SCHOOL DIRECTORY
Catholic Education South Australia
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Understanding the ATAR Calculation

In South Australia or the Northern Territory, to obtain a university aggregate and an ATAR you must:  

  • qualify for the SACE/NTCET 
  • comply with the rules regarding precluded combinations 
  • comply with the rules regarding counting restrictions 
  • complete at least 90 credits of study in Tertiary Admissions Subjects (TAS) and Recognised Studies at Stage 2 in a maximum of three attempts which need not be in consecutive years 
  • ensure that of the 90 credits of study a minimum of 60 credits of study must be from 20 credit TAS*. 

* Normally 10 credit subjects do not count towards this requirement but some 10 credit subjects in the same area, when studied in pairs, can substitute for a 20 credit subject. These are called valid pairs. 

Calculating the University Aggregate

The university aggregate is calculated from your best scaled scores from three 20 credit TAS plus the best outcome from the flexible option, which is the best 30 credits of scaled scores or scaled score equivalents from: 

  • the scaled score of a 20 credit TAS 
  • half the scaled score of one or more 20 credit TAS 
  • the scaled score of one or more 10 credit TAS 
  • scaled score equivalents for Recognised Studies to the value of 10 or the maximum of 20 credits 
  • subject to precluded combination and counting restriction rules. Subjects with scaled scores of 0.0 can be used in the calculation of the university aggregate. 

LINK: University Aggregate and Access to University Aggregate and ATAR conversion tables.