Subject Selection
There is always much chatter about which subjects to choose and how to maximise your ATAR. But the most important thing to remember is that it's YOUR ATAR, and the decisions you make should be about getting your best score.
When selecting your subjects, it's important to see what your high school offers and go with your strengths. Whatever subjects you enjoy and will achieve the greatest results in are what you should focus on first (playing to YOUR strengths). Then, if there are more than 6 subjects that you feel you could do relatively well in and/or enjoy, have a look at past scaling reports. This method of selection is the first step towards achieving your best score.
The mistake that many students make is first looking at the best scaling subjects and then what they are interested in. It’s important that you still do well in whatever subjects you choose before scaling, as only then will scaling work in your favour to help you achieve your best.
Want to understand the ATAR better? Read our guide here!
How does scaling work?
ATAR scaling can seem very complicated, and it is. It involves a lot of complex maths that doesn’t help us understand it any better. But there are two types of “scaling” in Queensland.
1) For each subject there is scaling.
After you have completed year 12, you will find out your raw score in each subject out of 100. This includes the assignments, exams and externals you complete, and the QCAA add up all the scores (each assessment item is worth a certain percentage of your raw score). Then each subject has a different “scaling” so your raw score may go up, down or stay the same as per the scaling assigned to it. This is decided by a lot of calculations by the QCAA to decide how “hard/tough” your cohort found a particular subject (by seeing the raw scores of everyone in that subject and comparing it to other subjects). Subjects with consistently higher raw scores across the board are scaled down and subjects with lower raw scores are scaled up (all this occurs on a bell curve, the scaling amount changes depending on your raw score too).
However, you are not provided the scaled scores of your subjects only the raw scores. This is why many people talk about choosing the “right” senior subjects as there are patterns over the last few years of what subjects scale up and down. However, the amount certain subjects scale differs slightly every year as each cohort has differing scores across the board. That’s why it’s important not to rely solely and exactly on scaling but also on the subjects you enjoy.
2) For your ATAR score there is a scaling (ranking) of everyone in your grade.
Your ATAR score is a ranking of everyone in your cohort from 99.95 to <30. They are in 0.05 increments and each score has approximately 30 students. This is determined by adding up your scaled scores from your best 5 subjects and ranking your score with everyone else in your cohort. This then decides your ATAR score.
Manoj Arachige
How to interpret the ATAR scaling report?
This report contains a lot of information on your cohort's results. It provides a deep dive into scaling and ATAR calculation, which I recommend reading as it can help you understand the whole system.
Most importantly, it shows the subject scaling for every QCE subject of that year. This is done by providing a couple of raw scores and how they have “scaled” for each subject. Below is a picture of its format from the 2023 scaling report.
This picture shows the scaled score for 5 different raw scores in Economics, Engineering and English in 2023. As you can see, for different scores across the subjects it’s a different amount of scaling applied. Normally, for subjects that scale very well the higher raw scores (97,98,99) have very minute changes (less than one whole number). It’s important you analyse this table in the ATAR scaling report for every year and for 2024 when it is released by the QCAA. This allows you to form patterns and decide out of the subjects you enjoy and can succeed in, what you should choose to maximise your ATAR.
Best Scaling Subjects
Across the last couple of years, there have been consistent patterns that show the best-scaling subjects. Their exact rankings change year by year, but there is a strong/reliable group of subjects that scale well.
- Specialist Mathematics
- European Languages (specifically French and German)
- Mathematical Methods
- Engineering
- Economics (No one is yet to attain a perfect score in this subject)
- Sciences (specifically Physics and Chemistry)
Get inspired by a 99+ ATAR student’s study routine here!
ATAR is NOT Everything
Lastly, it’s important to remember that your ATAR only represents a scoring system to get into YOUR desired course for YOUR desired University. Comparing your scores with others is a real waste of time and isn’t going to help you in any way. It does NOT indicate how smart someone is but reflects the system we have at the moment to attend University. After getting into your course, it becomes irrelevant to your life and your future. So, take it as it is, an important stepping stone to getting into your dream course, but it is not the be-all or end-all.
Manoj Arachige
Want more personalized study guidance to help drastically improve your marks? A private tutor can make the biggest difference!
Written by KIS Academics Tutor for QCE Physics, Specialist Mathematics and Mathematical Methods, Ragulan Gnanavel. Ragulan is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and Commerce at UNSW. He has outstanding credentials as a tutor, and you can view Ragulan’s profile here and request him as a tutor.
