"ATAR calculator" is the most searched school phrase in Australia every October and November, because every Year 12 student with a set of marks wants one number, and every state computes that number differently from tables that are published once a year and read by almost nobody. This page has a calculator for each of the five systems, built from the 2025 scaling tables the five admissions centres published (VTAC, UAC, QTAC, TISC and SATAC), with the method and its limits written under each one. Choose your state, enter marks or study scores, and read the scaled results, the aggregate and the estimated ATAR.
Download the five-state ATAR sheet (PDF) (how each state builds its aggregate, the 2025 aggregate for ATAR 70 to 99 in each state, the three questions that move an ATAR, and a planner; two pages, free).
The calculator
ATAR calculator (2025 scaling tables):
Each state's page explains its own system in detail, with the subject scaling tables for that state: VCE (Victoria), HSC (NSW and ACT), QCE (Queensland), WACE (Western Australia) and SACE and NTCET (South Australia and the Northern Territory).
How the ATAR is calculated, in every state
The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is a rank, not a mark: 99.95 is the top, and an ATAR of 80.00 means the student is placed above 80 percent of the age cohort, including the people who left school before Year 12. Every state produces it in the same three steps, and differs only in the rules.
| Step | What happens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scaling | Each subject result is moved onto a common scale that reflects how the students who took that subject performed across all their subjects | A 75 in a subject taken by strong students and a 75 in one taken by weaker students are not the same achievement; scaling makes them comparable |
| 2. The aggregate | The scaled results are combined under the state's rule (see the table below) | It fixes which and how many subjects count, so that a student with eight subjects and one with five are compared fairly |
| 3. The rank | Aggregates are ranked, and the rank is expressed against the whole age cohort using a participation model | So that an ATAR of 90 means the same thing in every state and every year, whatever share of the age group sat Year 12 |
| State | What is scaled | The aggregate rule | Maximum aggregate | Who publishes the tables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria (VCE) | Study scores (0 to 50) per study | The best English-group study plus the next three highest scaled scores (the primary four), plus 10 percent of the fifth and sixth; limits of two English and two Mathematics studies in the primary four | about 210 | VTAC: scaling report and aggregate-to-ATAR table, each December |
| NSW and ACT (HSC) | HSC marks per unit (0 to 50) | The best 10 units of scaled marks, including at least 2 units of English | 500 | UAC: Report on the Scaling of the HSC, with Tables A3 and A9 |
| Queensland (QCE) | Raw results (0 to 100) in General subjects; grades in Applied subjects; VET levels | The best five scaled results: five General, or four General plus one Applied or VET; an English subject at C or better | 500 | QTAC: ATAR Report, each February; subject scaling only |
| Western Australia (WACE) | Combined marks per course, standardised then scaled (0 to 100) | The best four scaled scores plus 10 percent of the best language, of Mathematics Methods and of Mathematics Specialist | 430 | TISC: course statistics and the TEA/ATAR summary table, each December |
| SA and NT (SACE/NTCET) | Scaled scores out of 20 (or 10) per subject | The best three 20-credit subjects plus the best 30 credits from the rest | 90.00 | SATAC: aggregate-to-ATAR table, each December |
What aggregate each ATAR needed in 2025
The number universities publish is an ATAR; the number a student can work towards is the aggregate behind it, and it moves a little every year with the cohort.
| State | Aggregate | 2025: the aggregate for ATAR 70 | 80 | 90 | 95 | 99 | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria (VCE) | primary four scaled study scores + 10% of the fifth and sixth; max about 210 | 120.42 | 135.65 | 155.19 | 169.85 | 192.10 | VTAC, aggregate to ATAR table |
| NSW and ACT (HSC) | best 10 units of scaled marks incl. 2 units of English; max 500 | 262.0 | 313.8 | 370.7 | 404.6 | 447.8 | UAC, Table A9 |
| Queensland (QCE) | best five scaled results (TEA); max 500 | not published | not published | not published | not published | not published | QTAC publishes the band allocation, not a TEA table |
| Western Australia (WACE) | best four scaled scores + 10% bonuses (TEA); max 430 | 215.7 | 237.9 | 269.6 | 295.3 | 348.1 | TISC, 2025 TEA/ATAR summary table |
| SA and NT (SACE/NTCET) | best 90 credits of scaled scores; max 90.00 | 60.55 | 68.25 | 76.45 | 81.45 | 87.25 | SATAC, 2025 aggregate to ATAR table |
Victoria's figures are VTAC's minimum aggregates; NSW's are UAC's lowest aggregate of scaled marks for the ATAR; WA's are TISC's minimum TEA; SA's are the lowest aggregate in SATAC's 2025 table that gives at least the ATAR. In 2025 the top ATAR of 99.95 needed an aggregate of 211.42 in Victoria, 479.4 in NSW, 405.5 in WA and 89.30 in SA and NT.
What an ATAR calculator can and cannot tell you
It can turn a set of marks into the scaled results, the aggregate and a rank, using the real tables, which is more than most students ever see; show which subject is carrying the aggregate and which is being wasted by the aggregate rule; and show how much a few marks in one subject are worth in ATAR, which is the number that should decide where the study time goes.
It cannot know the marks before the exams, which is the whole uncertainty; use the 2026 tables, which are published after the results; reproduce a moderation step (school assessment marks are moderated against the exam before scaling in every state, and the calculator takes the mark after moderation as given); or, in Queensland, use a TEA-to-ATAR table, because QTAC does not publish one.
Three habits make an estimate useful. Enter the mark you would bet on, not the one you hope for. Run it twice, with each subject five marks lower, to see the floor. And read the subject that moves the ATAR most, which is usually the weakest study in the primary four or the best four, not the strongest.
What moves an ATAR most
- The weakest counted subject. In every state the aggregate is a sum, so five marks in the weakest counted subject are worth exactly as much as five marks in the strongest, and are usually far easier to get.
- The English study. Victoria counts the best English study in the primary four whatever its score; NSW counts two units of English whatever their scaled mark; Queensland and WA require it for eligibility. A low English result is in the aggregate when nothing else low is.
- The bonuses and increments. 10 percent of a fifth and sixth study in Victoria, 10 percent of a language and the two higher mathematics courses in WA: a sixth subject at a scaled 40 is worth four aggregate points in Victoria, the difference between two ATAR bands.
- Scaled, not raw. A subject that scales down is one taken by many weaker students, and a strong result in it still scales to a strong scaled result; a subject that scales up does not rescue a weak result. Pick by expected mark and prerequisites.
IB Diploma to ATAR
International Baccalaureate students do not get a state aggregate; the admissions centres convert the IB score with a national table. SATAC's 2026 table gives, for example, an IB score of 45 as 99.95, 40 as 96.85, 35 as 90.75, 30 as 79.30 and 24 as 64.60 (the Australian IBAS variant with bonus points runs 45.75 to 99.95, 40.00 to 96.35, 35.00 to 89.90, 30.00 to 78.20). The conversion is the same in every state for a given year.
Download the five-state ATAR sheet (PDF) (how each state builds its aggregate, the 2025 aggregate for ATAR 70 to 99 in each state, the three questions that move an ATAR, and a planner; two pages, free).
Where to get help
A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's in mathematics and teaches Year 11 and 12 maths, physics and chemistry to Australian students at Australian times (7:30 am before school, 4 pm to 6:30 pm after school, and weekend mornings, Sydney time): the estimate above read together in the free 30-minute first class, the subject where five marks buys the most ATAR found, and the term spent on it with every line of working read. The Year 12 Australia page says what the class works on in each state's course.
Questions parents ask
1How is the ATAR calculated?
2Is an ATAR calculator accurate?
3What ATAR do I need, and what aggregate is that?
4Does scaling mean I should choose subjects that scale up?
5Why is my ATAR lower than my marks?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.