My ATAR is Lower Than My HSC Marks? 3 Reasons Why Your ATAR Might Be Lower Than You Thought

It can be a shock to receive multiple band 6 HSC marks but for your overall ATAR to be in the 80s – surely if your marks are all in the 90s, so should your ATAR right? When we pitch HSC marks versus ATAR, they are incrediblyt different.

This post will cover:

• how HSC marks are different from the ATAR
• a brief overview of how each are calculated
• tips to improve your ATAR

What is your final HSC mark?

A final HSC mark is the number you find on your HSC certificate which shows you a subject mark, scored out of 100. It is made up of:

• 50% internal school assessment results
• 50% external HSC exams

This mark tells you how well you performed in each subject. It’s also used to assign your Band result (e.g. Band 6 = A mark between 90–100). To break down the final HSC mark even further, read this!

There is no limit to how many students can receive a certain mark. For example, 5 students can all receive a 91 in HSC Biology, and this would be fine, since it’s a mark and not a rank.

What is my ATAR?

ATAR, also known as Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, is not a mark – it’s a percentile rank that tells you how you performed relative to other Year 12 students across NSW. For example, an ATAR of 80.00 means you outperformed 80% of the state’s Year 12 population, not that you got 80% in the exam.

Your ATAR is calculated on a subject scaling system, and your final scaled mark may be very different from your exam and HSC mark. The ATAR’s goal is to rank NSW students for their overall academic performance, so universities can determine who to offer their courses to.

More popular or competitive courses are often assigned higher ATAR cut-offs because tertiary education operates within an academic hierarchy — and academic performance is currently seen as the most objective way to rank applicants.

Why do I have high HSC marks but an average ATAR?

Reason One: ATAR ≠ HSC final marks. 

Your HSC marks are scores, but the ATAR is a rank.

An example would be – a particular test might be very easy and 50 students received 100/100. Luke received a 99/100, which is still a great mark, but his rank would be number 51, even though he received the second highest mark.

The conclusion is that mark and rank do not equate each other.

Reason Two: Your subject mix matters. 

ATAR is calculated from your best ten units. Two out of these ten units must come from English. This means the following scenarios will lead to a lower ATAR thank expected:

• your HSC mark for your English units were not very high, but as it’s mandatory to include two units of English, your entire ATAR is pulled down
• you perform well in low-scaling subjects but aren’t at the top of the cohort. Since these subjects tend to have relatively easier assessments, many students achieve high raw marks — making it harder to stand out and rank highly, even with strong results.
  • As Mrs Doyle used to tell year 7 James Ruse students – one mark is ten people (as a way to discourage them from making silly mistakes – the punishment for silly mistakes in the class was to recite the quadratic formula 21 times. No one had a clue what they were chanting)

Reason Three: Your cohort performs well this year on average

You might perform very well in a subject, but if the entire state cohort performs similarly well, there’s less room for your scaled score to stand out.

Ultimately, ATAR is about comparison, not performance. The difference between one ATAR and the next could be very few raw test marks.

How can I boost my ATAR, not just my mark?

• If you are picking between two subjects you feel like you’ll do equally well in, choose the higher scaling one.
• Work on your English – it will be a part of your 10 units – don’t let it drag you down.
• Marks are important, but also monitor your rank. If you rank highly in a subject, no matter high or low scaling, you will boost your ATAR!

The bottom line

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