Unit scores → course scores → AST-scaled aggregate → estimated ATAR range
Approximate values based on historical BSSS scaling patterns. Actual scaled scores depend on your school's AST cohort performance and are not published by BSSS. Scaling is recalculated every year.
Cut-offs are indicative and change annually. Always verify at uac.edu.au.
Estimates only. Actual ATARs are calculated by UAC using cohort-specific AST scaling that changes each year. Scaled scores depend on your school's AST results and are not published. Not affiliated with BSSS, UAC, or any ACT school. For official information, visit bsss.act.edu.au and uac.edu.au.
The BSSS ATAR is calculated by UAC using your unit scores (0–130) from each T-course. These are combined into a course score, scaled using AST (ACT Scaling Test) cohort data, then summed as your best 3 major course scores plus 0.6 of your next best course to form an aggregate. That aggregate is converted to an ATAR between 30.00 and 99.95. Because the exact AST scaling factor changes every year and isn't published, this calculator — and any calculator like it — can only ever give an estimate, which is why results are shown as a range.
Our free BSSS ATAR Calculator helps ACT Year 12 students estimate their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. Enter your unit scores for each T-course major and minor, and the calculator computes your course scores, applies approximate AST scaling, and produces your aggregate and an estimated ATAR range — all in real time.
The ACT ATAR is calculated by UAC (Universities Admissions Centre) and is aligned to the NSW scale. Here is the complete process:
The AST (ACT Scaling Test) is a standardised assessment held in Year 12 Term 3. It does not appear as a mark in your ATAR — instead, BSSS uses aggregate AST results from your school's scaling group to moderate course scores, so results are comparable regardless of which school you attended. A stronger AST performance from your cohort tends to lift scaled scores school-wide; a weaker one may moderate them.
BSSS and UAC do not publish the exact AST scaling factor applied to each course each year — it is recalculated annually from that year's cohort data. This calculator uses historical scaling patterns to approximate that process, and always presents your result as a range (typically ±2.5 ATAR points around the best estimate) rather than a single overly precise figure, since that range more honestly reflects the real uncertainty involved.
| Estimated ATAR | Approx. Aggregate |
|---|---|
| 99.95 | ~380+ |
| 99.00 | ~335 |
| 95.00 | ~305 |
| 90.00 | ~278 |
| 85.00 | ~257 |
| 80.00 | ~238 |
| 70.00 | ~203 |
| 60.00 | ~172 |
The ACT ATAR is calculated by UAC, aligned to the NSW scale. BSSS records a unit score (0–130) for each semester of a T-course, combines these into a course score, then scales that course score using AST cohort data. Your aggregate equals the best 3 scaled major course scores plus 0.6 of your next best course. UAC ranks all ACT aggregates to produce an ATAR from 30.00 to 99.95.
A major is 4 units of a T-course (~200 hours). A minor is 2 units (~100 hours). Only majors can occupy the top-3 contributing positions (100% weight). A minor or 4th major contributes at 0.6 weight as the final aggregate component.
The AST is used to scale course scores across schools. A strong AST performance from your school cohort lifts everyone's scaled scores; a weaker one may moderate them. The AST itself doesn't appear directly in your aggregate — it's a moderation tool, not a graded subject.
Based on historical patterns, Specialist Methods (double Maths) and Mathematical Methods scale highest, followed by Physics, Chemistry, Classical Studies, and English/Literature. Scaling changes yearly based on cohort performance, so exact rankings shift slightly each year.
Indicative 2026 ANU cut-offs: Medicine 99.00+, Law 96.00+, Commerce/Economics 88.00+, Engineering 85.00+, and Computer Science 82.00+. Always confirm current cut-offs directly with ANU or UAC, since they move year to year.