VCE certificate

[vexx]

Certainly given the state average is something like 66, and that half of Victorians get less than that...

Correct me if im wrong but isnt ~50 average

Nah it's not 50
There are quite a few people who actually don't go to their exams and just got the VCE certificate so they can use it for applications to whatever they need, and dont get a score, this means that there wont be anyone who gets at the very low end, hence raising the actual mean ENTER since there are a load of people getting the same score of 0 (ie: no score).

[ben92]

Yeah vexx is on the ball. If everyone were forced through the exams it would be 50, but the fact is people drop out of school or don't turn up. Through this, an ATAR of 66 still means you beat 66% of the state. It's just that the extra 16% weren't even trying.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

apparently ATAR is calculated against your year 7 cohort, with all the dropouts artificially raising the score.

Or at least apparently that's what happened when NSW switched from UAI to ATAR, dunno if it affects Victoria.