ATAR & Scaling Handbook

Transcription

1 ATAR & Scaling Handbook A comprehensive guide for students and parents on ATAR calculation, scaling of subjects, and the relationship between aggregate scores and ATAR. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 1

2 Table of Contents Definitions 3 The Australian Tertiary Admission Index (ATAR) 4 What is the ATAR? 5 HSC Results 6 What are HSC Results? 7 Aggregates & ATAR 8 How is my ATAR determined? 9 What is Scaling? 9 Why is Scaling Necessary? 10 What is Moderation? 10 How is my Assessment Moderated? 11 Relationship between Aggregates, Percentiles & an ATAR 12 How to use Scaling to your Advantage 13 English 14 Maths 15 Science 16 Humanities 17 Languages 20 Subject Choices 22 Choosing the right subjects 23 How does subject combination affect my ATAR? 23 How to achieve your ATAR goal 24 Step 1 25 Step 2 26 Step 3 27 General Advice 28 What you should know 29 ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 1

3 Conclusion & Additional Resources 31 Additional Resources 32 ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 2

4 Definitions The Board (BOS) In this report the Board or (BOS) refers to the NSW Board of Studies. UAC? UAC refers to the Universities Admissions Centre (NSW and ACT) Pty Ltd. Board Developed Courses English, mathematics, science and history will be mandatory. In addition to these four subjects, schools will have the flexibility to offer a range of other subjects. ATAR Courses In this report ATAR courses are Board Developed courses for which there are examinations conducted by the NSW Board of Studies that yield graded assessments. VET courses for which there are no written examinations and Life Skills courses are not ATAR courses. HSC Cohort In this report HSC cohort refers to students who have completed at least one ATAR course in a particular year. ATAR Cohort In this report ATAR cohort is used to refer to those students who received a ATAR in a particular year. The students may have accumulated courses over a five-year period. Aggregate An aggregate of scaled marks in 10 units of ATAR courses and is out of 500. The standardised HSC mark or UAC score of an ATAR course. HSC The average of your HSC exam and Assessment mark Percentile A student s rank in an ATAR course. 90th percentile in an ATAR course is equivalent to a top 10% rank. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 3

5 The Australian Tertiary Admission Index (ATAR) ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 4

6 What is the ATAR? ATAR is an acronym for Australian Tertiary Admission Index and is a number between 0.00 and with increments of It is a numerical measure of a student's overall academic achievement in the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) in relation to that of other students, hence the ATAR is a rank and NOT a mark. ATAR Acronym What is it? What does it indicate? Maximum Rank Attainable Number of students in the top ranking Who provides it? Australian Tertiary Admission Rank information about how well you have performed OVERALL against other students Position/Rank in relation to Year 7 students they began school with (Top 0.05%) UAC Why do we need an ATAR? The ATAR allows Universities to compare students who have completed different combinations of HSC courses. Universities use the ATAR either on its own or in conjunction with other selection criteria, to rank and select school leavers for admission into university courses. Who is eligible for an ATAR? To be eligible for an ATAR you must satisfactorily complete at least 10 units of ATAR courses. These ATAR courses must include at least: eight units from Category A courses 1 two units of English three ATAR courses of two units or greater and four subjects How is an ATAR calculated? A student's ATAR is a rank which is based on an aggregate of scaled marks in 10 units of ATAR courses comprising of: their best two (2) units of English their best eight (8) units from their remaining units, which can include up to two units of Category B courses. 1 Category A courses refer to courses that have academic rigour and depth of knowledge providing an adequate background for tertiary studies. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 5

7 HSC Results ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 6

8 What are HSC Results? Provided by the Board of Studies, HSC marks provide information about how well you have performed in each of the courses you have completed. Your HSC Record of Achievement provides a profile of your performance in the different courses you have studied. Your HSC mark for each course is an average of your HSC examination mark and your moderated assessment mark. Below is an example of HSC results. HSC = Exam + Moderated Assessment 2 ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 7

9 Aggregates & ATAR ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 8

10 How is my ATAR determined? Process of ATAR determination The following diagram shows the process of ATAR determination in chronological order. What is Scaling? Scaling is the process of standardising raw marks [average of HSC exam mark and Assessment ] provided by the BOS and estimating what these marks would have been if all courses had been studied by all students. In scaling, UAC modifies the mean, the standard deviation and the maximum mark in each course. Adjustments are then made to the marks of individual students to produce scaled marks, which are the marks the students would have received if all courses had the same candidature. At the end of this scaling process, different marks in different subjects are converted to a single UAC score for every subject. Although scaled marks are generally different from the raw marks from which they are derived, the ranking of students within a course is not changed. You can compare scaling to a conversion of foreign currency (HSC of a subject) to Australian currency (scaled mark of a subject). As different exchange rate applies to different foreign currencies, so do different conversion rate applies to HSC marks of different subjects when they are converted to scaled marks for comparison. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 9

11 Why is Scaling Necessary? How could you compare one student who scored a 90 in Mathematics Ext 2 to another student who scored 90 in Mathematics Advanced? The answer is it is impossible without scaling. Your HSC mark for each course is an average of your HSC examination mark and your moderated assessment mark. The comparison between Math Advanced and Maths Ext 2 is shown in the table below. Subject HSC Maths Ext Maths ADV Since each student undertakes a different combination of subjects, their performance in one subject will not necessarily reflect their ability in different subjects. The underlying principle of scaling is that a student should neither be advantaged nor disadvantaged by choosing one HSC course over another. What is Moderation? A process of adjusting your overall internal HSC assessment mark based on a school s performance for an HSC exam mark for each subject. Why are assessment marks moderated? Different schools assess their students differently. School assessment marks therefore can t be compared without adjustment. BOS is responsible for moderating your overall internal HSC assessment mark for each subject. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 10

12 How is my Assessment Moderated? The example below, shows the moderation process. Rank Overall English Assessment of Students at ABC School HSC English Examination of Students at ABC School 1 94 (Peter) 97 (Peter) 2 93 (Sally) 96 (Linda) 3 92 (Linda) 95 (Sally) 4 91 () 94 (Lisa) 5 90 (Lisa) 93 (Andrew) 6 88 (Andrew) 86 () If the table represents the overall English assessment and HSC marks of students at ABC School, then the HSC mark is calculated the following way. Peter: Peter s HSC mark is 97 which is the actual HSC mark from the exam. His overall assessment before the moderation is 94 but after the moderation is 97. This is because he was ranked #1 at school for the subject, he is awarded the highest HSC English Exam mark as his moderated assessment mark. Essentially his assessment mark has been adjusted to reflect the HSC exam performance of his school students. Andrew: His HSC exam mark was 93. He is ranked 6 th at his school and therefore his assessment is adjusted to 86 (6 th highest HSC exam mark in his school). ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 11

13 Relationship between Aggregates, Percentiles & an ATAR Percentiles which indicate the ranking of students with respect to other ATAR-eligible students are determined on the basis of the aggregate of scaled marks. The percentile corresponding to a particular aggregate is the percentage of the ATAR cohort who received an aggregate mark less than or equal to that aggregate. Percentiles ATAR 2009 ATAR Table 1: This table shows the ATAR at selected percentiles for the 2010 ATAR cohort. ATAR Lowest aggregate Table 2: This table shows the lowest aggregate of scaled marks corresponding to each of the selected 2010 ATA ARS. The final step is to determine what the percentiles would have been if all students in their Year 7 cohort completed Year 12 and were eligible for an ATAR. These percentiles are rounded to the nearest These are your ATARs. Each ATAR corresponds to a range of aggregate of scaled marks and the number of students with each ATAR varies. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 12

14 How to use Scaling to your Advantage ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 13

15 English Rule 1: If you are good at English, consider Advanced or Extension English. Remember you cannot enter any science course Year 12 if you did not complete the courses in Year 11. If you are capable of undertaking Advanced English as one of your ATAR courses, then you should avoid undertaking Standard English as it is not a subject that is scaled well. A mark in the top 25% [P75 or 75 th percentile] in Advanced English is equivalent to a mark in the top 1% [P99 or 99 th percentile] in Standard English. This can be seen in the table below. Course Number Maximum Mean HSC P99 P90 P75 mark HSC mark HSC mark English ADV 27, English STD 34, English ESL 3, English Ext 1 5, ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 14

16 Maths Rule 2: If you are good at Mathematics, consider Mathematics Ext 1 or Ext 2. If you choose General Mathematics, you must ace it. If you are a capable Mathematics student and are deciding between Extension 1 & Extension 2 Mathematics, you should still undertake Extension 2 Mathematics. Mathematics Extension 1 & 2 is scaled very well. You only need to be in the top 20% [80 th Percentile] and the top 25% [75 th Percentile] of Mathematics Ext 1 and Ext 2 respectively to achieve a mark equivalent to the top 1% in Mathematics. This can be seen in the table below. Course Number Maximum Mean HSC P99 P90 P75 mark HSC mark HSC mark Mathematics 17, Mathematics Ext 1 Mathematics Ext 2 General Mathematics 9, , , ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 15

17 Science Rule 3: If you are good at Science, consider Chemistry and Physics over Biology. If you choose Biology, then you must ace it. As shown in the table below, Chemistry & Physics are scaled better than Biology. The table also shows that Physics and Chemistry students in the top 10% [90 th percentile] of their cohort obtain higher scaled marks than obtained by their biology counterparts. If you choose to study Biology, then you MUST be ranked in top 0.8% of students to obtain a mark that is comparable to those obtained by the top 1% of Physics & Chemistry students. Course Number Maximum Mean HSC P99 P90 P75 mark HSC mark HSC mark Biology 15, Chemistry 10, Physics 9, Senior Science 4, ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 16

18 Humanities Tip 4: If you choose to do a Humanities subject, consider Economics over Business Studies. As shown in the table below, Economics is scaled better than other humanities courses. The table also shows that Geography and Legal Studies students have to be in the top 10% [90 th percentile] of students to obtain scaled marks comparable to those obtained by the top 25% [75 th percentile] of the Economics students. Course Number Maximum Ancient History Business Studies Mean HSC P99 P90 P75 HSC HSC 12, , Economics 6, Geography 4, Legal Studies Modern History History Extension 8, , , Music Music Music Extension ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 17

19 Tip 5: If you are good at Music, consider Music 2 or Music Extension over Music 1. If you do AMEB grades for a musical instrument, choose Music 2 or Music Extension. They both scale better than Economics! Refer to the Humanities Course graphs below. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 18

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21 Languages Tip 6: If you are good at Languages, consider the Continuers course over the Beginners course. As shown in table below, Continuers is better scaled than beginners or Background Speakers. The table also shows that Japanese Beginners and French Beginners students have to be in the top 10% [90 th percentile] of students to obtain scaled marks comparable to those obtained by the top 25% [75 th percentile] of Japanese Continuers and French Continuers students. Course Number Maximum mark mean mark HSC P99 P90 P75 mark HSC mark HSC mark Chinese Beginners Chinese Continuers French Beginners French Continuers Korean Background Speakers Japanese Beginners Japanese Continuers Latin Continuers ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 20

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23 Subject Choices ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 22

24 Choosing the right subjects Students are advised to consider the following questions when selecting subjects for Year 11 & 12. (1) Do I find the subject interesting and/or do I like the subject? For example, do I find science subjects more interesting than humanities subjects? (2) Do I understand clearly what the subject involves? For example, junior science is very different to Chemistry, Physics and Biology. (3) Is the subject a prerequisite for the university course that I hope to undertake? For example, if I want to undertake a Medical course at University, then should I consider studying both Chemistry and Biology? (4) Do I understand the scaling of the subject? Subject selection should not depend on the scaling of each subject alone. No matter how well a subject is scaled, if you do not perform well in the subject then scaling does not help! How does subject combination affect my ATAR? ATARs for students scoring in the 90 th percentile for different combinations of subjects are shown in the tables below. A student with a subject combination of Maths and Science is awarded a higher ATAR than another student with the subject combination of humanities subjects. This is despite both students performing in the 90 th percentile in their courses. Maths & Science oriented subject combination Subject HSC Advanced English Maths Ext Maths Ext Physics Chemistry AGGREGATE (/500) ATAR Humanities oriented subject combination Subject HSC Standard English Mathematics Business Studies Modern History Biology AGGREGATE (/500) ATAR ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 23

25 How to achieve your ATAR goal ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 24

26 Step 1 Understand your ATAR goal in terms of your school subject rankings. Every student should have an ATAR goal and understand what this means in terms of scaled marks, percentiles and school rankings for each subject. The flowchart below outlines this process. Please note that students should commence this process from the beginning of Year 11. All Matrix students undertake this approach for their studies in Year 11 and Year 12. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 25

27 Step 2 Define your ATAR goal in terms of school rankings. The table below illustrates how to translate your ATAR goal into an achievable goal at school by breaking it down into subjects. Note that the school ranking column has been left empty as this will depend heavily on the school that a student is attending. ATAR Goal 95 = 402/500 Subjects HSC Percentile School Ranking Standard English Top 20 Mathematics Biology Business Studies Modern History ATAR Goal 99 = 450/500 Subjects HSC Percentile English ADV School Ranking Maths Ext Maths Ext Chemistry Physics To determine an HSC mark and a percentile for a given scaled mark of a subject, use the Matrix ATAR calculator TM. You can access the calculator at our website, or download Matrix ATAR Calculator on Apple or Android devices. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 26

28 Step 3 Track your progress quarterly. The table below can be used to track your school ranking required to achieve the corresponding percentile in each subject. Goal Subjects Current Rank School Rank Target Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 English ADV Maths Ext 2 ATAR: Maths Ext 1 Chemistry Physics You should consult your teacher at the end of each assessment to understand your progressive rank for each course at school. Kerry Chen, a former Matrix student who achieved an ATAR of used this goal setting template. As shown in the table, Kerry listed the target assessment goals for each term. Goal UAI Subjects English ADV English Ext.1 Maths Ext. 1 Maths Ext. 2 Current Rank Target Term 1 Target Term 2 Target Term Target Term Top 10 Top Top 15 Top 10 Top 5 Top 3 25 Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 Top 5 N/A Physics 51 Top 30 Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 Chemistry 15 Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 Top 3 Modern History 3 Top 3 Top ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 27

29 General Advice ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 28

30 What you should know Know how each subject is scaled. Not all subjects are created equal and therefore not all subjects are scaled equally! This means that subjects that are considered more difficult to score high marks are scaled higher whereas subjects that are considered easier to score high marks will be scaled downwards. It is important to understand how scaling works so that you can make informed subject selections, and study time allocations, coupled with your own academic strengths. Ace English YOU MUST DO WELL IN ENGLISH. Since 2 units of English must count towards your ATAR calculation, students who do well in English will get a top UAC Score or ATAR. In fact, in order to get a ATAR of 99.95, your English score needs to be at least 94/100 Study smart, not hard! Most students will find that there aren t enough hours in a day or week to study all subjects equally hard. One of the ways that you can overcome this barrier is by taking advantage of the scaling system to place more efforts in subjects that rewards higher scaled marks For example, consider how scaled marks changes when a student s ranking in Maths Ext 2 and Advanced English changes from 75th percentile to 90th percentile. In Maths Ext 2 the student will gain an additional scaled mark of 2.6 whereas in Advanced English students gain an additional scaled mark of 8.6. (Please refer to the scaling graphs of Mathematics and English). If you were in this situation, in which subject should you invest more time to study? Why? ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 29

31 Case Study Course Overall Rank Assessment English ADV 36/ Maths Ext 2 25/60 70 Maths Ext 1 10/30 87 Physics 1/20 95 Chemistry 8/41 87 The table below shows David s overall rank and marks at his school. In which subject(s) do you think David should allocate more time for study? a. In order to maximise his ATAR, he must allocate more time for study in English and Chemistry. This is because Mathematics Ext 1 and 2 are scaled very highly and he only needs to be in the top 20% and 25% respectively to achieve a mark equivalent to the top 1% in other subjects. b. Even if David dropped a few marks and rankings in mathematics, it would be much better than dropping a few marks and rankings in English and/or Chemistry. c. If David improves his marks and rankings in English and in Chemistry, it would have a greater impact in scoring a higher aggregate and a higher ATAR. This is because English and Chemistry are not scaled as well as Mathematics Ext 1 & 2 and therefore he must secure a top mark in both subjects to achieve a higher aggregate and therefore a higher ATAR. ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 30

32 Conclusion & Additional Resources ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 31

33 Additional Resources This information and other free resources can be found on the Matrix Blog. The Matrix blog is updated weekly with helpful articles on academic advice, study tips and educational news. Here are links to some of our articles that you may find useful. All About ATAR & Scaling How to Achieve How to Write a Band 6 Essay What is UMAT? 2012 University ATAR Cut-offs Top 5 Related Texts for Belonging Emotional Intelligence How to Enter a Selective School in Year ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 32

34 Matrix UMAT Preparation Course WHAT IS UMAT? WHO SHOULD APPLY UMAT is developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the UMAT Consortium for selection of students into Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry or health science degree programs at an undergraduate level at the universities listed on this website; COURSE OBJECTIVE The UMAT is a skills based exam, designed to assess critical thinking, problem solving, understanding people and abstract non-verbal reasoning. As success in this exam does not depend on curriculum knowledge, the best way to prepare is to have extensive, guided exposure to the UMAT s unique exam style. Our comprehensive resources and high quality personal teaching approach will provide you with the skills necessary To excel in these examinations. STUDENTS RECEIVE (a) 3 hours x 3 lessons of interactive UMAT coaching (b) 10 Practice Tests for Section 1, 2 & 3 (c) 1 Full length mock UMAT exam session- marked and returned with individual feedback (d) Comprehensive Theory Guide Books on Section 1, 2 & 3 UMAT (e) 10 Full length Online UMAT Practice Exams with worked solutions COURSE DETAILS The course runs over 4 lessons with the following structure: UMAT is available to any candidate whose educational level at the time of sitting the test is their final year of secondary schooling or higher. Candidates registering for UMAT2013 should have already completed or plan to complete their final year of secondary schooling in 2013 (i.e. Year 12 in Australia; Year 13 in New Zealand). HOW TO REGISTER FOR UMAT 2013 Registrations must be submitted online via the UMAT website: PARTICIPATING AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES South Australia The University of Adelaide Medicine, Dental Surgery Flinders University Clinical Sciences/BMBS, Vision Sciences Northern Territory Charles Darwin University Clinical Sciences New South Wales The University of New South Wales Medicine, Optometry The University of Newcastle/University of New England Joint Medical Program University of Western Sydney Medicine Area of Focus Section 1: Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving Section 2: Understanding People Section 3: Non-verbal Reasoning Mock Exam Learning outcomes Ability to comprehend information, draw logical conclusions and reach a solution from a variety of data sources. Ability to identify, understand, and infer the thoughts and behaviour of people in various scenarios. Ability to identify and interpret patterns & sequences within visual stimuli. Gain exposure to exam conditions and effectively pace and accurately answer the three sections in the allotted time. Queensland The University of Queensland Medicine (provisional entry), Dental Science Bond University Medicine Victoria Monash University Medicine, Pharmacy, Pharmacy/Commerce, Physiotherapy La Trobe University Health Sciences (Dentistry), Oral Health Science Tasmania University of Tasmania Medicine Western Australia The University of Western Australia Medicine, Dental Medicine UMAT Campus Date Time Lesson Structure Price* Sydney CBD Jan :30am - 12:30pm Lesson 1: Logical Reasoning & Problem Solving Lesson 2: Understanding People Lesson 3: Non-verbal Reasoning Lesson 4: Mock Exam $795 (GST Inclusive) $595 Early bird* *Early Bird Special: Enrol before 31 December and save 25% off the total course fee ($ including GST) Spaces are strictly limited. Call now to reserve your place or enrol online ATAR & Scaling Handbook Copyright Matrix Education! 33

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