Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
The median marks in some popular HSC STEM courses have risen, while the proportion of students getting the top band in the toughest maths subjects has dropped off. Of the 55,523 students to receive an ATAR on Thursday, 17.5 per cent received a rank of 90 or above while 35 per cent scored at least 80.
The median ATAR for the class of 2023 was 71.05, slightly lower than in 2022. To achieve a middle ATAR, students generally need to be in the middle of their subjects and receive HSC marks between 70 and 80.
The preliminary scaling report released on Thursday by University Admissions Centre revealed the median marks in some science subjects rose compared to last year. Chemistry went up from 74 to 76, Biology up to 74 from 71, while Physics remained steady.
Jason Phan from James Ruse Agricultural High school topped the state in chemistry.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Median maths marks remained largely steady but the proportion of students achieving the top band – which equates to a mark between 90 and 100 – dropped between one and two percentage points in advanced maths, and both extension courses.
Students’ HSC course marks are determined by the NSW Education Standards Authority. This mark is then converted to a scaled mark by UAC, which indicates a student’s position in the course if all 71,199 HSC students had completed that subject. The scaled scores are then used to determine students’ ATARs.
Chair of the technical committee on scaling, Associate Professor Rod Yager, said scaled marks were generally lower than NESA HSC marks, except near the top.
“Few students receive HSC marks less than 25 (on a one-unit basis) and the average HSC mark lies between 35 and 40 for most courses,” he said in the report.
“In contrast, the average scaled mark for the total HSC candidature is close to 25, and relatively few courses have scaled means greater than 35.”
There is no unique scaled mark corresponding to a given HSC mark.
The scaling report showed Music 2 (87), Mathematics Extension 2 (86) and Dance (84) had the three highest median HSC marks, except for foreign language subjects.
After scaling, the subjects which had the highest median scores were Mathematics Extension 2 (45.8), Latin Extension (43.3) and Latin Continuers (42.6).
Students have until midnight Friday to finalised their course preferences, which may have changed after receiving their ATARs.
According to the UAC, 53,919 NSW students accessed their ATAR on Thursday morning and 6434 had already changed their preferences for university study.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
