Universities Admissions Centre (UAC)

1
Universities Admissions Centre (UAC)

• YEAR 10 PRESENTATION
• Choosing HSC courses facts myths

2
Overview

• HSC and beyond
• Focus on the Uni option
• ATAR facts and myths
• UAC Year 10 booklet
• Summary

3
Choosing your HSC courses . . .

• Its important to consider
• What you are good at
• What you are interested in
• What you think you might want to do when you
  leave school

4
Post school options

• University
• TAFE
• Other providers
• Work

5
What do you need?

• A checklist . . .
• for Uni, TAFE, other providers
• How do I get in?
• What HSC courses will be most useful?
• Can I transfer from one to the other?
• eg TAFE ? university
• University ? TAFE
• Work ? TAFE or university

6
Going to University

• There are many pathways but most involve the HSC
  
• For most courses selection is on the basis of the
  Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)

7
HSC facts

• There are 116 NSW HSC courses on offer.
• In 2008, 65,757 students completed at least one
  HSC course and 94 received a Higher School
  Certificate.
• To do the HSC you need to complete at least 12
  units in Year 11 and at least 10 units in Year
  12.
• English is compulsory.
• At least six units must be in courses examined by
  the Board of Studies.

8

• For your HSC you will receive two marks for each
  course
• School assessment based on school tests and
  essays etc
• Examination mark based on the HSC examination
• These marks indicate the standard you have
  reached in the course.

9
Your HSC marks

• provide information about how well you have
  achieved in EACH of the courses you have
  completed
• are reported against standards
• are provided by the Board of Studies.

10
ATAR facts

• Your ATAR
• provides information about how well you have
  performed OVERALL against other students
• allows you to be compared with other students who
  have completed different combinations of courses
• is a RANK, not a mark and
• is provided by UAC.

11
Calculating your ATAR

• To get an ATAR you need at least ten units of
  Board Developed courses these are HSC courses
  that are examined by the Board of Studies. Your
  teachers will tell you which courses do not
  count.
• Your ATAR is based on your best two units of
  English and the best eight units from your
  remaining courses.

12
Scaling

• Different HSC courses have very different groups
  of students studying them. To create an even
  playing field actual marks need to be adjusted
  before they are added. This is called scaling.
• What scaling does is to calculate what your mark
  and your position would be if all courses were
  studied by all students.

13

• Once your marks are scaled an aggregate mark is
  calculated using your best two units of English
  and the best eight of your remaining units.
• Aggregate marks lie between 0 and 500.
• Your position is then determined and your ATAR
  calculated.

14
What courses should you choose to get a good ATAR?

• Myths. . .
• Choose hard courses they will be scaled up.
• This may be true, but if you dont do well you
  are still likely to have a low scaled mark.
• Choose easy courses you will do better and the
  scaling wont matter.
• This may be true, but you may have to do really
  well to get a good mark.

15

• Dont choose a VET course you wont get a good
  ATAR.
• False it doesnt matter what course you do
  it is still possible to get a good ATAR. But
  remember that you can only include two units from
  Category B courses.
• Choose courses with a high percentage of students
  in Band 6.
• False the ATAR is based on the actual marks
  you get, and is not affected by the percentage of
  students in Band 6.

16
Still more questions

• Do I get a better ATAR if I study more than 10
  units?
• Not necessarily
• Does my school matter?
• NO!!!
• Does my postcode matter?
• NO!!!

17
Year 10 2012 Booklet
18
Important symbols

• P Course prerequisites
• SP Subject prerequisites
• A Assumed knowledge
• R Recommended studies
• N None

19
In summary . . .

• How do I get a good ATAR?
• Choose courses that
• - you are interested in,
• - you are good at,
• - will be useful/relevant for what you want to
  do.
• Work hard
• Have a life
• Ignore the ATAR and rumours about it

20

• Thank you for your attendance and your attention
• Use your Year 10 UAC Booklet to help you choose
  HSC courses.