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Glossary
This page defines terms only; it makes no predictions. Figures this site cannot verify — your own intake's conversion curve, for instance — are deliberately left out. Items marked with a source can be checked on the issuing body's website.
The five subjects
| MAM Mathematics Methods | Mathematics Methods — calculus and statistics. Source: this site's Subjects page |
| HBY Human Biology | Human Biology. Source: this site's Subjects page |
| PHY Physics | Physics. Source: this site's Subjects page |
| ELD English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) | English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D). Not the same as the English ATAR course, which is for first-language speakers; the Past Papers page flags that distinction. Source: SCSA |
| CSC Computer Science | Computer Science. Source: this site's Subjects page |
| AUSMAT Australian Matriculation | Australian Matriculation: a pre-university programme taught in Malaysia that sits the Western Australian WACE / ATAR. This site documents one intake of it. Source: SCSA and general course knowledge |
Admissions
| ATAR Australian Tertiary Admission Rank | A rank between 0 and 99.95 — not a mark and not a percentage. It states your position within your cohort: an ATAR of 80 means you are in the top 20%. Universities admit on this number. Source: TISC, Tertiary Entrance Aggregate and ATAR |
| TEA Tertiary Entrance Aggregate | The aggregate: the scaled marks of your best four ATAR subjects, summed, plus any bonus that applies. TISC publishes a maximum of 430. The ATAR is derived from it, so the aggregate is an intermediate value, not the outcome. Source: TISC admission guides (the 2027–2029 editions all state the 430 maximum) |
| Scaling Scaled marks | Marks adjusted for course difficulty. The ATAR uses scaled marks, not the raw marks on a school report — so 80 in Mathematics and 80 in English do not contribute equally. This site's estimate uses one institution's curve for one intake; it is not the official conversion. Source: TISC documentation |
| AT course ATAR course | The course type that counts toward an ATAR. WACE also has General and Foundation courses, whose marks do not count toward an ATAR. This site records AT subjects only. Source: SCSA, WACE Manual |
| Mathematics bonus Mathematics bonus | Studying and examining in Mathematics Methods and/or Mathematics Specialist adds 10% of that subject's scaled score to the best-four aggregate — regardless of whether the subject is one of the best four. The same guide states the maximum TEA is 430. Source: TISC, Steps to uni for Year 12 students — stated identically in the 2027, 2028 and 2029 editions Note: A February 2024 news report said bonuses like this would be scrapped, and that report was widely repeated. TISC's own guides for 2027–2029 entry still state the bonus applies, so this site follows TISC's own wording. |
| WACE Western Australian Certificate of Education | The Western Australian Certificate of Education. Earning it and earning an ATAR are two separate things: graduation has its own credit and literacy/numeracy requirements (see OLNA). Source: SCSA |
| SCSA School Curriculum and Standards Authority | The Western Australian curriculum and standards authority: it writes the syllabuses, sets the external exams, and publishes marking keys and examiner reports. Every official paper linked from this site comes from its website, scsa.wa.edu.au (often mis-cited online as scsa.wa.gov.au, which does not exist).Source: SCSA |
| TISC Tertiary Institutions Service Centre | The body that calculates the ATAR and handles university applications and offers in Western Australia. The ATAR is issued by TISC, not by your school. Source: TISC |
| OLNA Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment | The literacy and numeracy assessment required to graduate with a WACE — separate from the ATAR. You need Level 3 in reading, writing and numeracy; resits are available. This site's timeline does not carry its dates; check with the school. Source: SCSA |
Assessment task abbreviations
| TT Topic Test | A staged test, usually covering one to a few chapters. Weighting varies by subject; it is the most frequent scored item during the semester. Source: Subject assessment outlines |
| EE Evaluation Exam | An evaluation exam held during the course, usually at the end of semester 1 or the start of semester 2. Not the same as FE, which comes at the end. Source: PHY and HBY assessment outlines |
| EA Evaluation & Analysis | Physics' evaluation-and-analysis task, weighted 12%. Source: PHY assessment outline |
| FE Final Evaluation / Final Examination | The final exam, usually covering the whole course (Units 3 and 4). Normally the heaviest single item in a subject. Source: Subject assessment outlines |
| ER Extended Response | A long-answer or essay-style task. Human Biology uses it to assess set chapters. Source: HBY assessment outline |
| Synthesis Combining sources, not summarising | Combining several sources into one piece, rather than summarising each in turn. It is part of EAL/D Section Two, and the examiner reports have flagged it as weak three years running: candidates summarise — one paragraph per source, with no connection between them. The passing move is to make the sources talk to each other: which supports which, where they conflict, and what the combination implies. Source: SCSA EAL/D examiner reports and examination design brief |
| COAT Common Oral Assessment Task | An oral task set by SCSA and administered by the school (ELD Task 3). You get five minutes to view an image and make notes, then a ten-minute interview; the recording goes to SCSA. Source: ELD assessment outline |
| Readiness task | A diagnostic test at the start of the course. The two recorded here are unweighted and serve to establish a baseline. Source: MAM assessment outline |
| Investigation | An investigation: you pose a question, research it and report. In Mathematics Methods it runs in two parts (plan, then in-class validation); in ELD it is an oral proposal (Part A) plus a written report (Part B). Source: MAM and ELD assessment outlines |
| ACCT Internal school assessment code (no published expansion) | An internal code the school uses in its calendar: a 60-minute test held alongside EE. Its full form is not published anywhere this site could find, and it is not invented here. Whether it counts toward your grade is for the school to confirm — the course materials record it as unconfirmed. Source: Course materials, where it appears as a code only |
| CAS Computer Algebra System | A calculator that does symbolic algebra, not just numbers: differentiation, integration, solving equations, simplification. The MAM external exam has two sections — Section One bans all calculators (50 minutes, 35%), Section Two allows a graphics/CAS calculator (100 minutes, 65%, two A4 sheets of handwritten notes permitted, formula sheet supplied). Where the mind map says “use CAS”, it means Section Two. Source: MAM course and assessment outline |
| Lab Assessment | Assessment of practical skills, drawn from the experiments done during the course. In Physics it has a practical component and a written one. Source: PHY and HBY assessment outlines |