The highest ATAR you can get is 99.95.

What the ATAR actually is

  • The ATAR is a rank , not a mark out of 100, and it runs from 0.00 up to a maximum of 99.95.
  • An ATAR of 99.95 means you are ranked above 99.95% of the Year 12 age cohort in your state or territory.

So why not 100?

  • The system is designed as a percentile-style ranking, so the scale stops at 99.95 instead of 100 to reflect statistical rounding and how the cohort is distributed.
  • In practice, 99.95 is treated as the perfect ATAR by schools and universities.

How rare is 99.95?

  • In recent years, only a very small group of students in each state achieve 99.95 each year (for example, a few dozen in NSW/ACT or Victoria).
  • Most students sit somewhere around a state average near 70, with only a small percentage in the 95–99.95 band.

Quick HTML table

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>ATAR</th>
      <th>Meaning</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>99.95</td>
      <td>Top 0.05% of cohort [web:3][web:5]</td>
      <td>Highest possible ATAR; often called a “perfect” ATAR [web:1][web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>99.00+</td>
      <td>Top 1% of cohort [web:5]</td>
      <td>Typical cut-off region for the most competitive courses [web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>~70.00</td>
      <td>Around cohort average (varies by state) [web:3][web:7]</td>
      <td>Many students fall near this range [web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR: If you’re wondering “what is the highest ATAR you can get” , the absolute cap is 99.95 , and that’s effectively the “perfect” score in the Australian system.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.