• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

How much does ranking count toward the ATAR? (1 Viewer)

DarlinJayne

New Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
8
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
Lot's of people say ranking really matters? How does it make any difference? I mean... you get what you get?

I'm hoping to get an ATAR in the 90s but my grade is only very small? Would it be more likely in a bigger school?
 

brendroid

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
702
Location
Trapped inside my head
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
I think school ranking also matters. So if you're first at the highest ranked school, you've got a good chance to get a high ATAR.

And with ranking usually comes marks.

I think the ATAR is pretty much the percent chance you have of getting into a Uni. So 95 ATAR gives you a 95% chance of getting into a Uni.
 

kaz1

et tu
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
6,960
Location
Vespucci Beach
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2018
I think school ranking also matters. So if you're first at the highest ranked school, you've got a good chance to get a high ATAR.

And with ranking usually comes marks.

I think the ATAR is pretty much the percent chance you have of getting into a Uni. So 95 ATAR gives you a 95% chance of getting into a Uni.
No it's a ranking, UAC put out ranking cut offs to get into a course and you have to have that ranking to get in.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
4,741
Location
sarajevo
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Uni Grad
2017
Explain? What do you mean determines 50%? How?
50% of your ATAR is determined by your school assessments and 50% is from the exam and the end of yr 12. Ranking plays the main role in determining your assessment marks.

Therefore: "Ranking determines 50% of you ATAR."
 

DarlinJayne

New Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
8
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
Fail analogy.
I agree. Yes it's only ranking... Not your chance of getting into uni courses- each uni course entails different minimum ranks to get in...

Thanks. I get to 50% thing now...

Still really ranking is just based on marks. I was under the impression that a ranking meant something else.

For example: two students from different school both acquire 90% in chemistry, one student is ranked 1st in their class and the other 4th. Which student is better off for their ATAR?

If either is better than the other- than ranking must being something other than just assessment marks?
 

nutcracker

Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2009
Messages
351
Location
the restaurant at the end of the universe.
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
I agree. Yes it's only ranking... Not your chance of getting into uni courses- each uni course entails different minimum ranks to get in...

Thanks. I get to 50% thing now...

Still really ranking is just based on marks. I was under the impression that a ranking meant something else.

For example: two students from different school both acquire 90% in chemistry, one student is ranked 1st in their class and the other 4th. Which student is better off for their ATAR?

If either is better than the other- than ranking must being something other than just assessment marks?
if the 90% they both get is a school mark, then there's no way to tell which is better off. because one school may have a harder/easier level of internal assessments than the other. what it all comes down to is how each school's cohort performs in the hsc and the marks they achieve in the hsc exams are allocated to the students in that particular school based on their internal ranking and that is what is ultimately the assessment mark.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
4,741
Location
sarajevo
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Uni Grad
2017
What i dont get is, if you got ranked last in the grade in a subject, but got the highest in the external mark, would you still get the lowest overall mark for that subject?

If so, fuck that.
For your assessment mark you get whatever the lowest exam mark is for the course. Like if you were ranked last but got 90% in exam and lowest exam mark is 10%, your HSC mark is 50%.
 

ajdlinux

Mod: ANU, ATAR/HSC Marks
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
1,890
Location
Port Macquarie / Canberra
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
For example: two students from different school both acquire 90% in chemistry, one student is ranked 1st in their class and the other 4th. Which student is better off for their ATAR?
It depends on how good their class is. If you come 4th in the Chem class at James Ruse, it's much better than coming 1st in the Chem class at my school. The moderation process accounts for this by placing your assessment marks between the top and bottom exam marks achieved by your class.

Generally when we're estimating ATARs here we ask for both class rank and overall school rank so as to get an idea of how good your class can be expected to be generally.
 

mitchy_boy

blue
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,464
Location
m83
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
I hate all this scaling stuff.
I go to a school ranked like 40th right, so if I was down the bottom of the cohort would my marks be pulled up ro down?
Also what would happen if I was in the middle of the year?
 

ajdlinux

Mod: ANU, ATAR/HSC Marks
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
1,890
Location
Port Macquarie / Canberra
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
I hate all this scaling stuff.
I go to a school ranked like 40th right, so if I was down the bottom of the cohort would my marks be pulled up ro down?
Also what would happen if I was in the middle of the year?
If you're in the middle of the year, your assessment mark should be about the middle of the marks received by the rest of your year. Of course this depends on a few things like the gaps between different ranks in your year and so on, but that's what should generally happen.

If you're at a school ranked ~40, you certainly won't be 'pulled down' unless you have an exceptionally bad year.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
4,741
Location
sarajevo
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Uni Grad
2017
I hate all this scaling stuff.
I go to a school ranked like 40th right, so if I was down the bottom of the cohort would my marks be pulled up ro down?
Also what would happen if I was in the middle of the year?
Your marks are influenced by the performance of your cohort. If they do well then they pull you up, if they do shit then they pull you down.
 

mitchy_boy

blue
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,464
Location
m83
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
That's what I wanted to hear. Because my year at the moment is said to be one of the best that they've had in a fair while.
 

mitchy_boy

blue
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,464
Location
m83
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
School's with higher rankings, will have students with higher marks, which as a whole will benifit students through scaling (or something like that). Thus higher marks -> higher ATAR. The rankings are unofficial, but are a good indicator of how the students at a particular school will perform.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top