“ATAR” usually refers to the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank , which is a number between about 0.00 and 99.95 that ranks Australian Year 12 students against others in their age group for university entry.

Quick meaning

  • ATAR stands for Australian Tertiary Admission Rank.
  • It is a rank, not a score – it shows your position relative to other students, like a percentile.
  • An ATAR of 80, for example, means you are roughly in the top 20% of your age cohort, not that you “scored 80%”.

What ATAR is used for

  • Universities in Australia use ATAR to decide who gets offers into courses; more competitive courses usually need higher ATARs.
  • It is calculated from your Year 12 results (e.g. HSC/VCE/etc.), then scaled and converted into a single ranking number.

Other, less common meanings

  • In religious history, Atar can also mean the holy or sacred fire in Zoroastrianism, symbolising divine presence.

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