University entrance

The University of Tasmania operates Tasmania’s Tertiary Admissions Centre for university entrance. Under an agreement, TASC supports the calculation of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for eligible Tasmanian students and issues eligible students with an ATAR Statement at the end of their Year 12/13 school year.

An ATAR is one of many ways to enter university, with pathways available for students at and recently completing their school years, mature-age students and non-school leavers.

ATAR eligibility and calculation

The ATAR tells universities how a student’s overall academic achievement in senior secondary education compares with other students in the same year group.

The requirements to receive an ATAR in Tasmania are set by the University of Tasmania, as the Tertiary Admissions Centre for Tasmania.

Not all Year 12/13 school leavers will receive an ATAR, see Understanding the ATAR for information about ATAR eligibility including achieving the Tasmanian Certificate of Education and the number and level of courses you need to successfully complete.

2025 ATAR calculation change, the University of Tasmania made a minor change to the ATAR calculation process for 2025 onwards. See the following updated ATAR information materials which include the calculation change to remove the requirement for three of the results to be from the final year of study:

Understanding the ATAR student factsheet – how you achieve an ATAR
Focus on: TE Score and ATAR Calculation – how a TE Score and ATAR are calculated.

To understand how your results, which are used in TE Score and ATAR calculations, are determined, see:

Focus on: Course Scaling – how course scaling works, also see the scaling results for previous years at Scaled course data
Understanding Assessment student factsheet – how TASC Courses are assessed
Understanding Year 11-12 Ratings and Awards video – what are the TASC results documents, ratings and awards available.

Pathways to university

There are many pathways to university study. If you are a current senior secondary student and intend to go to university it is important to find out from the university what the entry requirements are for your preferred course(s).

Universities take into account a range of factors when making the decision about the school leavers they will offer places to. These include:

completion of prerequisite courses
performance in an audition, aptitude test or portfolio submission
previous qualifications and work experience
a minimum Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

For more information:

contact your preferred university for details on their various admissions programs, including their alternative entry pathways such as school recommendation programs and mature-age students and non-school leavers entry.
visit courseseeker.edu.au to search and compare thousands of higher education/university courses across Australia and see their admissions information in one place.

Applying for university admission

The University of Tasmania operates Tasmania’s Tertiary Admissions Centre. See the University of Tasmania’s website.

If you want to find out about applying for admission to an interstate university, contact the Tertiary Admissions Centre in the relevant state or territory. See:

VTAC – Victoria
UAC – NSW and ACT
QTAC – Queensland
SATAC – South Australia and NT
TISC – WA

A list of the Tertiary Admissions Centres in Australia is available from the Australian Government CourseSeeker website comparing university courses across Australia.

Converting a Tertiary Entrance Score to the ATAR

The Tertiary Entrance (TE) score you receive at the end of Year 12 will be used to determine your ATAR, if you are eligible to receive one.

Your TE score is a measure of your overall academic achievement in Years 11 and 12. Generally speaking, the higher your TE score, the higher your ATAR will be. However, the ATAR you receive will ultimately depend on how your TE Score compares with the TE Scores achieved by your peers. This is because the ATAR is a rank, not a mark. For more information, see Understanding the ATAR.

Detail on how TE Scores were converted to the ATAR each year is provided in conversion tables below:

Example: ATAR Statement

A sample ATAR Statement is provided to show the information included in an ATAR Statement, including a TE Score and ATAR and the courses and course results used to calculate these.

An ATAR Statement will be included with your Year 12 end-of-year results if you are eligible to receive an ATAR. See Understanding the ATAR for information on ATAR eligibility.