Hello! So, as Joseph41 stated, Year 12 students in QLD in 2020 will be first ever in the state to receive the ATAR (me ). During Year 10 last year, our school tried to explain the process of scaling. I don't think anyone actually understood it, and I have suspicions that the school wasn't really too informed either. I've got the basic principle of, for example, an A in General Maths (Maths A) shouldn't be equivalent to and A in Specialist Maths (Maths C), and so QTAC adjusts this accordingly. But what I'm wondering is, how scaling actually works; what does QTAC look at when scaling your scores? What processes do they do to ensure all subject scores are in 'equilibrium' with each other, so to speak? This process of scaling is really messing with my head! Anyone else in the same boat here? I'd really appreciate all of you peoples advice. Thanks in advance! Hey Twisty! Really good questions. The concept of inter-subject scaling probably seems quite foreign at the moment.
First up, try not to worry too much if scaling confuses you. It’s been around in Victoria and New South Wales for a long time, and the vast majority of students wouldn’t be aware of how it actually works on a structural level. To my knowledge, the intricacies are still being flattened out, so I’m sure your school will be able to help more in time, too.
You’re right with the general principle: different subjects are dissimilar and, therefore, can’t really be treated equally. It’s sort of like trying to compare the weight of two children, except one is listed in kilograms, and the other in pounds. Even though we have a number for each, they’re not directly comparable. In order to compare them accurately, we need to get them onto the same scale, and this is essentially what scaling achieves in the QCE.
The important thing is this: inter-subject scaling does
not account for difficulty of a subject, because this is not inherent and depends on the student. For example, you might find Specialist Maths (Maths C) really easy, but I might find it really difficult.
Instead, QCE scaling looks at the
competitiveness of a cohort. This is because your scores for each subject are really a percentile ranking. So a scaled 80 in Geography is the equivalent of a scaled 80 in Chemistry - and we know this because we have accounted for the
competition in that subject.
To measure competitiveness, we look at how that cohort (so everybody who studied that subject) did in their
other subjects. If, on average, everybody who studied Biology did super well in all of their other subjects, this indicates that the Biology cohort was very competitive, and getting a high score in Biology, therefore, was hard.
In terms of what actually happens, there’s some pretty complicated math involved, and I’d honestly encourage you not to worry too much about this at this stage. But if you are interested, you can read more in this
white paper .
This is also a helpful video if you haven’t seen it (ignore the comments on the YouTube video lol):
VIDEO
NOTE: Everything here is just based on my understanding. If you want a more detailed explanation, I can do my best. :)