Externals coming up?? The end of the year coming faster than you realised?? That means you’ve likely got your IA3 marks back!
But a mark on its own doesn’t mean much, unless you know how it will impact your ATAR – so what IA3 mark do you actually need to achieve an ATAR 90+?
Did you know? An ATAR 90 or above means you are only in the Top 24% of students!
You’d be surprised to discover that QCAA actually tells us exactly what mark you need in your internals to achieve your goal ATAR!
On the QCAA website, these buried reports are readily available for anyone to access! We’ve taken this data and done all the hard work for you!
The data looks like this, showing the bellcurve via a bar graph, to display the distribution of marks. This is how we work out what mark equates to what percentile, and therefore what your ATAR prediction will be!
We’ve done the research and put this data into a Google Sheet, so that we can highlight what goals you might need to set for yourself this year.
And remember, IA3 comes after IA1 and IA2, so when writing this article, we’re assuming that you met the threshold for what IA1 mark you needed to get an ATAR 90+ and what IA2 mark you need also!
If your mark lies in the top 24% of students, you’re on track to get an ATAR 90+!
Check it out!
The Truth About Internals
Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Psychology
General Maths
Maths Methods
Specialist Maths
English
Literature
Economics
Business
Legal Studies
Modern History
I Scored Below This, Can I Still Get a 90+ ATAR?
The Truth About Internals
Losing one or two marks in IA3 could drop you down by 30% in the cohort!
Huge! We were shocked when we saw this data. Some of the Internal Assessments, specifically IA1 and IA2 have no bell curve at all, just a steep slope.
For transparency, all of this data is completely free and available to you in the QCE Cohort Comparison Tool!
But it’s not all bad news! Even though the bellcurve is so steep for IA3, it does indicate that these assessments aren’t hard to ace with the right support.
Chemistry
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 18/20 (90%) on the Chemistry Research Investigation
19/20
Even with near perfect results, you’re still sitting with 26% of all the other students in the grade!
18/20
You can see the drop-off with even an 18/20, going down to only the top 35% of the cohort.
17/20
By here, things aren’t looking too good, with a prediction placing you only in the Top 48% of the cohort, with an ATAR below 90!
Looking for some help with acing the Chemistry Research Investigation? Check out our guide!
Physics
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 18/20 (90%) on the Physics Research Investigation
19/20
Even a 95% result in Physics IA3 will only land you in the top 30% of students.
18/20
Then, losing a single mark more means you are at the bare minimum to achieve an ATAR 90, with 41% of the cohort.
17/20
Losing three marks lands you in the bottom 49% of students, with an ATAR below 90.
Looking for a guide to help you through the Physics Research Investigation? Here’s a guide to help you ACE the IA3!
Biology
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 18/20 (90%) on the Biology Research Investigation
19/20
Biology follows suit from the other sciences, where near perfect marks can land you in the Top 20% of students.
18/20
Losing two marks takes you down to the Top 30%, but keeps you in the ATAR 90 range!
17/20
Losing three marks brings you down below the ATAR 90 threshold…
Bit stuck with this one? We’ve had a team of expert tutors create an Ultimate Guide for Writing a Biology Research Investigation!
Psychology
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 18/20 (90%) on the Psychology Research Investigation
19/20
Achieving almost perfect results secures your place at the front of the bellcurve!
18/20
Losing two marks will take you closer to the top of the curve, but still in the 90 range!
17/20
A mark of 17 will have you fall right on top of the curve and miss out on an ATAR 90!
General Maths
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 11/15 (73%) on the General Maths IA3 Exam
12/15
General Maths is surprisingly a safe subject, with a normal looking curve!
11/15
You will need at least a 11/15 to be on track for an ATAR 90+!
10/15
Anything near the top of the peak usually results in an ATAR below 90…
Need some practice questions to ace the General Maths IA3 exam? Check out these ones which our tutors have written for you!
Maths Methods
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 13/15 (86%) on the Maths Methods IA3 Exam
14/15
Maths Methods is extremely competitive, with a much worse curve than General Maths!
13/15
A 13 is the minimum result you need to be in the running for an ATAR 90+!
12/15
By this result, you’ve already fallen to the bottom 65% of the cohort!
Are you trying to achieve above a 14/15 on the IA3? Check out our Practice Questions for Maths Methods IA3! Not feeling so good about your results so far? Here’s how to decide if you should drop down to QCAA General Maths.
Specialist Maths
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 13/15 (86%) on the Specialist Maths IA3 Exam
14/15
Specialist is the most competitive Maths subject, requiring near-perfect results for an ATAR 90+!
13/15
A 13/15 in your exam is what you will need to stay in the ATAR 90 range!
12/15
The competitive bell curve means this result will put you in the bottom 54%!
English
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 19/25 (76%) on the English Persuasive Oral
20/25
English is a bumpy bell-curve, with obvious spikes to get students to pass!
19/25
A 19/25 will secure you a predicted place in the ATAR 90 range!
18/25
An 18/25 will place you just behind with an ATAR in the 80s!
Has writing a short story got you somewhat stressed? We’ve teamed up with our top tutors to write an article on how to ace the English IA3!
Literature
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 23/25 (92%) on the Literature IA3 Assessment
24/25
Literature has a much steeper curve than General English!
23/25
You will need a 23/25 on IA3 in Lit to stay in the running for an ATAR 90+… this was surprising to us compared to the other subjects!!
22/25
Anything below will place you in the 80s!
Economics
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 21/25 (88%) on the Economics IA3
22/25
Economics has a skewed bellcurve, but a decent distribution!
21/25
As long as you can stay ahead of the centre plateau, you’re set for a 90!
20/25
A 20/25 in IA3 will place you in the 80s range!
Business
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 20/25 (80%) on the IA3 Business Report
21/25
Business has one of the smoothest curves in the QCE system!
20/25
You only need above a 20 to achieve an ATAR 90+!
19/25
Anything below will land you in the 80s range!
Legal Studies
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 20/25 (80%) on the Legal Studies Inquiry Report
21/25
Legal Studies is similar to business, with a generous curve!
20/25
A 20/25 will allow you to achieve an ATAR 90+!
19/25
Anything below will land you in the 80s!
Modern History
In order to be on track for an ATAR above 90, you need to achieve at least 22/25 (84%) on the Modern History IA3 Assessment
23/25
Again, we see that Modern History is very skewed in mark distribution towards the front end.
22/25
A 22/25 will ensure your ATAR stays in the 90s!
21/25
Anything below will result in a high 80s score!
I didn’t Achieve This IA3 Mark – Will I get below a 90 ATAR?
Throughout the processing of this data, we had many former students (including myself!!) protest the insights we were giving, claiming they achieved below the marks given above, and still ended up with an ATAR above 90!
This is because even if you missed out on staying within the Top 24% of students in the internal assessments, you can definitely catch up in External Assessment, to get ahead of the bellcurve (although it will take more work and determination!)
This article is designed to show you what mark you need to be on track! But just like with anything, you can always catch up later, and a bad mark isn’t the end of the world!
Don’t believe us? We’ve detailed every single number and referenced the QCAA reports in this downloadable spreadsheet – QCE Cohort Comparison Tool! Make a copy and see the numbers for yourself!
So That’s It!
Hopefully now, thanks to the data available, you have an idea on what mark you should aim for in your IA3 assessment, in order to achieve your goal ATAR!
We highly recommend trying out the QCE Cohort Comparison Tool if you haven’t already, to see how your marks compare to your peers!
Looking for some more help with the QCE?
- Everything You Need to Know About the QCE and ATAR
- The Essential Guide to Applying for University Through QTAC
- QCE Year 11: How to Effectively Prepare for Your IA Exam Block
- What Are QCE Points and How Many Do You Need?
- How to Stay Motivated Throughout the Year During the QCE and Avoid Burnout
- Struggling with the Workload for Year 11? Here’s why…
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