Writer, broadcaster, musician and creative writing teacher Sian Prior has come a long way from her high school exams.
“Forty years ago my HSC clarinet exam nearly ended in tears when one of the pieces I’d planned to play wasn’t on the syllabus,” she says.
“I had to sight read a random piece. Been winging it professionally ever since.”
Australian students will start receiving their end of year exam results from next week, and many view the Atar as a life sentence.
But for generations of adults who’ve gone on to pursue their careers, the score has become meaningless – or even been forgotten – and some of Australia’s best and brightest say their high school marks had little bearing on their future success.
In recent years, comedian and host of Drag Race Down Under Rhys Nicholson and actor Christie Whelan have posted on social media about their mediocre scores.
“I did VERY badly and got a hugely low score and now I do a job that makes me very happy and at times ludicrous sums of money,” Nicholson posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“That number ain’t you bby.”
Whelan said she had a “shit” Atar.
“On the way into my literature exam I was asking my boyfriend what the book was about. Now I have a really respectable job and things worked out fine,” she wrote on X.
Happy ATAR results day! Congrats if you did well! ATAR is born!
— Rhys Nicholson (@rhysnicholson) December 16, 2021
But if you didn’t, just a reminder that I did VERY badly and got a hugely low score and now I do a job that makes me happy and at times ludicrous sums of money. That number ain’t you bby. Don’t stress about it hey. pic.twitter.com/FaK2Ka07Kx
Dr Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, a senior lecturer in educational assessment at Monash University says while Atar remains the dominant pathway to university, the share of students admitted on a non-Atar basis has grown from 15% in 2016 to 25% in the latest data.
About 60% of students solely use Atar to gain entry, and 14% use the rank in conjunction with other criteria such as exams, auditions and portfolios.
“We shouldn’t forget that there are many post-school career pathways too, including Tafe or different employment pathways that don’t require an Atar,” she says.
“Universities offer a range of pathway options that suit different circumstances. Students can enrol to various programs in or in related areas of their interest and transfer later into the first or second year of the course they wish to pursue, should their grades and circumstances allow.”
Even lecturers caution against putting too much stock in an Atar.
Dr Victoria Nagy, a Senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Tasmania says Atars are “meaningless in the greater scheme of things”.
“I certainly don’t care about the Atars of those I teach in higher education, but [I care about] their enthusiasm to study,” she says.
Narrelle Morris, now an associate professor at Curtin Law School, brought a pink-haired troll to every one of her year 12 exams as a good luck charm.
“My parents gave it to me for that purpose,” she says.
“On reflection, not sure what the thinking was there. Closest thing in Australia at the time to a leprechaun?”
Morris, who has gone on to teach legal research and writing after beginning her degree in a bachelor of languages, says students should aspire to simply attend university rather than worrying about getting into their dream course.
“With some exceptions, like medical school, once you’re in, you can find a way into the course of study you want – if you even know,” she adds.
“I planned to be a French high school teacher. Now I have a PhD and I teach law.”
For those who nailed their exams, an Atar doesn’t necessarily get you to where you want to go, either. For some, the right path reveals itself in the messy twists and turns of life.
In the words of sports journalist and content creator Lavender Baj: “I had a great Atar to study law and then dropped out of uni and now I make silly internet videos and talk about football for a living”.
Peter Dean missed the university and career he thought he wanted due to his Atar. He says the number students attain is just that – a number.
After “sneaking in” to a university course, he’s now director of foreign policy and defence at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre, and has gone on to attain a professorship and a PhD.
“I’ve taught at high school and university that your Atar is not the end of anything, nor even the beginning of the end,” he says. “Only a beginning, that should never limit your ambition or dreams.”
