How important is the ATAR? 30% of Year 12s who go to uni don’t use it
- Written by The Conversation
Year 12 Students across Australia will receive their ATARs this week and next. It’s a significant moment, with the ATAR often dominating media coverage of schooling at this time of year.
But as the 2025 results come in, it’s worth taking a closer look at the ATAR’s evolving role and relevance.
Our new report looks closely at who uses the ATAR, who doesn’t, and what that means for students and universities.
What is the ATAR?
The ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is a number between 0 and 99.95 showing how a student performed in their scaled Year 12 subjects compared to all students in their age group (students who get between 0 and 30 are told they received “30 or less”).
Scaling is the process that adjusts Year 12 subject results so they can be compared fairly.
So the ATAR is a ranking, not a mark. An ATAR of 70.00 means the student is ahead of 70% of their age group – not that they achieved 70% on their school assessments.
Universities use the ATAR to compare students from different schools, subjects and states, to help select applicants for certain courses.
Who is using it?
Not all Year 12 students intend to go to university. Many pursue apprenticeships, vocational education or full-time work instead.
In 2024, 64% of Australia’s Year 12 students received an ATAR. This varies significantly across states and territories, from 79% in New South Wales and 72% in Victoria to 38% in Western Australia.
To get an ATAR students must select an the ATAR pathway and complete the required combination of subjects. Students who don’t do this can still receive their senior secondary certificate, to say they have completed school.
The proportion of students receiving an ATAR has been trending down in Victoria and Western Australia since 2019, with South Australia the only state showing an increase.
The result is a national system where the ATAR is prominent but far from universal.
What about uni entry?
Even for many students who go straight from school to university, the ATAR is not always relevant. In 2023, for recent school leavers (those who have completed Year 12 in the previous three years) who used their school credentials as a basis for entry:
63% were admitted on their ATAR alone
7% used their ATAR plus additional criteria. For example, an extra test, portfolio or audition
30% were admitted solely on the basis of other (non-ATAR) criteria.
So the ATAR was not considered at all for 30% of Australians who started their undergraduate degree based on their recent secondary school certificate. And this group represents only part of the picture.
This is because for nearly half of all students commencing a bachelor’s degree, universities do not consider recent secondary school education. These students enter via bridging or enabling programs, work experience, vocational education and training, or previous tertiary study including those who change courses. For these students, the ATAR is not recorded as playing any part in the admission process.
Universities use the ATAR in very different ways
Australia’s 39 public universities also use the ATAR in very different ways. For example, at one institution, admissions out of Year 12 rely almost solely on the ATAR. At another, this drops to around 10%.
Group of Eight universities (which include some of Australia’s most prestigious universities, such as the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne), remain the most ATAR-reliant. Many regional universities draw heavily on alternative entry schemes.
It also depends what field of study we are talking about. Engineering, science and IT courses tend to use the ATAR most heavily. Creative arts, education and agriculture courses lean more on other selection criteria such as portfolios, interviews and auditions.
Students’ background and the ATAR
The use of ATAR for admission to university also varies by student background. The likelihood of using a non-ATAR pathway increases with the level of student disadvantage.
Our analysis shows 39% of low-socioeconomic status (SES) school-leaver entrants and more than half of Indigenous entrants enter via non-ATAR criteria. This is compared to 26% of high-SES entrants and 30% of non-Indigenous entrants.
Evidence shows the ATAR can reproduce and amplify inequality when it is used as the primary measure of student achievement.
Where to from here?
Our analysis shows a national admissions system that is diversifying. Schools and universities now use a wider mix of pathways to recognise student capability. The ATAR is certainly part of this system, but it’s not the single route into tertiary study.
This suggests students and their families need clear and early guidance. They should understand from early high school how different pathways connect to different futures – including where an ATAR is needed and where it is not. Then they can make more confident decisions about subjects, qualifications and careers.
This matters for education policy as well. The task is not to replace the ATAR, but to ensure the policy settings around it keep pace with reality.
