Queensland ATAR calculator

Add your QCE subjects and the results you are aiming for.

Your subjects

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Subject scaling

How QCE subjects scale against each other

Scaling is not a measure of how hard a subject is to study. It reflects how that subject’s cohort performed across the rest of their studies, which is why it moves every year.

  1. Specialist Mathematics94.5+14.5
  2. Mathematical Methods91.9+11.9
  3. French91.2+11.2
  4. Engineering90.6+10.6
  5. German89.2+9.2
  6. Economics88.9+8.9
  7. Philosophy and Reason85.5+5.5
  8. Chemistry84.1+4.1
  9. Japanese83.9+3.9
  10. Accounting83.6+3.6
  11. English as an Additional Language83.3+3.3
  12. Literature82.8+2.8
How it works

From subject result to ATAR

  1. 1

    QCAA marks the subject

    Three internal assessments and one external assessment make a mark out of 100 in each General subject, and an A–E in each Applied subject.

  2. 2

    QTAC scales it

    Scaling puts every subject on one comparable scale, based on how that subject’s cohort performed across the rest of their studies.

  3. 3

    The best five make a TEA

    Your five highest scaled results are added into a Tertiary Entrance Aggregate. Extra subjects drop out.

  4. 4

    Aggregates become ranks

    Every eligible student is ranked on their aggregate, then spread across the 2000 ATAR bands from 99.95 down to 0.00.

Eligibility

Who gets an ATAR

About half the Queensland Year 12 cohort is ATAR eligible — 30,167 students in 2025.

Five results, in one of three patterns

  • Five General subjects
  • Four General subjects and one Applied subject
  • Four General subjects and a completed VET qualification at Certificate III or above

An English subject at C or better

Any one of English, English as an Additional Language, Literature, English and Literature Extension, or Essential English. It does not have to be one of the five results that count.

Short courses, Certificate I and II qualifications, and incomplete VET qualifications never count.

Pairs that cannot both count

English
General English subjects or Essential English count, never both.
Mathematics
General mathematics subjects or Essential Mathematics count, never both.
Senior External Examination
A subject taken both as a General subject and as an SEE counts once.

Everything else combines freely — English with Literature, or Mathematical Methods with Specialist Mathematics, both count.

Limits

What this cannot tell you

  • Scaling changes every year. Your cohort will scale differently from the one behind the figures you pick.
  • Your subject result is itself a prediction until QCAA confirms your internal marks and marks the external assessment.
  • Only QTAC issues an ATAR. This is a planning tool.

Sources: QTAC ATAR Report 2025 and Calculating the ATAR in Queensland, both published by QTAC.

The ATAR follows the subject results

In most General subjects three internal assessments carry 50 to 75 per cent of the mark this page starts from — and they are the part you can still change before you submit.

ISMGenius reads a draft against the task’s ISMG and shows where each criterion sits, so revision time goes to the marks you are leaving behind.

Check a draft freeHow a subject result is built
FAQ

Common questions

How is the ATAR calculated in Queensland?
QCAA gives you a result out of 100 in each General subject. QTAC scales those results so subjects can be compared, adds your best five scaled results into a Tertiary Entrance Aggregate, ranks every eligible student on that aggregate, and assigns ATARs from 99.95 down to 0.00 in steps of 0.05.
What subjects do I need to be eligible for an ATAR?
Five General subjects, or four General subjects plus one Applied subject, or four General subjects plus a completed VET qualification at AQF Certificate III or above. You also need to complete one of five English subjects at a C or better: English, English as an Additional Language, Literature, English and Literature Extension, or Essential English.
Does my English result have to count towards my ATAR?
No. Completing an English subject at C or better is a prerequisite for being awarded an ATAR, but that result does not have to be one of the five that make up your aggregate.
What is subject scaling and why does it happen?
Scaling adjusts for the fact that it is harder to get a high result in some subjects than others, because of how competitive that subject’s cohort is. It is not a judgement about how difficult a subject is to study, and it is recalculated from scratch every year.
Does taking a harder subject give me a better ATAR?
Only if you do well in it. Scaling reflects how a subject’s cohort performs overall, so a strong result in a strongly scaled subject helps. A weak result in the same subject does not. Choosing subjects you can do well in usually beats chasing scaling.
How accurate is this ATAR calculator?
The scaling step reconstructs QTAC's own published functions and reproduces every scaled result in the QTAC ATAR Report 2025 to within 0.011 of a scaled point. Turning an aggregate into an ATAR is modelled, because QTAC does not publish the aggregate distribution, so a range is shown next to the estimate. Scaling also changes each year, so treat the number as a guide.
Which year of scaling should I use?
The most recent one. Scaling is recalculated every year from that year’s cohort, so the newest published figures are the closest available guide to how your own results will scale. Choosing an earlier year shows how the same subject results would have scaled for that cohort.
What is a TEA?
The Tertiary Entrance Aggregate is the sum of your best five scaled results, out of 500. It is the number QTAC ranks students on. Aggregates are never reported to students — you only receive the ATAR.
Can I count Essential English and English together?
Not in the same ATAR. QTAC counts either General English subjects or Applied English, never both. The same rule applies to General mathematics and Essential Mathematics. You can, however, count both English and Literature, or both Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics.
What is the lowest ATAR that gets reported?
ATARs run from 99.95 down to 0.00, but every ATAR at or below 30.00 is reported as "30.00 or less".
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