minority of the state that beat you, start thinking of the 95% majority that you beat. I know people who have received scores in the 40's to 99.95, and all of them have great individual talents.

Think also about how great you've achieved by finishing 13 years of high school, getting good grades and forming important relationships. Whenever you're upset about your own academic performance (and we all are, at times), start thinking about the other great things you've done in your life.

I got a scholarship for X uni, but I want to go to Y uni.
Accept your scholarship and think it over. Especially think about what it would be like to go to X uni and how your financial situation will be, both with and without a scholarship. If the money makes you want to change your preferences, in the end, then you should change your preferences. And it is fine to let scholarship promises dictate where you go. If, in the end, you decide to not change your preferences, make sure you don't decline the scholarship, just in case you aren't guaranteed a spot at your preferred uni.

I got into a course that was low on my preferences, now I'm sad
It's good that you got into a course. Firstly, you should accept the offer. Hopefully, in later rounds you will be offered a place in another course higher on your preferences, but this does not always happen, so it's therefore really important that you accept what you have. If this is the course you end up doing, think about the possibility of transferring to a course you would prefer after a year - but remember, you will need fairly good marks to do this.

More Information:
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/faqs/vcecurrentstudents.html

[zan]

good read! Thanks

[Tan]

More or less, your SAC scores themselves don't go into the computer, your rank relative to the rest of your class goes in. Then, the top exam score gotten by someone in your class will be equivalent to the top SAC score (which might not have been achieved by the same person).

So just to clarify, if you got 50% avg for your SACs and was rank 1, and if in the exam you got say 90%, your sac scores would be moderated to become 90% too?

[werdna]

Thanks Eriny, this was really helpful!

[Eriny]

More or less, your SAC scores themselves don't go into the computer, your rank relative to the rest of your class goes in. Then, the top exam score gotten by someone in your class will be equivalent to the top SAC score (which might not have been achieved by the same person).

So just to clarify, if you got 50% avg for your SACs and was rank 1, and if in the exam you got say 90%, your sac scores would be moderated to become 90% too?

It's worth noting that the VCE works on percentiles rather than on the actual amount of questions you answered correctly. But basically, yes, if you are ranked number one, your internal marks will be adjusted to reflect your exam mark (assuming that you also got the top exam mark in your cohort, if someone else got higher than you on the exam then your internal mark will actually reflect their performance in the exam).

[Tan]

More or less, your SAC scores themselves don't go into the computer, your rank relative to the rest of your class goes in. Then, the top exam score gotten by someone in your class will be equivalent to the top SAC score (which might not have been achieved by the same person).

I see.. so when teacher's say SACs do count, its more the 'moderated SAC scores' that they're talking about right?

So just to clarify, if you got 50% avg for your SACs and was rank 1, and if in the exam you got say 90%, your sac scores would be moderated to become 90% too?

It's worth noting that the VCE works on percentiles rather than on the actual amount of questions you answered correctly. But basically, yes, if you are ranked number one, your internal marks will be adjusted to reflect your exam mark (assuming that you also got the top exam mark in your cohort, if someone else got higher than you on the exam then your internal mark will actually reflect their performance in the exam).