How the WACE ATAR is calculated (WA, 2026)
In WA, your ATAR comes from your TEA — the sum of your best four scaled scores (each out of 100), plus a 10% bonus on your best language other than English (LOTE), Mathematics Methods and Mathematics Specialist scaled scores. TISC converts your TEA to an ATAR using its official TEA-to-ATAR table. Your marks are standardised and scaled first, so how your courses scale matters as much as the marks themselves.
What is the TEA and how is it built?
Your Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) is the sum of your best four acceptablescaled scores. Each ATAR course you sit is scaled by SCSA and TISC to a scaled score out of 100 (General and VET courses aren't scaled and don't feed the ATAR), and your four highest count — a maximum of 400 from courses alone. Some closely-related course pairs can't both count — for example Mathematics Applications with Mathematics Specialist (you can pair Applications with Methods, or Methods with Specialist, but not Applications with Specialist), and other overlapping pairs such as two similar sciences or EAL/D with English. Where a pair isn't acceptable TISC counts only the higher-scaling score, so it's your best four eligible scores — if you take similar courses, check TISC's full list of unacceptable combinations.
On top of that, WA adds a 10% bonus for your best language other than English (LOTE), and 10% each for Mathematics Methods and Mathematics Specialist. These bonuses apply even if the bonus course is not one of your best four, taking the maximum possible TEA to 430 under the current rules.
How does the TEA become an ATAR?
TISC ranks every WA student by TEA and publishes an official TEA-to-ATAR table each year that maps a minimum TEA to each ATAR. WA reports ATARs down to 30.00 only. Because the table is rebuilt against each year’s cohort, the same TEA can map to a slightly different ATAR from one year to the next. You can run the numbers yourself with our WACE ATAR calculator, which uses the official table.
Why are WA marks scaled?
A raw mark in one course isn’t directly comparable to the same mark in another, because courses attract different groups of students. WA standardises your combined marks and then scales each course so that the average scaled score across all courses is fixed at 60.
Courses taken by stronger overall cohorts tend to scale up; others scale down. Scaling reflects how you ranked within your course — it is not a conversion you can apply to an individual raw mark.
Is the 10% bonus changing?
There's no scheduled change. Removing the 10% LOTE, Mathematics Methods and Mathematics Specialist bonuses (and the 430 TEA maximum) was proposed for 2026 and then deferred — but in 2026 TISC postponed it until further notice, with no new date set while the WA government reviews senior-secondary and tertiary policy. The bonuses and the 430 maximum still apply. If TISC later sets a removal date, the maximum TEA would drop to 400 and WA would fall into line with the other states.
Are you eligible for an ATAR in WA?
To be assigned an ATAR you need at least four scaled ATAR-course results. WA’s English competency requirement is separate — you can still receive an ATAR without meeting it, but most universities require it for standard admission, so it’s an entry condition rather than an ATAR condition. Check your specific pattern of study, English competency and any course prerequisites with TISC.