Statistics

ATAR distribution for NSW Year 12 students (2016-2024)

31 May 2023

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) provides students with a measure of overall academic achievement in the NSW HSC in relation to that of the students they started Year 7 with.

This measure allows the comparison of students who have completed different combinations of HSC courses. The ATAR is calculated solely for use by universities, either on its own or in conjunction with other selection criteria, to rank and select school leavers for admission to university.

The following tables show the distribution of the ATAR by year and by gender.

2023

In 2023, 55,523 NSW students received an ATAR and 53.8 per cent of the ATAR cohort were female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2023, download the Preliminary Report on the Scaling of the 2023 Higher School Certificate

2022

In 2022, 54,308 NSW students received an ATAR and 54.0 per cent of the ATAR cohort were female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2022, download the .

2021

In 2021, 54,841 NSW students received an ATAR and 54.3 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2021, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2021 NSW Higher School Certificate.

2020

In 2020, 54,894 NSW students received an ATAR and 54.4 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2020, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2020 NSW Higher School Certificate.

2019

In 2019, 55,031 NSW students received an ATAR and 54.1 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2019, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2019 NSW Higher School Certificate.

2018

In 2018, 56,127 NSW students received an ATAR and 53.7 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2018, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2018 NSW Higher School Certificate.

2017

In 2017, 57,061 NSW students received an ATAR and 53.7 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2017, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2017 NSW Higher School Certificate.

2016

In 2016, 55,956 NSW students received an ATAR and 53.3 per cent of the ATAR cohort was female.

For more information on the calculation of the ATAR in 2016, download the Report on the Scaling of the 2016 NSW Higher School Certificate.

Pre-2016

Information on ATAR distribution prior to 2016 can be found in the corresponding year of the annual booklets titled Report on the scaling of the NSW Higher School Certificate, found in Publications.