WACE ATAR Calculator

ATAR stands for Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. It’s a number between 0.00 and 99.95 that ranks you against all other Year 12 students in Australia who are on the ATAR pathway.

• For example, an ATAR of 90.00 means you’ve performed better than 90% of students across the country.
• Universities use your ATAR to help decide who gets into which courses.

WACE stands for the Western Australian Certificate of Education. It’s the certificate you receive at the end of Year 12 in WA if you meet certain requirements.

To achieve your WACE, you need to:

• Complete a set number of courses
• Meet literacy and numeracy standards, and
• Achieve a minimum number of C grades or higher.

In short:

• WACE is your graduation certificate for finishing high school in WA.
• ATAR is your rank for university entry, based on your results in ATAR subjects.

Subjects such as Maths Methods, Maths Specialist, Physics, Chemistry, and LOTE generally scale well.

Check out our helpful ATAR Subject Scaling Guide HERE for more information. This table can help you make informed decisions about which subjects have traditionally scaled up or down.

Scaling results may vary slightly each year, influenced by factors such as overall student performance, the relative difficulty of each subject, and statistical adjustments made to ensure equity across subject choices.

If you have any questions, please call us on (08) 6117 3030 or email support@peak.edu.au. One of our academic advisors will be happy to provide tailored advice specific to your academic goals.

If you study Mathematics Methods, Specialist Mathematics, or a language (LOTE), you receive a 10% bonus added to your Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) — which can boost your final ATAR.

Here’s how it works:

1. All your subject scores are first standardised, moderated, and scaled.
2. Your top 4 scaled scores are added together to form your aggregate, which is out of 400.
3. Then, 10% of the scaled score for Maths Methods, Maths Specialist, and your best LOTE subject is added as a bonus — even if they’re not in your top 4.
4. This means your aggregate could go up to 430, which results in a higher ATAR.

In short, doing advanced mathematics or a language can give you a helpful edge!

You can only count two mathematics subjects towards your ATAR.

Here’s what’s not allowed:

• You can’t count both Maths Applications and Maths Specialist in your ATAR calculation. If you take both, only the higher scaled score will be used.

Acceptable combinations:

• Maths Methods + Maths Specialist
• Maths Applications + Maths Methods

Not allowed:

• Maths Applications + Specialist Maths

So, make sure you’re not relying on all three maths subjects — only two can be included in your final ATAR calculation. However, it’s worth noting that if you take both Maths Methods and Specialist Maths, both 10% bonuses will positively contribute to your final ATAR score.

The Broadway (UWA) and StepUp (Curtin) programs help eligible students from certain Western Australian schools by boosting their ATAR for university admission.

These boosts apply automatically if you meet the criteria, based on your school and ATAR.

For UWA – Broadway Program

If you completed Year 12 at an eligible school, and:

• Your ATAR is between 70 and 79.95, it will be adjusted up to 80.
  (e.g. ATAR 70 becomes ATAR 80)
• Your ATAR is 80 or higher, you’ll receive an extra 5 ATAR points, up to a maximum of 99.95.
  (e.g. ATAR 94 becomes ATAR 99)

Find more about Broadway via the UWA website

For Curtin – StepUp Program

If you completed Year 12 at an eligible school, and:

• Your ATAR is between 60 and 69.95, it will be adjusted up to 70.
  (e.g. ATAR 60 becomes ATAR 70)
• Your ATAR is 70 or higher, you’ll receive an extra 5 ATAR points, up to a maximum of 99.95.
  (e.g. ATAR 75 becomes ATAR 80)

Find more about StepUp via the Curtin website

Note: Always check UWA and Curtin’s official websites for the most up-to-date information.