ATAR in Western Australia: how TISC works it out from WACE

How the WA ATAR works

A Western Australian ATAR is a rank position in the total WA Year 12 school-leaving age population. That group is not just people in Year 12 or taking ATAR courses. It includes everyone of the same age who may be working or doing an apprenticeship. TISC says that ATAR allows a WA student's results to be compared directly with ATARs from other states.

The ATAR runs from 99.95 down to 0.00 in steps of 0.05, so there are 2,000 possible ATARs. TISC says that, depending on the size of the school-leaving population each year, around 15 people are represented in each ATAR. The TEA is converted to an ATAR through a participation function, a cubic spline that depends on the share of people aged 16 to 20 who are eligible for an ATAR. The same method is used in every state.

Who gets an ATAR

• You need at least four scaled scores in WACE ATAR courses.
• To have an ATAR course result you must sit the ATAR course exam.
• Scaled scores can be accumulated over five consecutive years, but a course counts once, and your best score is used if you repeat it.
• Some course combinations are unacceptable, and then only the best score from the combination can be used.
• To get the WACE you need at least four Year 12 ATAR courses, among other things, but the ATAR is separate from the WACE certificate.

The TEA: best four plus bonuses

Your TEA is the sum of your best four scaled scores, plus 10 per cent of your best scaled score in a language other than English (LOTE), plus 10 per cent of your Mathematics Methods scaled score, plus 10 per cent of your Mathematics Specialist scaled score, if you have them. The maximum TEA is 430. How the scaled scores are made, and what is happening to the bonus, is covered in WACE scaling explained.

TEA to ATAR: the 2025 table

TISC publishes the minimum TEA needed for each ATAR after results. This is the 2025 table, in part. Use it to see how the TEA scale works, not to predict next year, because the conversion changes with each cohort.

The table shows how steep the top end is. TISC's own illustration from 2023 is that a TEA of 295.20 earned an ATAR of 95.00, and a student needed another 8.4 TEA points to reach 96.00, while at 225.90 only 2.2 more points moved a student from 75.00 to 76.00. In the 2025 table above, 95.00 needed 295.3, and going from 90.00 to 95.00 took 25.7 points against 10.7 from 70.05 to 75.00.

Getting your ATAR in 2026

If you have sat at least one WACE exam and achieved a scaled score in a course, you can access your Year 12 exam results and ATAR on the TISC website from late December. Your Universities Admission Advice Letter (UAAL) contains this information. You can print or save the PDF until 1 March the following year, and order a printed copy or an ATAR Certificate for a fee. SCSA says results are available in December through its student portal, with the date still to be confirmed. We will not give a date for the ATAR until TISC or SCSA announces one.

Selection ranks and what the ATAR does

WA universities also use selection ranks, which are created after the ATAR is calculated by applying adjustment factors such as school location, home address or parents' level of education. Students are usually told about them in the UAAL. The ATAR itself does not change.

Practise for the exams behind the ATAR

Try today's Year 12 Maths, Year 12 Physics, Year 12 Chemistry or Year 12 Biology paper under timed conditions. Each is a short paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, and the results page shows a predicted grade from A to E with typical cut-offs, not SCSA's. Read WACE grades explained for how the exam and school marks combine.

Common mistakes about the WA ATAR

• Thinking the ATAR is a percentage of your marks. It is a rank.
• Counting all your courses. Only the best four scaled scores, plus bonuses, go into the TEA.
• Skipping an exam. You get no course result without it.
• Expecting a fixed conversion. The TEA to ATAR table changes every year.

Read next

Australia · WACEWACE Chemistry: ATAR exam format, units and practiceWACE Chemistry explained: the SCSA ATAR Chemistry exam layout, what Units 3 and 4 cover, school marks, ATAR, 2026 and 2027 dates, and a daily trial paper.