HSC ATAR, scaling & study tools (NSW, 2026)
The HSC is New South Wales’ senior certificate. Your ATAR is calculated by UAC from your scaled HSC marks — your best 2 units of English plus your best 8 units. These pages explain how that works and how each NSW course scaled, drawn straight from UAC’s scaling report.
- How the HSC ATAR is calculatedBest 10 units, why marks are scaled, the Maths extension rule, and eligibility — explained for NSW.
- HSC subject scaling 2026How NSW HSC courses scaled in 2025, ranked by scaled mark — with percentile tables where the cohort is large enough.
- Best- & worst-scaling HSC subjectsThe highest- and lowest-scaling NSW courses — and whether you should pick a subject for scaling.
- HSC exam timetable 2026Exam dates (13 Oct – 5 Nov), when results and the ATAR come out, and the full NESA timetable.
- HSC results & ATAR release 2026When your HSC results and NSW ATAR come out (both 16 December), and how to get them.
- What ATAR do you need for uni in NSW?How NSW ATAR cutoffs really work — selection rank vs ATAR — and where to find the numbers.
Other states: VCE (VIC) · QCE (QLD)
For New South Wales students. The HSC ATAR is computed by UAC from NESA results — a different system to the other states, so every figure here isNew South Wales-specific.