KIS Summary:
- Provides brief explanation of scaling and how it affects your final ATAR.
- Provides snapshot of how the popular VCE Subjects were scaled in 2022.
- Useful resources shared to help you understand more about scaling, and how to prepare for your VCEs.
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If you’re a current or future VCE student, chances are you’ve heard about scaling. Scaling can play a big role in determining your overall result, so it can be super helpful to understand the recent statistics around subject scaling. You can also use an ATAR calculator to see the scaled subject results from your estimated study scores.
Table of Content:
- What is Scaling?
- What were the Highest and Lowest Scaling Subjects last year?
- How did the English Subjects scale?
- How did the Maths Subjects Scale?
- How did the Science Subjects Scale?
- How did the Other Subjects scale?
- Where can I find more information about scaling?
- FAQs
What is Scaling?
Scaling can seem confusing and even unfair at times. Note that it is not a measure of how difficult or how much work a subject is, but rather how competitive it is.
- If a subject scales highly, it doesn’t inherently mean it is harder. Rather, it means that the students doing the subject also did really well in their other subjects.
- For a more detailed explanation of the full mechanisms behind subject scaling, check out our blog post that breaks down the ATAR and scaling.
It is also important to not let subject scaling be the only factor you consider when choosing what VCE subjects to do. Choosing the subjects you enjoy and excel at will often yield the best exam scores, regardless of scaling!
What were the Highest and Lowest Scaling Subjects last year?
Highest Scaling Subjects
- Latin has traditionally had very high scaling, and last year was no exception. A 30 study score would be boosted to a whopping 46, and just a raw score of 35 gave a scaled score of 50!
- Specialist Maths was the second-highest scaled subject.
- Other languages, like Chinese Second Language, Hebrew, and French also scaled to above 40, although their scaling tends to vary more than other subjects.
- Hebrew, for example, scaled up by as much as 14 just a couple of years ago, but a 30 last year only increased to 41.
Lowest Scaling Subjects
- If you got a raw study score of 30 in Food Studies, Agricultural and Horticultural Studies, or Product Design and Technology, it would be reduced to just 23.
- The VCE art exam is another low-scaling subject.
How did the English Subjects scale?
- English is the most popular VCE subject.
- It has consistently scaled down by roughly 2 points, and the same trend occurred this year.
- The exam score required to ensure you don't get scaled down is a 45+ study score!
- On the other hand, Literature scales up by 1-2 points.
- A 30 score increased to a 31, and 35 would go up even higher to a 37!
- Literature scaling has been slightly higher in recent years.
- English Language was the highest-scaling English subject last year; a 30 score last year turned into a 33.
How did the Maths Subjects Scale?
- Further Maths usually scales down by 2-3, and 2021 was no different. Although higher scores were generally less affected, virtually all study scores were decreased by some amount.
- Even a high score of 45 was reduced by 1.
- Maths Methods scaled up well by 4 to 5 points.
- A 30 study score went to a 34, and even a 40 was marked up to a 45!
- It was one of the few subjects that scale above 50 - a perfect raw score of 50 became a 51.
- Specialist Maths is always one of the highest-scaling subjects, and in 2021, an average score of 30 was raised by an incredible 12 points! This is the greatest raw school assessment mark increase since 2014.
- A 35 was increased to 47, while a score of 40 was brought up to 51.
- An interesting quirk is that higher scores here tended to equalise; 45 raw was transformed to a 54, while a perfect 50 was scaled to 55, meaning any Specialist score in the high 40s contributed virtually the same amount to your aggregate after scaling.
- Hence, your school assessment marks are highly dependent on the subject scaling.
How did the Science Subjects Scale?
- Biology tends to be unaffected by scaling. A 30 score will usually remain around a 30, although some higher scores were scaled up by 1. This was exactly what happened in 2021.
- Chemistry is the highest-scaling science subject thanks to its competitive cohort.
- Last year, most scores scaled up by a generous 4 points!
- A median score of 30 rose to 34.
- Physics also scales up, though not as much as Chemistry.
- Scores were consistently raised by 2 last year. This is slightly lower than a couple of years ago when some scores were raised by 3.
- Psychology is the only science subject to be scaled down.
- A 30 turned into a 28 last year.
- However, there has been a slight improvement in recent times, with scores from the mid-30s onwards only scaling down by around 1.
How did the Other Subjects scale?
- Business Management is one of the most popular subjects to study in VCE. Unfortunately, its scores usually take a hit from scaling.
- A median score of 30 decreased to 26, down from the 27 that would have been received in 2020.
- Physical Education also scaled down by two or three, with a 30 going to a 27, and a 35 reduced to 33. This scaling has been consistent for the past 2 years.
- Health and Human Development is one of the most popular subjects, but also one of the most scaled down.
- In 2021, a raw 30 became 26, a raw 35 dropped to 31, and even a raw 40 still decreased to 37.
- This trend has remained the same for at least the past 6 years!
- Legal Studies is also another stable subject. As in previous years, scores were generally scaled down by 2, with only scores above 40 mostly unaffected.
Where can I find more information about scaling?
You can find the official scaling report on the VCAA website, and also read more about how scaling works there. Our handy guide here also simplifies scaling for you.
The VCAA website is also super useful for learning more about any subject-related queries. For example, if you're wondering about the Business Management grade distribution for 2021, you can find it on the VCAA website!
Furthermore, VCAA also has a ton of practice exams you could do. If you have not taken a gander of the website yet, I highly encourage you to do so! You can also find each subject's study design to help you make a more well-informed decision about your subjects in Year 11 and 12.
If you'd like a tutor to help out with your VCE, explore our talented VCE tutors.
Conclusion
Remember that scaling should not be the only deciding factor when selecting your subjects, because it changes every year, and does not guarantee that you will get a good ATAR. It is still more prudent to work hard at the subjects you like or excel at, and achieve the ATAR you worked for.
For more tips and resources, check out these KIS Academics articles:
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
FAQs
What VCE subjects should I do to get the best ATAR?
As always, the best recommendation we can make in terms of choosing subjects is to pick ones you enjoy, and then study hard to maximise your final exam scores and SAC scores throughout the year.
Achieving a great score in your final exam is the best way to ensure you get the highest raw study scores, regardless of how they scale.
How important is scaling?
Scaling affects your final score by a little, but not much overall. Choose subjects you like, or are good at, and you do not have to worry about how scaling affects you. Find out more about scaling here.
Is a 99.95 ATAR hard to get?
Only the top 0.05% of students get the perfect ATAR of 99.95, so yes, it is hard to get. It does not mean it's impossible, you just have to work really hard! Find out how this KIS Academics tutor got a perfect ATAR in this article here.
Will my ATAR be high if I choose high-scaling subjects?
No, it is not guaranteed that your ATAR will be reflective of the subject scaling. After all, your grades will only be good if you worked hard and achieved good grades on your own merit; scaling is only an additional factor that may or may not help you.
So, choose subjects that you like, or are good at, and don't worry too much about how the subject is going to scale in your year! If you need some help with studying, a private tutor from KIS Academics can help!
Written by Daniil McIntyre, who studied a Bachelor of Science (Climate/Weather) at the University of Melbourne.
Want more personalised guidance from past VCE high achievers? Check out our lineup of expert tutors from KIS Academics with an average ATAR of 99.50 to unlock your academic potential.
