An analysis on how your fifth subject will affect your ATAR

[keltingmeith]

So, this is a question that I feel gets asked a lot, so I decided to actually sit down and do some number crunching for everyone. The point of this thread is to look at what ATAR you would get if you scored low vs. if you scored high in your fifth subject. You can expect similar differences with a sixth subject, so I'm not going to do the maths for that one. However, before we can talk about how the fifth subject works, we need to discuss how the ATAR is calculated.


We all know that ATARs have something to do with study scores, but the truth is that they kind of don't. The higher your study scores, the higher your ATAR, but there's no simple formula that lets you go from your study score to your ATAR. Instead, your study scores are used to calculate what's called an "aggregate", and that "aggregate" is then compared to other students to determine what your ATAR is. This means that if you got all 30 study scores one year, that could get you a different ATAR the next year. So first, how do you calculate your aggregate? That's actually very simple:



In the above, "SS₁" refers to your highest study score, "SS₂" refers to your second highest study score, and so on and so forth. Only 6 subjects can count towards your ATAR, which is why the formula stops at "SS₆". If you only have 4 subjects, you just use 0 as your fifth and sixth study scores, and if you only have 5 subjects, you just use 0 as your sixth subject. You must do at least 4 subjects to get an ATAR. Note that all of these scores are the scaled study scores. Your raw scores are NOT used to calculate your aggregate.

The most important bit about the formula above is that 0.1 that appears in front of your fifth and sixth subjects. This is why you'll often hear the top four subjects referred to as your "primary 4" - because the fifth and sixth subjects count for only a tenth as much in calculating your aggregate. There is one caveat to everything I've said so far, however - your English subject HAS to be included in your primary 4. This means that if you did methods (34), chemistry (32), physics (41), English (25), and legal studies (36), even though English is your lowest score, it HAS to be counted, so your aggregate would actually be calculated pretending chemistry is your fifth subject, and your aggregate would be:



Instead of:



Which, yes, kinda sucks. But it is what it is. So, how does this aggregate affect your ATAR? Well, it depends on how everyone else in your year level did. In 2019, an aggregate of 150 got you an ATAR of 86.80 - but in 2018, you'd instead have an ATAR of 85.65. Since you can't predict what exact study scores you need to get the ATAR you want, it's then important to just think of VCE as trying to get your aggregate as high as possible - and to do that, you need to get as high as possible in all your subjects, but especially in English.

Note, there are some other restrictions to the primary 4 and your fifth and sixth subjects (referred to as "increment subjects"). Only 3 subjects in the same study area can be used in calculation of your aggregate, and only 2 of those subjects can count to your primary 4. You can find the list of subject groupings here, on the VTAC website.


Alright, so now that we understand how this works, the following table is a list of what your ATAR would be WITHOUT a fifth subject, then what your ATAR would be WITH that fifth subject for a few different study scores (I've selected 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50, to be in-line with the scaling report). These are listed along the top. On the left is your average primary 4 scaled study score. So a score of full 30s would mean that all your subjects would be, after scaling, 30. You can calculate this using the AN ATAR calculator. For example, let's say that the four subjects I did were English (37), methods (26), legal studies (48), and chemistry (31), and the scores I just listed are the raw scores I expect to get. This would correspond to an average primary 4 scaled study score of:



Note that the numbers entered are the scaled study scores, as according to the AN ATAR calculator, available here: https://vce.atarcalc.com/#{"increment":0,"score[12]":37,"score[64]":26,"score[6]":31,"score[27]":48} (note that this link isn't clickable because of the way the forum code works on AN. Admins, would love if you could make it so square brackets can work in links that would be great lol or remove the square brackets from the calculator links)

The ATARs shown are based on the aggregate-to-ATAR conversions in 2019. Do not take this list as gospel, as the changes will vary from year-to-year. If AN is interested in doing this in future years and I'm not around, I may be willing to share my spreadsheet that did this to the community and explain how it works. But that would require making my code look pretty, so we'll worry about that not today For interest, I've done a table for 2019 AND 2018. If these tables scare you or you're unsure how to read them, make sure to read MY PERSONAL interpretation of them at the bottom. This will answer the question of, "how much does my 5th subject matter?"

Table for 2019 Aggregates

AP4SSS/SS5	No 5th Subject	Study score of 20	Study score of 25	Study score of 30	Study score of 35	Study score of 40	Study score of 45	Study score of 50
20	36.55	37.95	38.30	38.70	39.05	39.40	39.80	40.20
20.1	36.80	38.25	38.60	39.00	39.35	39.75	40.10	40.45
20.2	37.05	38.55	38.90	39.25	39.70	40.05	40.40	40.80
20.3	37.35	38.80	39.20	39.60	39.95	40.35	40.70	41.15
20.4	37.70	39.15	39.50	39.90	40.25	40.65	41.05	41.45
20.5	37.95	39.40	39.80	40.20	40.55	41.00	41.35	41.65
20.6	38.25	39.75	40.10	40.45	40.90	41.25	41.60	41.95
20.7	38.55	40.05	40.40	40.80	41.20	41.55	41.85	42.25
20.8	38.80	40.35	40.70	41.15	41.50	41.80	42.15	42.60
20.9	39.15	40.65	41.05	41.45	41.75	42.10	42.50	42.85
21	39.40	41.00	41.35	41.65	42.00	42.40	42.80	43.20
21.1	39.75	41.25	41.60	41.95	42.35	42.70	43.15	43.50
21.2	40.05	41.55	41.85	42.25	42.65	43.05	43.40	43.80
21.3	40.35	41.80	42.15	42.60	42.95	43.35	43.75	44.10
21.4	40.65	42.10	42.50	42.85	43.25	43.65	44.05	44.45
21.5	41.00	42.40	42.80	43.20	43.55	43.95	44.35	44.70
21.6	41.25	42.70	43.15	43.50	43.90	44.30	44.65	45.00
21.7	41.55	43.05	43.40	43.80	44.15	44.55	44.90	45.35
21.8	41.80	43.35	43.75	44.10	44.50	44.85	45.25	45.65
21.9	42.10	43.65	44.05	44.45	44.80	45.15	45.55	45.90
22	42.40	43.95	44.35	44.70	45.05	45.45	45.85	46.25
22.1	42.70	44.30	44.65	45.00	45.40	45.80	46.15	46.50
22.2	43.05	44.55	44.90	45.35	45.70	46.10	46.45	46.85
22.3	43.35	44.85	45.25	45.65	46.00	46.35	46.75	47.15
22.4	43.65	45.15	45.55	45.90	46.30	46.65	47.05	47.45
22.5	43.95	45.45	45.85	46.25	46.60	47.00	47.40	47.75
22.6	44.30	45.80	46.15	46.50	46.90	47.30	47.65	48.05
22.7	44.55	46.10	46.45	46.85	47.25	47.60	47.95	48.40
22.8	44.85	46.35	46.75	47.15	47.55	47.90	48.30	48.70
22.9	45.15	46.65	47.05	47.45	47.80	48.25	48.65	49.00
23	45.45	47.00	47.40	47.75	48.10	48.55	48.95	49.30
23.1	45.80	47.30	47.65	48.05	48.50	48.85	49.20	49.60
23.2	46.10	47.60	47.95	48.40	48.80	49.15	49.55	49.95
23.3	46.35	47.90	48.30	48.70	49.05	49.45	49.85	50.25
23.4	46.65	48.25	48.65	49.00	49.40	49.80	50.20	50.60
23.5	47.00	48.55	48.95	49.30	49.70	50.10	50.50	50.90
23.6	47.30	48.85	49.20	49.60	50.05	50.40	50.85	51.20
23.7	47.60	49.15	49.55	49.95	50.35	50.75	51.15	51.55
23.8	47.90	49.45	49.85	50.25	50.65	51.05	51.45	51.90
23.9	48.25	49.80	50.20	50.60	50.95	51.35	51.85	52.20
24	48.55	50.10	50.50	50.90	51.30	51.75	52.15	52.55
24.1	48.85	50.40	50.85	51.20	51.65	52.05	52.45	52.85
24.2	49.15	50.75	51.15	51.55	52.00	52.40	52.80	53.20
24.3	49.45	51.05	51.45	51.90	52.30	52.70	53.10	53.50
24.4	49.80	51.35	51.85	52.20	52.65	53.00	53.40	53.85
24.5	50.10	51.75	52.15	52.55	52.95	53.35	53.75	54.15
24.6	50.40	52.05	52.45	52.85	53.25	53.65	54.05	54.50
24.7	50.75	52.40	52.80	53.20	53.60	54.00	54.40	54.80
24.8	51.05	52.70	53.10	53.50	53.90	54.30	54.75	55.15
24.9	51.35	53.00	53.40	53.85	54.20	54.65	55.05	55.50
25	51.75	53.35	53.75	54.15	54.55	55.00	55.40	55.80
25.1	52.05	53.65	54.05	54.50	54.90	55.30	55.70	56.20
25.2	52.40	54.00	54.40	54.80	55.25	55.65	56.10	56.50
25.3	52.70	54.30	54.75	55.15	55.60	56.00	56.40	56.80
25.4	53.00	54.65	55.05	55.50	55.90	56.35	56.70	57.10
25.5	53.35	55.00	55.40	55.80	56.25	56.65	57.05	57.40
25.6	53.65	55.30	55.70	56.20	56.55	56.95	57.35	57.75
25.7	54.00	55.65	56.10	56.50	56.85	57.25	57.65	58.05
25.8	54.30	56.00	56.40	56.80	57.20	57.55	57.95	58.35
25.9	54.65	56.35	56.70	57.10	57.50	57.85	58.25	58.60
26	55.00	56.65	57.05	57.40	57.80	58.20	58.55	58.90
26.1	55.30	56.95	57.35	57.75	58.10	58.50	58.85	59.20
26.2	55.65	57.25	57.65	58.05	58.40	58.80	59.15	59.55
26.3	56.00	57.55	57.95	58.35	58.70	59.05	59.45	59.85
26.4	56.35	57.85	58.25	58.60	59.00	59.35	59.80	60.15
26.5	56.65	58.20	58.55	58.90	59.30	59.70	60.10	60.50
26.6	56.95	58.50	58.85	59.20	59.60	60.00	60.40	60.80
26.7	57.25	58.80	59.15	59.55	59.95	60.30	60.75	61.15
26.8	57.55	59.05	59.45	59.85	60.25	60.65	61.05	61.40
26.9	57.85	59.35	59.80	60.15	60.60	61.00	61.35	61.70
27	58.20	59.70	60.10	60.50	60.90	61.25	61.65	62.00
27.1	58.50	60.00	60.40	60.80	61.20	61.60	61.95	62.35
27.2	58.80	60.30	60.75	61.15	61.50	61.85	62.25	62.65
27.3	59.05	60.65	61.05	61.40	61.80	62.20	62.60	63.00
27.4	59.35	61.00	61.35	61.70	62.10	62.50	62.90	63.30
27.5	59.70	61.25	61.65	62.00	62.45	62.85	63.20	63.65
27.6	60.00	61.60	61.95	62.35	62.75	63.10	63.55	63.95
27.7	60.30	61.85	62.25	62.65	63.05	63.45	63.85	64.30
27.8	60.65	62.20	62.60	63.00	63.35	63.80	64.20	64.60
27.9	61.00	62.50	62.90	63.30	63.70	64.10	64.50	64.95
28	61.25	62.85	63.20	63.65	64.05	64.45	64.85	65.25
28.1	61.60	63.10	63.55	63.95	64.35	64.80	65.20	65.55
28.2	61.85	63.45	63.85	64.30	64.70	65.10	65.50	65.85
28.3	62.20	63.80	64.20	64.60	65.05	65.40	65.80	66.20
28.4	62.50	64.10	64.50	64.95	65.35	65.75	66.10	66.45
28.5	62.85	64.45	64.85	65.25	65.65	66.00	66.40	66.75
28.6	63.10	64.80	65.20	65.55	65.95	66.35	66.70	67.10
28.7	63.45	65.10	65.50	65.85	66.25	66.60	67.00	67.40
28.8	63.80	65.40	65.80	66.20	66.55	66.95	67.35	67.70
28.9	64.10	65.75	66.10	66.45	66.85	67.25	67.60	67.95
29	64.45	66.00	66.40	66.75	67.15	67.55	67.90	68.25
29.1	64.80	66.35	66.70	67.10	67.50	67.80	68.15	68.55
29.2	65.10	66.60	67.00	67.40	67.75	68.10	68.50	68.85
29.3	65.40	66.95	67.35	67.70	68.00	68.40	68.75	69.10
29.4	65.75	67.25	67.60	67.95	68.30	68.70	69.05	69.40
29.5	66.00	67.55	67.90	68.25	68.60	69.00	69.35	69.70
29.6	66.35	67.80	68.15	68.55	68.90	69.25	69.65	70.00
29.7	66.60	68.10	68.50	68.85	69.20	69.55	69.90	70.25
29.8	66.95	68.40	68.75	69.10	69.50	69.85	70.20	70.55
29.9	67.25	68.70	69.05	69.40	69.80	70.15	70.50	70.90
30	67.55	69.00	69.35	69.70	70.10	70.45	70.85	71.20
30.1	67.80	69.25	69.65	70.00	70.35	70.75	71.15	71.55
30.2	68.10	69.55	69.90	70.25	70.65	71.10	71.45	71.80
30.3	68.40	69.85	70.20	70.55	71.00	71.35	71.75	72.05
30.4	68.70	70.15	70.50	70.90	71.30	71.65	72.00	72.35
30.5	69.00	70.45	70.85	71.20	71.60	71.95	72.30	72.65
30.6	69.25	70.75	71.15	71.55	71.85	72.20	72.55	72.90
30.7	69.55	71.10	71.45	71.80	72.15	72.50	72.85	73.20
30.8	69.85	71.35	71.75	72.05	72.45	72.80	73.15	73.45
30.9	70.15	71.65	72.00	72.35	72.70	73.05	73.40	73.75
31	70.45	71.95	72.30	72.65	73.00	73.35	73.70	74.05
31.1	70.75	72.20	72.55	72.90	73.25	73.60	74.00	74.35
31.2	71.10	72.50	72.85	73.20	73.55	73.90	74.30	74.65
31.3	71.35	72.80	73.15	73.45	73.80	74.20	74.55	74.90
31.4	71.65	73.05	73.40	73.75	74.15	74.50	74.85	75.15
31.5	71.95	73.35	73.70	74.05	74.40	74.75	75.05	75.45
31.6	72.20	73.60	74.00	74.35	74.70	75.00	75.35	75.70
31.7	72.50	73.90	74.30	74.65	74.95	75.25	75.65	76.00
31.8	72.80	74.20	74.55	74.90	75.20	75.60	75.90	76.25
31.9	73.05	74.50	74.85	75.15	75.50	75.85	76.20	76.50
32	73.35	74.75	75.05	75.45	75.80	76.10	76.45	76.75
32.1	73.60	75.00	75.35	75.70	76.05	76.35	76.70	77.00
32.2	73.90	75.25	75.65	76.00	76.30	76.65	76.95	77.30
32.3	74.20	75.60	75.90	76.25	76.55	76.90	77.20	77.55
32.4	74.50	75.85	76.20	76.50	76.85	77.15	77.50	77.80
32.5	74.75	76.10	76.45	76.75	77.10	77.40	77.75	78.10
32.6	75.00	76.35	76.70	77.00	77.35	77.70	78.00	78.35
32.7	75.25	76.65	76.95	77.30	77.60	77.95	78.30	78.65
32.8	75.60	76.90	77.20	77.55	77.90	78.25	78.60	78.95
32.9	75.85	77.15	77.50	77.80	78.15	78.50	78.85	79.20
33	76.10	77.40	77.75	78.10	78.45	78.80	79.15	79.45
33.1	76.35	77.70	78.00	78.35	78.75	79.05	79.40	79.70
33.2	76.65	77.95	78.30	78.65	79.00	79.30	79.65	79.95
33.3	76.90	78.25	78.60	78.95	79.25	79.60	79.90	80.20
33.4	77.15	78.50	78.85	79.20	79.50	79.85	80.15	80.45
33.5	77.40	78.80	79.15	79.45	79.75	80.10	80.40	80.70
33.6	77.70	79.05	79.40	79.70	80.05	80.35	80.60	80.90
33.7	77.95	79.30	79.65	79.95	80.25	80.55	80.85	81.15
33.8	78.25	79.60	79.90	80.20	80.55	80.80	81.10	81.40
33.9	78.50	79.85	80.15	80.45	80.75	81.05	81.35	81.65
34	78.80	80.10	80.40	80.70	81.00	81.30	81.55	81.90
34.1	79.05	80.35	80.60	80.90	81.20	81.50	81.80	82.15
34.2	79.30	80.55	80.85	81.15	81.45	81.75	82.05	82.35
34.3	79.60	80.80	81.10	81.40	81.70	82.00	82.30	82.60
34.4	79.85	81.05	81.35	81.65	81.95	82.25	82.55	82.85
34.5	80.10	81.30	81.55	81.90	82.20	82.45	82.80	83.10
34.6	80.35	81.50	81.80	82.15	82.40	82.75	83.05	83.35
34.7	80.55	81.75	82.05	82.35	82.65	83.00	83.30	83.60
34.8	80.80	82.00	82.30	82.60	82.90	83.25	83.55	83.85
34.9	81.05	82.25	82.55	82.85	83.15	83.50	83.80	84.05
35	81.30	82.45	82.80	83.10	83.45	83.70	84.00	84.25
35.1	81.50	82.75	83.05	83.35	83.65	83.95	84.20	84.45
35.2	81.75	83.00	83.30	83.60	83.90	84.15	84.40	84.65
35.3	82.00	83.25	83.55	83.85	84.10	84.35	84.60	84.90
35.4	82.25	83.50	83.80	84.05	84.30	84.55	84.80	85.10
35.5	82.45	83.70	84.00	84.25	84.50	84.75	85.05	85.30
35.6	82.75	83.95	84.20	84.45	84.70	85.00	85.25	85.50
35.7	83.00	84.15	84.40	84.65	84.95	85.20	85.45	85.70
35.8	83.25	84.35	84.60	84.90	85.15	85.40	85.65	85.90
35.9	83.50	84.55	84.80	85.10	85.35	85.60	85.85	86.10
36	83.70	84.75	85.05	85.30	85.55	85.80	86.05	86.30
36.1	83.95	85.00	85.25	85.50	85.75	86.00	86.25	86.50
36.2	84.15	85.20	85.45	85.70	85.95	86.20	86.45	86.70
36.3	84.35	85.40	85.65	85.90	86.15	86.40	86.65	86.90
36.4	84.55	85.60	85.85	86.10	86.35	86.60	86.85	87.10
36.5	84.75	85.80	86.05	86.30	86.55	86.80	87.05	87.30
36.6	85.00	86.00	86.25	86.50	86.75	87.00	87.25	87.50
36.7	85.20	86.20	86.45	86.70	86.95	87.20	87.45	87.70
36.8	85.40	86.40	86.65	86.90	87.15	87.40	87.65	87.90
36.9	85.60	86.60	86.85	87.10	87.35	87.60	87.85	88.10
37	85.80	86.80	87.05	87.30	87.55	87.80	88.05	88.25
37.1	86.00	87.00	87.25	87.50	87.75	88.00	88.20	88.40
37.2	86.20	87.20	87.45	87.70	87.95	88.15	88.40	88.60
37.3	86.40	87.40	87.65	87.90	88.10	88.30	88.55	88.80
37.4	86.60	87.60	87.85	88.10	88.30	88.50	88.75	89.00
37.5	86.80	87.80	88.05	88.25	88.45	88.70	88.90	89.15
37.6	87.00	88.00	88.20	88.40	88.65	88.90	89.15	89.35
37.7	87.20	88.15	88.40	88.60	88.85	89.10	89.30	89.50
37.8	87.40	88.30	88.55	88.80	89.05	89.25	89.50	89.70
37.9	87.60	88.50	88.75	89.00	89.20	89.40	89.65	89.90
38	87.80	88.70	88.90	89.15	89.40	89.60	89.85	90.05
38.1	88.00	88.90	89.15	89.35	89.55	89.80	90.00	90.25
38.2	88.15	89.10	89.30	89.50	89.75	90.00	90.20	90.40
38.3	88.30	89.25	89.50	89.70	89.95	90.15	90.35	90.55
38.4	88.50	89.40	89.65	89.90	90.10	90.35	90.50	90.75
38.5	88.70	89.60	89.85	90.05	90.25	90.50	90.65	90.90
38.6	88.90	89.80	90.00	90.25	90.45	90.65	90.85	91.05
38.7	89.10	90.00	90.20	90.40	90.60	90.80	91.00	91.20
38.8	89.25	90.15	90.35	90.55	90.75	90.95	91.15	91.40
38.9	89.40	90.35	90.50	90.75	90.90	91.10	91.35	91.60
39	89.60	90.50	90.65	90.90	91.05	91.30	91.55	91.70
39.1	89.80	90.65	90.85	91.05	91.25	91.50	91.70	91.90
39.2	90.00	90.80	91.00	91.20	91.45	91.65	91.85	92.05
39.3	90.15	90.95	91.15	91.40	91.60	91.80	92.00	92.20
39.4	90.35	91.10	91.35	91.60	91.75	91.95	92.15	92.30
39.5	90.50	91.30	91.55	91.70	91.90	92.10	92.30	92.45
39.6	90.65	91.50	91.70	91.90	92.05	92.25	92.40	92.65
39.7	90.80	91.65	91.85	92.05	92.20	92.40	92.60	92.80
39.8	90.95	91.80	92.00	92.20	92.35	92.55	92.75	92.90
39.9	91.10	91.95	92.15	92.30	92.50	92.70	92.85	93.05
40	91.30	92.10	92.30	92.45	92.65	92.85	93.00	93.20
40.1	91.50	92.25	92.40	92.65	92.80	92.95	93.15	93.35
40.2	91.65	92.40	92.60	92.80	92.95	93.10	93.30	93.45
40.3	91.80	92.55	92.75	92.90	93.10	93.25	93.40	93.60
40.4	91.95	92.70	92.85	93.05	93.20	93.40	93.55	93.75
40.5	92.10	92.85	93.00	93.20	93.35	93.50	93.70	93.85
40.6	92.25	92.95	93.15	93.35	93.50	93.65	93.80	94.00
40.7	92.40	93.10	93.30	93.45	93.65	93.80	93.95	94.10
40.8	92.55	93.25	93.40	93.60	93.75	93.90	94.05	94.25
40.9	92.70	93.40	93.55	93.75	93.90	94.05	94.20	94.40
41	92.85	93.50	93.70	93.85	94.00	94.20	94.35	94.50
41.1	92.95	93.65	93.80	94.00	94.15	94.30	94.45	94.60
41.2	93.10	93.80	93.95	94.10	94.30	94.45	94.60	94.75
41.3	93.25	93.90	94.05	94.25	94.40	94.55	94.70	94.85
41.4	93.40	94.05	94.20	94.40	94.55	94.65	94.80	94.95
41.5	93.50	94.20	94.35	94.50	94.65	94.80	94.95	95.10
41.6	93.65	94.30	94.45	94.60	94.75	94.90	95.05	95.25
41.7	93.80	94.45	94.60	94.75	94.85	95.00	95.20	95.35
41.8	93.90	94.55	94.70	94.85	95.00	95.15	95.30	95.45
41.9	94.05	94.65	94.80	94.95	95.10	95.30	95.45	95.55
42	94.20	94.80	94.95	95.10	95.25	95.40	95.55	95.70
42.1	94.30	94.90	95.05	95.25	95.35	95.50	95.65	95.80
42.2	94.45	95.00	95.20	95.35	95.50	95.65	95.75	95.90
42.3	94.55	95.15	95.30	95.45	95.60	95.75	95.85	96.00
42.4	94.65	95.30	95.45	95.55	95.70	95.85	95.95	96.10
42.5	94.80	95.40	95.55	95.70	95.80	95.95	96.05	96.20
42.6	94.90	95.50	95.65	95.80	95.90	96.05	96.15	96.30
42.7	95.00	95.65	95.75	95.90	96.00	96.15	96.25	96.40
42.8	95.15	95.75	95.85	96.00	96.10	96.25	96.35	96.50
42.9	95.30	95.85	95.95	96.10	96.20	96.35	96.45	96.55
43	95.40	95.95	96.05	96.20	96.30	96.45	96.55	96.65
43.1	95.50	96.05	96.15	96.30	96.40	96.55	96.65	96.75
43.2	95.65	96.15	96.25	96.40	96.50	96.60	96.70	96.80
43.3	95.75	96.25	96.35	96.50	96.60	96.70	96.80	96.90
43.4	95.85	96.35	96.45	96.55	96.65	96.80	96.90	97.00
43.5	95.95	96.45	96.55	96.65	96.75	96.85	96.95	97.05
43.6	96.05	96.55	96.65	96.75	96.85	96.95	97.05	97.15
43.7	96.15	96.60	96.70	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.15	97.25
43.8	96.25	96.70	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.10	97.20	97.30
43.9	96.35	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.10	97.20	97.30	97.40
44	96.45	96.85	96.95	97.05	97.15	97.25	97.35	97.45
44.1	96.55	96.95	97.05	97.15	97.25	97.35	97.45	97.50
44.2	96.60	97.00	97.15	97.25	97.30	97.40	97.50	97.60
44.3	96.70	97.10	97.20	97.30	97.40	97.50	97.55	97.65
44.4	96.80	97.20	97.30	97.40	97.45	97.55	97.65	97.75
44.5	96.85	97.25	97.35	97.45	97.55	97.65	97.70	97.80
44.6	96.95	97.35	97.45	97.50	97.60	97.70	97.80	97.85
44.7	97.00	97.40	97.50	97.60	97.70	97.75	97.85	97.95
44.8	97.10	97.50	97.55	97.65	97.75	97.85	97.90	98.00
44.9	97.20	97.55	97.65	97.75	97.80	97.90	98.00	98.05
45	97.25	97.65	97.70	97.80	97.90	97.95	98.05	98.10
45.1	97.35	97.70	97.80	97.85	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.20
45.2	97.40	97.75	97.85	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.15	98.25
45.3	97.50	97.85	97.90	98.00	98.10	98.15	98.20	98.30
45.4	97.55	97.90	98.00	98.05	98.15	98.20	98.25	98.35
45.5	97.65	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.20	98.25	98.35	98.40
45.6	97.70	98.05	98.10	98.20	98.25	98.30	98.40	98.45
45.7	97.75	98.10	98.15	98.25	98.30	98.40	98.45	98.50
45.8	97.85	98.15	98.20	98.30	98.35	98.45	98.50	98.55
45.9	97.90	98.20	98.25	98.35	98.40	98.50	98.55	98.60
46	97.95	98.25	98.35	98.40	98.50	98.55	98.60	98.65
46.1	98.05	98.30	98.40	98.45	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.70
46.2	98.10	98.40	98.45	98.50	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75
46.3	98.15	98.45	98.50	98.55	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80
46.4	98.20	98.50	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.75	98.80	98.85
46.5	98.25	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.85	98.90
46.6	98.30	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90
46.7	98.40	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95
46.8	98.45	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00
46.9	98.50	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05
47	98.55	98.75	98.85	98.90	98.90	99.00	99.05	99.10
47.1	98.60	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.05	99.05	99.10
47.2	98.65	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15
47.3	98.70	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20
47.4	98.75	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.20
47.5	98.75	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.15	99.20	99.25
47.6	98.80	99.05	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.30
47.7	98.85	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.25	99.30
47.8	98.90	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.35
47.9	98.95	99.15	99.20	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.40
48	99.00	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.35	99.40
48.1	99.05	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45
48.2	99.05	99.25	99.25	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.45
48.3	99.10	99.25	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.40	99.45	99.50
48.4	99.15	99.30	99.30	99.40	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.55
48.5	99.15	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.50	99.55
48.6	99.20	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55
48.7	99.25	99.40	99.45	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60
48.8	99.25	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.55	99.60
48.9	99.30	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60
49	99.30	99.50	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65
49.1	99.35	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65
49.2	99.40	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70
49.3	99.40	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70
49.4	99.45	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75
49.5	99.50	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75
49.6	99.50	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75
49.7	99.55	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80
49.8	99.55	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.75	99.80
49.9	99.55	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80
50	99.60	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80
50.1	99.60	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85
50.2	99.65	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85
50.3	99.65	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.4	99.70	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.5	99.70	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.6	99.70	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90
50.7	99.75	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90
50.8	99.75	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90
50.9	99.75	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90
51	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.1	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.2	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.3	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95
51.4	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95
51.5	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95
51.6	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.7	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.8	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.9	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.1	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.2	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.3	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.4	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.5	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.1	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.2	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.3	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.4	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.5	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.1	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.2	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.3	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.4	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.5	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
55	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95

BTW, turns out AN has a character limit, see below for the continued post

[keltingmeith]

Table for 2018 Aggregates

AP4SSS/SS5	No 5th Subject	Study score of 20	Study score of 25	Study score of 30	Study score of 35	Study score of 40	Study score of 45	Study score of 50
20	36.55	37.95	38.30	38.70	39.05	39.40	39.80	40.20
20.1	36.80	38.25	38.60	39.00	39.35	39.75	40.10	40.45
20.2	37.05	38.55	38.90	39.25	39.70	40.05	40.40	40.80
20.3	37.35	38.80	39.20	39.60	39.95	40.35	40.70	41.15
20.4	37.70	39.15	39.50	39.90	40.25	40.65	41.05	41.45
20.5	37.95	39.40	39.80	40.20	40.55	41.00	41.35	41.65
20.6	38.25	39.75	40.10	40.45	40.90	41.25	41.60	41.95
20.7	38.55	40.05	40.40	40.80	41.20	41.55	41.85	42.25
20.8	38.80	40.35	40.70	41.15	41.50	41.80	42.15	42.60
20.9	39.15	40.65	41.05	41.45	41.75	42.10	42.50	42.85
21	39.40	41.00	41.35	41.65	42.00	42.40	42.80	43.20
21.1	39.75	41.25	41.60	41.95	42.35	42.70	43.15	43.50
21.2	40.05	41.55	41.85	42.25	42.65	43.05	43.40	43.80
21.3	40.35	41.80	42.15	42.60	42.95	43.35	43.75	44.10
21.4	40.65	42.10	42.50	42.85	43.25	43.65	44.05	44.45
21.5	41.00	42.40	42.80	43.20	43.55	43.95	44.35	44.70
21.6	41.25	42.70	43.15	43.50	43.90	44.30	44.65	45.00
21.7	41.55	43.05	43.40	43.80	44.15	44.55	44.90	45.35
21.8	41.80	43.35	43.75	44.10	44.50	44.85	45.25	45.65
21.9	42.10	43.65	44.05	44.45	44.80	45.15	45.55	45.90
22	42.40	43.95	44.35	44.70	45.05	45.45	45.85	46.25
22.1	42.70	44.30	44.65	45.00	45.40	45.80	46.15	46.50
22.2	43.05	44.55	44.90	45.35	45.70	46.10	46.45	46.85
22.3	43.35	44.85	45.25	45.65	46.00	46.35	46.75	47.15
22.4	43.65	45.15	45.55	45.90	46.30	46.65	47.05	47.45
22.5	43.95	45.45	45.85	46.25	46.60	47.00	47.40	47.75
22.6	44.30	45.80	46.15	46.50	46.90	47.30	47.65	48.05
22.7	44.55	46.10	46.45	46.85	47.25	47.60	47.95	48.40
22.8	44.85	46.35	46.75	47.15	47.55	47.90	48.30	48.70
22.9	45.15	46.65	47.05	47.45	47.80	48.25	48.65	49.00
23	45.45	47.00	47.40	47.75	48.10	48.55	48.95	49.30
23.1	45.80	47.30	47.65	48.05	48.50	48.85	49.20	49.60
23.2	46.10	47.60	47.95	48.40	48.80	49.15	49.55	49.95
23.3	46.35	47.90	48.30	48.70	49.05	49.45	49.85	50.25
23.4	46.65	48.25	48.65	49.00	49.40	49.80	50.20	50.60
23.5	47.00	48.55	48.95	49.30	49.70	50.10	50.50	50.90
23.6	47.30	48.85	49.20	49.60	50.05	50.40	50.85	51.20
23.7	47.60	49.15	49.55	49.95	50.35	50.75	51.15	51.55
23.8	47.90	49.45	49.85	50.25	50.65	51.05	51.45	51.90
23.9	48.25	49.80	50.20	50.60	50.95	51.35	51.85	52.20
24	48.55	50.10	50.50	50.90	51.30	51.75	52.15	52.55
24.1	48.85	50.40	50.85	51.20	51.65	52.05	52.45	52.85
24.2	49.15	50.75	51.15	51.55	52.00	52.40	52.80	53.20
24.3	49.45	51.05	51.45	51.90	52.30	52.70	53.10	53.50
24.4	49.80	51.35	51.85	52.20	52.65	53.00	53.40	53.85
24.5	50.10	51.75	52.15	52.55	52.95	53.35	53.75	54.15
24.6	50.40	52.05	52.45	52.85	53.25	53.65	54.05	54.50
24.7	50.75	52.40	52.80	53.20	53.60	54.00	54.40	54.80
24.8	51.05	52.70	53.10	53.50	53.90	54.30	54.75	55.15
24.9	51.35	53.00	53.40	53.85	54.20	54.65	55.05	55.50
25	51.75	53.35	53.75	54.15	54.55	55.00	55.40	55.80
25.1	52.05	53.65	54.05	54.50	54.90	55.30	55.70	56.20
25.2	52.40	54.00	54.40	54.80	55.25	55.65	56.10	56.50
25.3	52.70	54.30	54.75	55.15	55.60	56.00	56.40	56.80
25.4	53.00	54.65	55.05	55.50	55.90	56.35	56.70	57.10
25.5	53.35	55.00	55.40	55.80	56.25	56.65	57.05	57.40
25.6	53.65	55.30	55.70	56.20	56.55	56.95	57.35	57.75
25.7	54.00	55.65	56.10	56.50	56.85	57.25	57.65	58.05
25.8	54.30	56.00	56.40	56.80	57.20	57.55	57.95	58.35
25.9	54.65	56.35	56.70	57.10	57.50	57.85	58.25	58.60
26	55.00	56.65	57.05	57.40	57.80	58.20	58.55	58.90
26.1	55.30	56.95	57.35	57.75	58.10	58.50	58.85	59.20
26.2	55.65	57.25	57.65	58.05	58.40	58.80	59.15	59.55
26.3	56.00	57.55	57.95	58.35	58.70	59.05	59.45	59.85
26.4	56.35	57.85	58.25	58.60	59.00	59.35	59.80	60.15
26.5	56.65	58.20	58.55	58.90	59.30	59.70	60.10	60.50
26.6	56.95	58.50	58.85	59.20	59.60	60.00	60.40	60.80
26.7	57.25	58.80	59.15	59.55	59.95	60.30	60.75	61.15
26.8	57.55	59.05	59.45	59.85	60.25	60.65	61.05	61.40
26.9	57.85	59.35	59.80	60.15	60.60	61.00	61.35	61.70
27	58.20	59.70	60.10	60.50	60.90	61.25	61.65	62.00
27.1	58.50	60.00	60.40	60.80	61.20	61.60	61.95	62.35
27.2	58.80	60.30	60.75	61.15	61.50	61.85	62.25	62.65
27.3	59.05	60.65	61.05	61.40	61.80	62.20	62.60	63.00
27.4	59.35	61.00	61.35	61.70	62.10	62.50	62.90	63.30
27.5	59.70	61.25	61.65	62.00	62.45	62.85	63.20	63.65
27.6	60.00	61.60	61.95	62.35	62.75	63.10	63.55	63.95
27.7	60.30	61.85	62.25	62.65	63.05	63.45	63.85	64.30
27.8	60.65	62.20	62.60	63.00	63.35	63.80	64.20	64.60
27.9	61.00	62.50	62.90	63.30	63.70	64.10	64.50	64.95
28	61.25	62.85	63.20	63.65	64.05	64.45	64.85	65.25
28.1	61.60	63.10	63.55	63.95	64.35	64.80	65.20	65.55
28.2	61.85	63.45	63.85	64.30	64.70	65.10	65.50	65.85
28.3	62.20	63.80	64.20	64.60	65.05	65.40	65.80	66.20
28.4	62.50	64.10	64.50	64.95	65.35	65.75	66.10	66.45
28.5	62.85	64.45	64.85	65.25	65.65	66.00	66.40	66.75
28.6	63.10	64.80	65.20	65.55	65.95	66.35	66.70	67.10
28.7	63.45	65.10	65.50	65.85	66.25	66.60	67.00	67.40
28.8	63.80	65.40	65.80	66.20	66.55	66.95	67.35	67.70
28.9	64.10	65.75	66.10	66.45	66.85	67.25	67.60	67.95
29	64.45	66.00	66.40	66.75	67.15	67.55	67.90	68.25
29.1	64.80	66.35	66.70	67.10	67.50	67.80	68.15	68.55
29.2	65.10	66.60	67.00	67.40	67.75	68.10	68.50	68.85
29.3	65.40	66.95	67.35	67.70	68.00	68.40	68.75	69.10
29.4	65.75	67.25	67.60	67.95	68.30	68.70	69.05	69.40
29.5	66.00	67.55	67.90	68.25	68.60	69.00	69.35	69.70
29.6	66.35	67.80	68.15	68.55	68.90	69.25	69.65	70.00
29.7	66.60	68.10	68.50	68.85	69.20	69.55	69.90	70.25
29.8	66.95	68.40	68.75	69.10	69.50	69.85	70.20	70.55
29.9	67.25	68.70	69.05	69.40	69.80	70.15	70.50	70.90
30	67.55	69.00	69.35	69.70	70.10	70.45	70.85	71.20
30.1	67.80	69.25	69.65	70.00	70.35	70.75	71.15	71.55
30.2	68.10	69.55	69.90	70.25	70.65	71.10	71.45	71.80
30.3	68.40	69.85	70.20	70.55	71.00	71.35	71.75	72.05
30.4	68.70	70.15	70.50	70.90	71.30	71.65	72.00	72.35
30.5	69.00	70.45	70.85	71.20	71.60	71.95	72.30	72.65
30.6	69.25	70.75	71.15	71.55	71.85	72.20	72.55	72.90
30.7	69.55	71.10	71.45	71.80	72.15	72.50	72.85	73.20
30.8	69.85	71.35	71.75	72.05	72.45	72.80	73.15	73.45
30.9	70.15	71.65	72.00	72.35	72.70	73.05	73.40	73.75
31	70.45	71.95	72.30	72.65	73.00	73.35	73.70	74.05
31.1	70.75	72.20	72.55	72.90	73.25	73.60	74.00	74.35
31.2	71.10	72.50	72.85	73.20	73.55	73.90	74.30	74.65
31.3	71.35	72.80	73.15	73.45	73.80	74.20	74.55	74.90
31.4	71.65	73.05	73.40	73.75	74.15	74.50	74.85	75.15
31.5	71.95	73.35	73.70	74.05	74.40	74.75	75.05	75.45
31.6	72.20	73.60	74.00	74.35	74.70	75.00	75.35	75.70
31.7	72.50	73.90	74.30	74.65	74.95	75.25	75.65	76.00
31.8	72.80	74.20	74.55	74.90	75.20	75.60	75.90	76.25
31.9	73.05	74.50	74.85	75.15	75.50	75.85	76.20	76.50
32	73.35	74.75	75.05	75.45	75.80	76.10	76.45	76.75
32.1	73.60	75.00	75.35	75.70	76.05	76.35	76.70	77.00
32.2	73.90	75.25	75.65	76.00	76.30	76.65	76.95	77.30
32.3	74.20	75.60	75.90	76.25	76.55	76.90	77.20	77.55
32.4	74.50	75.85	76.20	76.50	76.85	77.15	77.50	77.80
32.5	74.75	76.10	76.45	76.75	77.10	77.40	77.75	78.10
32.6	75.00	76.35	76.70	77.00	77.35	77.70	78.00	78.35
32.7	75.25	76.65	76.95	77.30	77.60	77.95	78.30	78.65
32.8	75.60	76.90	77.20	77.55	77.90	78.25	78.60	78.95
32.9	75.85	77.15	77.50	77.80	78.15	78.50	78.85	79.20
33	76.10	77.40	77.75	78.10	78.45	78.80	79.15	79.45
33.1	76.35	77.70	78.00	78.35	78.75	79.05	79.40	79.70
33.2	76.65	77.95	78.30	78.65	79.00	79.30	79.65	79.95
33.3	76.90	78.25	78.60	78.95	79.25	79.60	79.90	80.20
33.4	77.15	78.50	78.85	79.20	79.50	79.85	80.15	80.45
33.5	77.40	78.80	79.15	79.45	79.75	80.10	80.40	80.70
33.6	77.70	79.05	79.40	79.70	80.05	80.35	80.60	80.90
33.7	77.95	79.30	79.65	79.95	80.25	80.55	80.85	81.15
33.8	78.25	79.60	79.90	80.20	80.55	80.80	81.10	81.40
33.9	78.50	79.85	80.15	80.45	80.75	81.05	81.35	81.65
34	78.80	80.10	80.40	80.70	81.00	81.30	81.55	81.90
34.1	79.05	80.35	80.60	80.90	81.20	81.50	81.80	82.15
34.2	79.30	80.55	80.85	81.15	81.45	81.75	82.05	82.35
34.3	79.60	80.80	81.10	81.40	81.70	82.00	82.30	82.60
34.4	79.85	81.05	81.35	81.65	81.95	82.25	82.55	82.85
34.5	80.10	81.30	81.55	81.90	82.20	82.45	82.80	83.10
34.6	80.35	81.50	81.80	82.15	82.40	82.75	83.05	83.35
34.7	80.55	81.75	82.05	82.35	82.65	83.00	83.30	83.60
34.8	80.80	82.00	82.30	82.60	82.90	83.25	83.55	83.85
34.9	81.05	82.25	82.55	82.85	83.15	83.50	83.80	84.05
35	81.30	82.45	82.80	83.10	83.45	83.70	84.00	84.25
35.1	81.50	82.75	83.05	83.35	83.65	83.95	84.20	84.45
35.2	81.75	83.00	83.30	83.60	83.90	84.15	84.40	84.65
35.3	82.00	83.25	83.55	83.85	84.10	84.35	84.60	84.90
35.4	82.25	83.50	83.80	84.05	84.30	84.55	84.80	85.10
35.5	82.45	83.70	84.00	84.25	84.50	84.75	85.05	85.30
35.6	82.75	83.95	84.20	84.45	84.70	85.00	85.25	85.50
35.7	83.00	84.15	84.40	84.65	84.95	85.20	85.45	85.70
35.8	83.25	84.35	84.60	84.90	85.15	85.40	85.65	85.90
35.9	83.50	84.55	84.80	85.10	85.35	85.60	85.85	86.10
36	83.70	84.75	85.05	85.30	85.55	85.80	86.05	86.30
36.1	83.95	85.00	85.25	85.50	85.75	86.00	86.25	86.50
36.2	84.15	85.20	85.45	85.70	85.95	86.20	86.45	86.70
36.3	84.35	85.40	85.65	85.90	86.15	86.40	86.65	86.90
36.4	84.55	85.60	85.85	86.10	86.35	86.60	86.85	87.10
36.5	84.75	85.80	86.05	86.30	86.55	86.80	87.05	87.30
36.6	85.00	86.00	86.25	86.50	86.75	87.00	87.25	87.50
36.7	85.20	86.20	86.45	86.70	86.95	87.20	87.45	87.70
36.8	85.40	86.40	86.65	86.90	87.15	87.40	87.65	87.90
36.9	85.60	86.60	86.85	87.10	87.35	87.60	87.85	88.10
37	85.80	86.80	87.05	87.30	87.55	87.80	88.05	88.25
37.1	86.00	87.00	87.25	87.50	87.75	88.00	88.20	88.40
37.2	86.20	87.20	87.45	87.70	87.95	88.15	88.40	88.60
37.3	86.40	87.40	87.65	87.90	88.10	88.30	88.55	88.80
37.4	86.60	87.60	87.85	88.10	88.30	88.50	88.75	89.00
37.5	86.80	87.80	88.05	88.25	88.45	88.70	88.90	89.15
37.6	87.00	88.00	88.20	88.40	88.65	88.90	89.15	89.35
37.7	87.20	88.15	88.40	88.60	88.85	89.10	89.30	89.50
37.8	87.40	88.30	88.55	88.80	89.05	89.25	89.50	89.70
37.9	87.60	88.50	88.75	89.00	89.20	89.40	89.65	89.90
38	87.80	88.70	88.90	89.15	89.40	89.60	89.85	90.05
38.1	88.00	88.90	89.15	89.35	89.55	89.80	90.00	90.25
38.2	88.15	89.10	89.30	89.50	89.75	90.00	90.20	90.40
38.3	88.30	89.25	89.50	89.70	89.95	90.15	90.35	90.55
38.4	88.50	89.40	89.65	89.90	90.10	90.35	90.50	90.75
38.5	88.70	89.60	89.85	90.05	90.25	90.50	90.65	90.90
38.6	88.90	89.80	90.00	90.25	90.45	90.65	90.85	91.05
38.7	89.10	90.00	90.20	90.40	90.60	90.80	91.00	91.20
38.8	89.25	90.15	90.35	90.55	90.75	90.95	91.15	91.40
38.9	89.40	90.35	90.50	90.75	90.90	91.10	91.35	91.60
39	89.60	90.50	90.65	90.90	91.05	91.30	91.55	91.70
39.1	89.80	90.65	90.85	91.05	91.25	91.50	91.70	91.90
39.2	90.00	90.80	91.00	91.20	91.45	91.65	91.85	92.05
39.3	90.15	90.95	91.15	91.40	91.60	91.80	92.00	92.20
39.4	90.35	91.10	91.35	91.60	91.75	91.95	92.15	92.30
39.5	90.50	91.30	91.55	91.70	91.90	92.10	92.30	92.45
39.6	90.65	91.50	91.70	91.90	92.05	92.25	92.40	92.65
39.7	90.80	91.65	91.85	92.05	92.20	92.40	92.60	92.80
39.8	90.95	91.80	92.00	92.20	92.35	92.55	92.75	92.90
39.9	91.10	91.95	92.15	92.30	92.50	92.70	92.85	93.05
40	91.30	92.10	92.30	92.45	92.65	92.85	93.00	93.20
40.1	91.50	92.25	92.40	92.65	92.80	92.95	93.15	93.35
40.2	91.65	92.40	92.60	92.80	92.95	93.10	93.30	93.45
40.3	91.80	92.55	92.75	92.90	93.10	93.25	93.40	93.60
40.4	91.95	92.70	92.85	93.05	93.20	93.40	93.55	93.75
40.5	92.10	92.85	93.00	93.20	93.35	93.50	93.70	93.85
40.6	92.25	92.95	93.15	93.35	93.50	93.65	93.80	94.00
40.7	92.40	93.10	93.30	93.45	93.65	93.80	93.95	94.10
40.8	92.55	93.25	93.40	93.60	93.75	93.90	94.05	94.25
40.9	92.70	93.40	93.55	93.75	93.90	94.05	94.20	94.40
41	92.85	93.50	93.70	93.85	94.00	94.20	94.35	94.50
41.1	92.95	93.65	93.80	94.00	94.15	94.30	94.45	94.60
41.2	93.10	93.80	93.95	94.10	94.30	94.45	94.60	94.75
41.3	93.25	93.90	94.05	94.25	94.40	94.55	94.70	94.85
41.4	93.40	94.05	94.20	94.40	94.55	94.65	94.80	94.95
41.5	93.50	94.20	94.35	94.50	94.65	94.80	94.95	95.10
41.6	93.65	94.30	94.45	94.60	94.75	94.90	95.05	95.25
41.7	93.80	94.45	94.60	94.75	94.85	95.00	95.20	95.35
41.8	93.90	94.55	94.70	94.85	95.00	95.15	95.30	95.45
41.9	94.05	94.65	94.80	94.95	95.10	95.30	95.45	95.55
42	94.20	94.80	94.95	95.10	95.25	95.40	95.55	95.70
42.1	94.30	94.90	95.05	95.25	95.35	95.50	95.65	95.80
42.2	94.45	95.00	95.20	95.35	95.50	95.65	95.75	95.90
42.3	94.55	95.15	95.30	95.45	95.60	95.75	95.85	96.00
42.4	94.65	95.30	95.45	95.55	95.70	95.85	95.95	96.10
42.5	94.80	95.40	95.55	95.70	95.80	95.95	96.05	96.20
42.6	94.90	95.50	95.65	95.80	95.90	96.05	96.15	96.30
42.7	95.00	95.65	95.75	95.90	96.00	96.15	96.25	96.40
42.8	95.15	95.75	95.85	96.00	96.10	96.25	96.35	96.50
42.9	95.30	95.85	95.95	96.10	96.20	96.35	96.45	96.55
43	95.40	95.95	96.05	96.20	96.30	96.45	96.55	96.65
43.1	95.50	96.05	96.15	96.30	96.40	96.55	96.65	96.75
43.2	95.65	96.15	96.25	96.40	96.50	96.60	96.70	96.80
43.3	95.75	96.25	96.35	96.50	96.60	96.70	96.80	96.90
43.4	95.85	96.35	96.45	96.55	96.65	96.80	96.90	97.00
43.5	95.95	96.45	96.55	96.65	96.75	96.85	96.95	97.05
43.6	96.05	96.55	96.65	96.75	96.85	96.95	97.05	97.15
43.7	96.15	96.60	96.70	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.15	97.25
43.8	96.25	96.70	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.10	97.20	97.30
43.9	96.35	96.80	96.90	97.00	97.10	97.20	97.30	97.40
44	96.45	96.85	96.95	97.05	97.15	97.25	97.35	97.45
44.1	96.55	96.95	97.05	97.15	97.25	97.35	97.45	97.50
44.2	96.60	97.00	97.15	97.25	97.30	97.40	97.50	97.60
44.3	96.70	97.10	97.20	97.30	97.40	97.50	97.55	97.65
44.4	96.80	97.20	97.30	97.40	97.45	97.55	97.65	97.75
44.5	96.85	97.25	97.35	97.45	97.55	97.65	97.70	97.80
44.6	96.95	97.35	97.45	97.50	97.60	97.70	97.80	97.85
44.7	97.00	97.40	97.50	97.60	97.70	97.75	97.85	97.95
44.8	97.10	97.50	97.55	97.65	97.75	97.85	97.90	98.00
44.9	97.20	97.55	97.65	97.75	97.80	97.90	98.00	98.05
45	97.25	97.65	97.70	97.80	97.90	97.95	98.05	98.10
45.1	97.35	97.70	97.80	97.85	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.20
45.2	97.40	97.75	97.85	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.15	98.25
45.3	97.50	97.85	97.90	98.00	98.10	98.15	98.20	98.30
45.4	97.55	97.90	98.00	98.05	98.15	98.20	98.25	98.35
45.5	97.65	97.95	98.05	98.10	98.20	98.25	98.35	98.40
45.6	97.70	98.05	98.10	98.20	98.25	98.30	98.40	98.45
45.7	97.75	98.10	98.15	98.25	98.30	98.40	98.45	98.50
45.8	97.85	98.15	98.20	98.30	98.35	98.45	98.50	98.55
45.9	97.90	98.20	98.25	98.35	98.40	98.50	98.55	98.60
46	97.95	98.25	98.35	98.40	98.50	98.55	98.60	98.65
46.1	98.05	98.30	98.40	98.45	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.70
46.2	98.10	98.40	98.45	98.50	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75
46.3	98.15	98.45	98.50	98.55	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80
46.4	98.20	98.50	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.75	98.80	98.85
46.5	98.25	98.55	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.85	98.90
46.6	98.30	98.60	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90
46.7	98.40	98.65	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95
46.8	98.45	98.70	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00
46.9	98.50	98.75	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05
47	98.55	98.75	98.85	98.90	98.90	99.00	99.05	99.10
47.1	98.60	98.80	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.05	99.05	99.10
47.2	98.65	98.85	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15
47.3	98.70	98.90	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20
47.4	98.75	98.95	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.20
47.5	98.75	99.00	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.15	99.20	99.25
47.6	98.80	99.05	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.30
47.7	98.85	99.05	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.25	99.30
47.8	98.90	99.10	99.15	99.20	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.35
47.9	98.95	99.15	99.20	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.40
48	99.00	99.15	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.35	99.40
48.1	99.05	99.20	99.25	99.30	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45
48.2	99.05	99.25	99.25	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.45
48.3	99.10	99.25	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.40	99.45	99.50
48.4	99.15	99.30	99.30	99.40	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.55
48.5	99.15	99.30	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.50	99.55
48.6	99.20	99.35	99.40	99.45	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55
48.7	99.25	99.40	99.45	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60
48.8	99.25	99.40	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.55	99.60
48.9	99.30	99.45	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60
49	99.30	99.50	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65
49.1	99.35	99.50	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65
49.2	99.40	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70
49.3	99.40	99.55	99.55	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70
49.4	99.45	99.55	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75
49.5	99.50	99.60	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75
49.6	99.50	99.60	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75
49.7	99.55	99.65	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80
49.8	99.55	99.65	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.75	99.80
49.9	99.55	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80
50	99.60	99.70	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80
50.1	99.60	99.70	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85
50.2	99.65	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85
50.3	99.65	99.75	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.4	99.70	99.75	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.5	99.70	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85
50.6	99.70	99.80	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90
50.7	99.75	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90
50.8	99.75	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90
50.9	99.75	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90
51	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.1	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.2	99.80	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90
51.3	99.85	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95
51.4	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95
51.5	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95
51.6	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.7	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.8	99.85	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
51.9	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52	99.90	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.1	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.2	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.3	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.4	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.5	99.90	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
52.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.1	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.2	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.3	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.4	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.5	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
53.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.1	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.2	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.3	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.4	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.5	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.6	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.7	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.8	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
54.9	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95
55	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95	99.95

Note that these tables are technically wrong in some spots, because your fifth subject must have a scaled score below your primary 4. However, if you just ignore those bits in the table, they're all correct. And if VCAA did calculate your ATAR wrong, those cells are technically correct, too


So, that was a lot of numbers, and big lists of numbers are scary. How does this affect you, individually? Well, let's look at some examples:

If you're really struggling, and you get a 20 scaled in all of your subjects, then in 2019 your ATAR would be 36.55 without a 5th subject, and at most 37.95 with one. That's a difference of only 1.4 points.

If you're the average student, and you get a 30 scaled in all of your subjects, then in 2019 your ATAR would be 67.55 without a 5th subject, and at most 69.7 with a 5th subject. That's a difference of only 2.15 points.

If you're an amazing student, and you get a 40 scaled in all of your subjects, then in 2019 your ATAR would be 91.20 without a 5th subject, and at most 92.85 with a 5th subject. That's a difference of only 1.65 points.

As you can see, the impact of the 5th subject is pretty low - and the more extreme your scores (the worse your scores are, or the better your scores are), the less impact that 5th subject will have. This means that if you're doing 5 subjects, and you accidentally did really, really, REALLY, badly in one of them, at most you will only lose probably around 3 points to your ATAR. That's it. Barely anything.

So why do a 5th subject? Well, let's say you're only doing 4 subjects. If you were on track to get a 40 scaled in all of them, then in 2019 your ATAR would be 91.20. That's great. But what if you did really badly on one of your exams, and all of a sudden you got 25 in one of them? Then, your ATAR would be 84.15. That's a MASSIVE difference. So, it's worth doing 5th subjects, so that you have the safety net of knowing if you mess up in 1, it will barely affect you.


If anyone has any questions (either based on what you're going through, or how I collected this data/calculated these tables, or anything else to do with 5th subjects in general) feel free to ask below

[S_R_K]

Thanks KM, an excellent post. A few thoughts on the lessons a student might take from the numbers.

1. Because of its minor impact upon ATAR, one could regard a 5th or 6th subject as just taking time / effort away from the primary 4. Hence, instead of regarding a 5th / 6th subject as a safety-net, a student could just put all their effort into their primary 4 to make sure they do as well as possible on those subjects that make the biggest contribution to the ATAR. There is obviously a trade-off of risks involved here, but I would need to be convinced that this is a bad strategy.

2. This is also very important for Year 10 (and perhaps Year 9 students) to consider, given the pressure to accelerate into VCE subjects. One could interpret these numbers as suggesting that accelerating just for the sake of having a 5th / 6th subject is unnecessary, and it might be better to build a solid foundation in Years 10 & Units 1&2 subjects before taking on Units 3&4.

3. If you are taking a 5th / 6th subject by accelerating into it, the main benefits aren't the extra 3 or 4 ATAR points. It's the opportunity of putting extra time / effort into that Units 3&4 subject, when your other subjects (Units 1&2) don't have as much at stake. The other possible benefit is that, by accelerating, you might then have a free block in your timetable in Year 12, giving you more time.

4. It's also important to consider non-score related reasons for taking a 5th / 6th subject. Your school might force you to take at least 5 or 6 subjects each year. Or your interests might push you into taking 5 / 6 subjects.

But, in general, I applaud the effort into introducing some objectivity into this, because all too often I see uncritical acceptance of the idea that doing 5th / 6th subject = higher ATAR, or accelerating into Units 3&4 in Year 11 = higher ATAR.

[The Cat In The Hat]

But, in general, I applaud the effort into introducing some objectivity into this, because all too often I see uncritical acceptance of the idea that doing 5th / 6th subject = higher ATAR, or accelerating into Units 3&4 in Year 11 = higher ATAR.

True; I, myself, think I could've done better in HHD if I'd not accelerated it. As it is, although I have extra time to devote to other subjects, I also have a terrible study score which I desperately hope is not in my top four. So, personally, I think acceleration ≠ higher ATAR, but perhaps lower; it probably depends on the person, though. It probably helped me to know how to approach year 12, I dunno. But I'm only doing four subjects this year, and planning not to use HHD as a safety net. Thus I have a little added pressure as I need to score highly in all subjects, SACs, etc., which definitely steps up the stress, without a safety net.

[Joseph41]

1. Because of its minor impact upon ATAR, one could regard a 5th or 6th subject as just taking time / effort away from the primary 4. Hence, instead of regarding a 5th / 6th subject as a safety-net, a student could just put all their effort into their primary 4 to make sure they do as well as possible on those subjects that make the biggest contribution to the ATAR. There is obviously a trade-off of risks involved here, but I would need to be convinced that this is a bad strategy.

IMO this is extremely risky, if for no other reason than the fact it's very difficult to accurately predict study scores (particularly given they're not based solely on your own performance, so it's difficult to say "I feel I'm doing better in Subject A than Subject B, so my study score in Subject A will be higher)".

For example, I was confident VCD was going to be my best subject in terms of study score, and it ended up being my worst. I don't think focusing more heavily on that subject at expense of others would have improved my ATAR - in fact, I think it would have reduced it.

[The Cat In The Hat]

IMO this is extremely risky, if for no other reason than the fact it's very difficult to accurately predict study scores (particularly given they're not based solely on your own performance, so it's difficult to say "I feel I'm doing better in Subject A than Subject B, so my study score in Subject A will be higher)".

For example, I was confident VCD was going to be my best subject in terms of study score, and it ended up being my worst. I don't think focusing more heavily on that subject at expense of others would have improved my ATAR - in fact, I think it would have reduced it.

Thus: balance is important, I guess?

[Orb]

From a strictly optimising and getting the best possible ATAR perspective, there should be no reason why students should study anything less than 6 subjects.

Even if you adopt the I need to spend all my time on my Primary 4 argument, you can still take up a subject like Maths Methods, do no study all year, get 0% on all your SACs, guess "B" for every multiple choice question on the exam 2 (which takes no inherent knowledge nor study to do, it's colouring circles) and still get a study score of at least 10 and closer to 15. That's a free 1-1.5+ onto your aggregate per subject and you've invested literally no effort into it - because every year there's a fair proportion of students who do not even do this.

You may have to turn up to class for that subject, but you could also feasibly just study your other subjects during that class. There's also SAC times but again you could hand in your paper earlier, etc

[ArtyDreams]

Thanks for this keltingmeith! It def helps to see the numbers rather than always hearing vague opinions about thid, and makes me feel a more relaxed!

I think I've done a good job equally balancing time to all my subjects, but this definetely keeps my mind at ease just in case something happens during exams!

[Sine]

There is definitely an argument to be made that if someone is not going for a super high ATAR (nor really wanting to fully maximise their ATAR),  5 subjects maybe useful (However, this increases the importance of each exam and having a bad day can severely impact you). Probably not too useful for ATAR Notes since the vast majority of vce students are aiming for really high ATARs.

Arbitrarily, let's assume that it is people wanting ATARs less than 90 as this ATAR can be achieved with an aggregate of less than 160 most years (i.e. 4 x scaled 40s or roughly 5 x scaled scores just above 39). If you go with 5 that gives you the chance to put more time into each subject but also the safety of the ability to "mess-up" one subject (note: less "safety" and more risk than doing 6 subjects). Although, as Orb suggests you can just do a 6th subject but do 0 study for it and still get 1-2 points.

The assumption made here though is that everyone will put the same amount of time/effort if they did 5 or 6 subjects which I don't really think will actually happen. I think with 5 some people may relax a bit more, pick up more extracurriculars, be less efficient and end up in a similar position to if they had done 6 subjects.

With 5 subjects you can maybe do 1-2 in Year 11 then 2-3 in Year 12. If you do well in your year 11 subjects then you have a little bit more room for error in year 12.

Personally, I still think 6+ subjects is what you need to do to fully optimise your ATAR. As suggested earlier by a few users, doing less than 6 is extremely risky and it is really hard to discern which subjects you think you will get your highest/lowest scores in. Often it is not what someone expects. Furthermore, none of this takes into account learning on its own rather only looking at learning as a tool to obtain a score/ATAR.

[The Cat In The Hat]

There is definitely an argument to be made that if someone is not going for a super high ATAR (nor really wanting to fully maximise their ATAR),  5 subjects maybe useful (However, this increases the importance of each exam and having a bad day can severely impact you). Probably not too useful for ATAR Notes since the vast majority of vce students are aiming for really high ATARs.

Arbitrarily, let's assume that it is people wanting ATARs less than 90 as this ATAR can be achieved with an aggregate of less than 160 most years (i.e. 4 x scaled 40s or roughly 5 x scaled scores just above 39). If you go with 5 that gives you the chance to put more time into each subject but also the safety of the ability to "mess-up" one subject (note: less "safety" and more risk than doing 6 subjects). Although, as Orb suggests you can just do a 6th subject but do 0 study for it and still get 1-2 points.

The assumption made here though is that everyone will put the same amount of time/effort if they did 5 or 6 subjects which I don't really think will actually happen. I think with 5 some people may relax a bit more, pick up more extracurriculars, be less efficient and end up in a similar position to if they had done 6 subjects.

With 5 subjects you can maybe do 1-2 in Year 11 then 2-3 in Year 12. If you do well in your year 11 subjects then you have a little bit more room for error in year 12.

Personally, I still think 6+ subjects is what you need to do to fully optimise your ATAR. As suggested earlier by a few users, doing less than 6 is extremely risky and it is really hard to discern which subjects you think you will get your highest/lowest scores in. Often it is not what someone expects. Furthermore, none of this takes into account learning on its own rather only looking at learning as a tool to obtain a score/ATAR.

Your point is very valid, however I myself did one subject accelerated, and was planning 5 in year 12. I dropped Chemistry part way through the year because whatever time I spent on it I couldn't seem to get it into my stupid head, and I was going to fail the SACs and have to repeatedly resit them - I had no SACs before I dropped it, but I know I would have failed. Which would not have helped morale. Only having 4 subjects this year means I can really focus on all of them. However, this is only what happened to me. I can see your point, tho'.

[whys]

From a strictly optimising and getting the best possible ATAR perspective, there should be no reason why students should study anything less than 6 subjects.

Personally, I still think 6+ subjects is what you need to do to fully optimise your ATAR. As suggested earlier by a few users, doing less than 6 is extremely risky and it is really hard to discern which subjects you think you will get your highest/lowest scores in. Often it is not what someone expects. Furthermore, none of this takes into account learning on its own rather only looking at learning as a tool to obtain a score/ATAR.

I definitely have to agree with both of the above statements. Especially if you are aiming for a high ATAR or to get into a competitive course. Many of those 97+ ATARs are achieved through 6+ subjects and I don't see why you should be doing any less apart from personal circumstances. Even if you are not aiming for one that high, your subjects act as a safety net. I can confidently say that if I had chosen to do 5 subjects then one of my low study scores that I achieved in year 11 would probably mean I wouldn't be able to get 99+ (assuming that I get what I predict for my other subjects). I of course expected to do much better than I did in that subject, but sometimes you stuff up and that's that. The fact that I'm doing 6 subjects allows me to bounce back easier than if I did 5 or 4 altogether. It's almost impossible to accurately predict how well you'll do in a subject because you never know what could happen so doing 6+ subjects allows for that uncertainty. Even if your bottom 2 subjects aren't that great, they still contribute to your aggregate and will boost your ATAR.

Similar to Sine and Orb, I speak from a perspective that aims to maximise ATAR - there are of course personal circumstances and reasons why in a particular situation you may choose to do less than 6 subjects. Otherwise, I also don't see why you should be doing any less than 6.

[keltingmeith]

Thanks for this keltingmeith! It def helps to see the numbers rather than always hearing vague opinions about thid, and makes me feel a more relaxed!

I think I've done a good job equally balancing time to all my subjects, but this definetely keeps my mind at ease just in case something happens during exams!

I mean, this was the main aim of my doing this (which was going to be really awkward if my own research didn't prove this ), so I'm glad someone feels more at ease

Thanks KM, an excellent post. A few thoughts on the lessons a student might take from the numbers.

1. Because of its minor impact upon ATAR, one could regard a 5th or 6th subject as just taking time / effort away from the primary 4. Hence, instead of regarding a 5th / 6th subject as a safety-net, a student could just put all their effort into their primary 4 to make sure they do as well as possible on those subjects that make the biggest contribution to the ATAR. There is obviously a trade-off of risks involved here, but I would need to be convinced that this is a bad strategy.

2. This is also very important for Year 10 (and perhaps Year 9 students) to consider, given the pressure to accelerate into VCE subjects. One could interpret these numbers as suggesting that accelerating just for the sake of having a 5th / 6th subject is unnecessary, and it might be better to build a solid foundation in Years 10 & Units 1&2 subjects before taking on Units 3&4.

3. If you are taking a 5th / 6th subject by accelerating into it, the main benefits aren't the extra 3 or 4 ATAR points. It's the opportunity of putting extra time / effort into that Units 3&4 subject, when your other subjects (Units 1&2) don't have as much at stake. The other possible benefit is that, by accelerating, you might then have a free block in your timetable in Year 12, giving you more time.

4. It's also important to consider non-score related reasons for taking a 5th / 6th subject. Your school might force you to take at least 5 or 6 subjects each year. Or your interests might push you into taking 5 / 6 subjects.

But, in general, I applaud the effort into introducing some objectivity into this, because all too often I see uncritical acceptance of the idea that doing 5th / 6th subject = higher ATAR, or accelerating into Units 3&4 in Year 11 = higher ATAR.

Always love your contributions, such well-thought out responses. My own opinions on the matter:

1. If you're looking at getting into the top courses that require a 99.95 - you won't get one if you don't do a 5th subject. In 2018 and 2019, an average score of 50 got you an ATAR of 99.60. With a fifth subject giving you ANOTHER 50, that number only went to 99.80. If you're aiming for the big bucks, you gotta be perfect (which I think was already well established), but if you don't have a subject scaling over 50, then you're not going to get a 99.95 without a sixth subject. With the sixth subject, you shouldn't need all 50s, which is also nice. There's a giant pressure alleviation just by having this fifth subject and sixth subject, but if you're aiming for something like med where you could actually need that 99 ATAR, then it's absolutely IMPERATIVE you have as many extra points as you can muster.

Maybe you're right that for middle-lower scoring students, you could just take the 4 subject route and not worry, but the amount of times I've seen students struggle to work hard with only 4 subjects (by their own admission - they all felt they had far too much time on their hands), I don't see why you wouldn't take the safety net.

2. There's definitely other reasons for accelerating, though. I accelerated for Japanese, and there's not a doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have done better if I waited another year. I was never going to do well in Japanese. But by accelerating it, I had a better understanding of what was expected of VCE when I got to all my year 12 subjects in the next year. And I think a similar idea should be pushed here - look, you may underperform if you accelerate, but the good news is a 6th subject isn't going to contribute much anyway. So why not accelerate that year, just to see what it's like, and what'll be expected of you to help you mentally prepare for the next year?

3/4. oops apparently we agree, don't mind me just gonna move past this point. Maybe I should read all points before commenting on individual ones

I do agree, though, that far too many people go "YOU MUST DO ALL SUBJECTS GRRR", which is true if you're aiming for a 99.95, which is what this community used to represent. However, I think it's important there's an acceptance for people that aren't aiming that high. For whatever reason, they want that 60-80 ATAR, and they're scared they won't get it. Maybe because they don't have the knowledge required, and it's too late to pick up their game and learn all the skills, because exams are coming up. Maybe they're incredibly bright and know everything, but they have personal circumstances that prevent them from doing well. The people who just had a bad day and all of a sudden, the 99.95-pushers have them feeling like they fucked up their entire year 12. This is the advice I push to them - your fifth subject won't matter as much, don't let the anxiety defeat you just because you've had one bad day, or didn't do as well in a subject as you thought you might have. I also struggle with this in the video gaming community, and can pull out some great analogies that way if you're interested

IMO this is extremely risky, if for no other reason than the fact it's very difficult to accurately predict study scores (particularly given they're not based solely on your own performance, so it's difficult to say "I feel I'm doing better in Subject A than Subject B, so my study score in Subject A will be higher)".

For example, I was confident VCD was going to be my best subject in terms of study score, and it ended up being my worst. I don't think focusing more heavily on that subject at expense of others would have improved my ATAR - in fact, I think it would have reduced it.

Super important to add - the score they used depends on you even less than you think. It's the scaled score that's used to determine your aggregate, and thus your ATAR. So even if you do better in A than B by raw score, if A is VCD, and B is specialist, you can bet B is probably going to be the subject that contributes ANYWAY.

From a strictly optimising and getting the best possible ATAR perspective, there should be no reason why students should study anything less than 6 subjects.

Even if you adopt the I need to spend all my time on my Primary 4 argument, you can still take up a subject like Maths Methods, do no study all year, get 0% on all your SACs, guess "B" for every multiple choice question on the exam 2 (which takes no inherent knowledge nor study to do, it's colouring circles) and still get a study score of at least 10 and closer to 15. That's a free 1-1.5+ onto your aggregate per subject and you've invested literally no effort into it - because every year there's a fair proportion of students who do not even do this.

You may have to turn up to class for that subject, but you could also feasibly just study your other subjects during that class. There's also SAC times but again you could hand in your paper earlier, etc

You have no idea how many times I recommend this to students on these very forums lol. Normally it's in response to people saying, "I don't want to do this subject but my school is making me why can't I just do nothing", to which I say, "well then do the subject but do nothing in it". People are very hesitant to that idea - even if they understand that it won't adversely affect them, they're still very against it for some reason.

There is definitely an argument to be made that if someone is not going for a super high ATAR (nor really wanting to fully maximise their ATAR),  5 subjects maybe useful (However, this increases the importance of each exam and having a bad day can severely impact you). Probably not too useful for ATAR Notes since the vast majority of vce students are aiming for really high ATARs.

Arbitrarily, let's assume that it is people wanting ATARs less than 90 as this ATAR can be achieved with an aggregate of less than 160 most years (i.e. 4 x scaled 40s or roughly 5 x scaled scores just above 39). If you go with 5 that gives you the chance to put more time into each subject but also the safety of the ability to "mess-up" one subject (note: less "safety" and more risk than doing 6 subjects). Although, as Orb suggests you can just do a 6th subject but do 0 study for it and still get 1-2 points.

The assumption made here though is that everyone will put the same amount of time/effort if they did 5 or 6 subjects which I don't really think will actually happen. I think with 5 some people may relax a bit more, pick up more extracurriculars, be less efficient and end up in a similar position to if they had done 6 subjects.

With 5 subjects you can maybe do 1-2 in Year 11 then 2-3 in Year 12. If you do well in your year 11 subjects then you have a little bit more room for error in year 12.

Personally, I still think 6+ subjects is what you need to do to fully optimise your ATAR. As suggested earlier by a few users, doing less than 6 is extremely risky and it is really hard to discern which subjects you think you will get your highest/lowest scores in. Often it is not what someone expects. Furthermore, none of this takes into account learning on its own rather only looking at learning as a tool to obtain a score/ATAR.

I'd agree entirely if the argument was for 5 subjects instead of 6 - for 6 subjects, I think it's a little overboard. Don't get me wrong - I will **always** recommend a student does 6 subjects instead of 5 if they can. At the end of the day, the ATAR is a pure numbers game, and every little bit helps. (hell, the clearly-ins literally mean, "this is the lowest ATAR we accepted last year", which means that SOMEBODY got in by the skin of their teeth each yeah for each course) However, I think it is normal to think that people will spread their time the same for each subject - PARTICULARLY when talking about people going for lower ATARs. Maybe it's just a difference in experience, but I constantly hear from people that the amount of time they spent on subjects when they did 5 subjects vs. 4 is the same, and even for myself - I studied 6 subjects in year 11, and 5 subjects in year 12, and felt the time I spent on each individual subject didn't actually change - I just had more rest time in year 12, which I used very dutifully after some intense days at school. This could also be a side-effect of the people we've hung around with, however, and the types of communities our schools tried to foster. (or in my case, failed to foster, heh)

I definitely have to agree with both of the above statements. Especially if you are aiming for a high ATAR or to get into a competitive course. Many of those 97+ ATARs are achieved through 6+ subjects and I don't see why you should be doing any less apart from personal circumstances. Even if you are not aiming for one that high, your subjects act as a safety net. I can confidently say that if I had chosen to do 5 subjects then one of my low study scores that I achieved in year 11 would probably mean I wouldn't be able to get 99+ (assuming that I get what I predict for my other subjects). I of course expected to do much better than I did in that subject, but sometimes you stuff up and that's that. The fact that I'm doing 6 subjects allows me to bounce back easier than if I did 5 or 4 altogether. It's almost impossible to accurately predict how well you'll do in a subject because you never know what could happen so doing 6+ subjects allows for that uncertainty. Even if your bottom 2 subjects aren't that great, they still contribute to your aggregate and will boost your ATAR.

Similar to Sine and Orb, I speak from a perspective that aims to maximise ATAR - there are of course personal circumstances and reasons why in a particular situation you may choose to do less than 6 subjects. Otherwise, I also don't see why you should be doing any less than 6.

I mean, see above for counter-points, but I'll guess I'll make one final point - the idea of this thread was not to discourage doing a fifth or sixth subject, even if that's how it's turned out to be. I made it to help people who were anxious about the fact that they were doing poorly in one subject, or had just accidentally failed a SAC - it's okay, your ATAR won't be too adversely affected. Yes, it will be lower than it would've been before, but not by much - and at worse, you're only looking at a couple of ATAR points down. If you're talking the difference between a 99 and a 97 - yeah, that's monstrous, and for things like the PhB and med, you're either not going to get it or in a much worse situation. But the difference between a 66 and a 68? There basically is none, you'll be fine.

[heids]

My non-objective feelings on this - though I feel I'm repeating other people's comments:

1. Yes, 1-3 ATAR points matters fairly little for the vast majority of students, but for people aiming in the 99+ bracket to get scholarships or highly competitive courses (e.g. med) you basically MUST do 5-6 subjects.  Had I been aiming for med, a 6th accelerated subject would have made a big difference in my score and competitiveness.

2. Part of the goal of accelerating is about performing better in your next year's subjects, as you learn a better understanding of how the system works and how you work.  It's more a practice run than an attempt to score the best you possibly can in that particular subject.

3. Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the time available to do it.  In other words, doing fewer subjects won't necessarily mean you score better or even work more on each subject - you're likely to spend more time procrastinating or on low-value busywork 'study'.  When you don't have that available time, you tend to use it better.  Obviously, this becomes less true the more subjects you add, as there comes a point where your load is genuinely too large for your available time.