I've tried reading the UAC document (nearly died of boredom) and then Jamon's guide (much better) but I still don't entirely understand how the process works. So I've got a few dumb questions:
No dumb questions my friend
1. Is the "HSC mark" you put into an ATAR calculator scaled down based on the other candidates performance in other subjects? So if I get 98% in the IPT exam (first in the class) does this get scaled back to like 90-93 because IPT is easy or does my HSC mark stay at 98%?
So you score 98 in the exam after alignment. Since you are 1st, this is also your internal mark, so your HSC Mark averages to 98.
This is what appears on your credentials. The scaling of the mark by UAC for calculation of your ATAR is done
after the fact and purely for the purposes of calculating the ATAR, you never see the scaled number
2. How are state ranks calculated? Are they basically your final exam mark after it has been reallocated based on your internal rank? What happens if there's a tie?
It goes off your final HSC mark, the average of internal moderated and external aligned. If there is a tie (quoted from NESA):
If students are equal on the highest HSC marks in a course, then the following process is used to determine the recipient(s):
- take an average of each student's examination mark and assessment mark after alignment to performance bands, each to one decimal place
- take an average of each student's examination mark and assessment mark before alignment to performance bands, each to two decimal places
- if an extension course, use the marks awarded for other courses in the subject area.3. Are there any exceptions to the reallocation of external marks based on internal rank? Say I get 85% in the final business studies exam as first in the class but whoever is number two somehow gets 98%. Do I still get his mark? If it's a state top 10, do I get the state rank? I feel like I'm misunderstanding how internal ranks play into this.
There are limitations, but I believe the limitations are on the low end. So you should get the 98 as your internal moderated mark, which would be averaged with your aligned exam mark of 85.
HSC Mark for that course would be (98+85)/2=92. Chances are that mark wouldn't give you a state rank, even though the exam mark was 98, the final HSC mark would be 92 for you and likely only
slightly higher for the 98 scorer - Depends on the class