I’m proof: You don’t need a selective school and tutoring to get a monster ATAR
Layla Wicks, a student from a non-selective public school, achieved an ATAR of 97.65 without tutoring, challenging the belief that selective schools or extra tuition are necessary for high scores. She highlights widespread misconceptions about how the ATAR is calculated, particularly the myth that school performance affects individual results. According to NESA, the ATAR is based solely on a student's own marks and not on their school or cohort.
- ▪Layla Wicks attended Kempsey High School, a non-selective public school, and achieved an ATAR of 97.65 without tutoring.
- ▪NESA states that the ATAR calculation does not consider the school a student attended, only their individual marks.
- ▪Common misconceptions persist that cohort performance or school type significantly impacts a student's ATAR, despite official clarification from NESA.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.