Eavesdropping about ATAR !

Wasim El-Haj

As I peacefully devoured my grilled fish yesterday, my ears could not help but hone in on the conversation of two middle-aged ladies seated beside me in the food court. “His friend got an ATAR and it was 36%!” This comment was followed by some laughing. The woman telling the story repeated this statement, this time saying he got “37%” and adding “You want to laugh but don’t know what to say”, although she clearly had a lot to say during this chin wag.

Engineering was this poor soul’s ambition, it seems, but now he wont be able to get there. “He just chose hard subjects, physics and all that.” I just sat, staring at my fish, thinking about what this woman was saying and what it revealed.

The woman then turned her affections to telling a story about her own son and how he was in year 12 but not likely to achieve his own future ambitions. In her own words: “There’s only four months left [of year 12] – What’s he going to study?! GIRLS?!” I choked on a lettuce leaf at that point, almost giving away my inconspicuous presence in the conversation. There was respite at the end though, when the mother added “I just want him to be working and doing something afterwards, not doing nothing,” which I guess is what we all want for our youth, right?

The conversation is not an uncommon one, but I have a few issues with it:

1. The ATAR is not determinate of the person’s intelligence. A person can have a low ATAR for a number of reasons. It could be the school setting didn’t suit them, the teaching style of a subject did not sit well with them, something significant happened in that person’s life around the exam time…there are many reasons for an ATAR to be impacted.
2. A low ATAR does not mean your dreams are over and, in the case of the above conversation, that the person can’t study engineering. In many other countries, yes, the final school exam is the ultimate determinate for future study, but not here in Australia. We have many pathways to get to where we want, with patience and persistence. There are entry pathways to university, such as TAFE study leading to second year of university, university college courses (University of Wollongong College, Western Sydney University College, University of Technology Sydney Insearch) and pathways enabling courses, such as this one at the University of New England, which can be done online.
3. The ATAR is NOT a percentage! It is a rank. The R in ATAR stands for rank. We need to educate the public more about this important number and what it actually means.
4. A person should always have hope. Almost nothing is impossible. I’ve seen students doing very badly in subjects turn it around in the final few months through dedication and effort to achieve great results, while others have done poorly and then excelled at university.
5. The ATAR is not essential for success. Sure, it feels nice to say you had a high ATAR (or UAI or TER for the older readers), but it really doesn’t guarantee success. You need skills and initiative. Yesterday I saw someone who I taught in 2011 – a rebellious student at the time – who left school at the end of year 10 and is now managing a hairdressing salon quite successfully; We all have our gifts.

I often meet with youth stressed over results as if they are their ultimate goal. Learning is what we want. Growth is what we want. Success is what we want. If we are sincere about wanting these for our kids, then we must be educated parents and teachers, know the options available, and instead of a complete focus on results, shift to developing the person as a whole, with the skills needed for the career transitions we inevitably make.

For anyone wondering about the fate of the grilled fish, it was delicious. I know it’s not good to eavesdrop, but I can’t help the sound waves reaching my ears!