The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a ranking system used in Australia to measure a student's academic performance relative to their peers in the same graduating year. It is a score between 0 and 99.95 and is used by universities and other higher education institutions to determine admission to undergraduate courses.
The IB Diploma has six subjects: one from each of Groups 1 to 5, plus either an arts subject from Group 6 or a second subject from Groups 1 to 4. You also complete Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS).
Your six grades, plus up to 3 bonus points from Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay, make your IB score out of 45. You need at least 24 for the Diploma, along with some other conditions.
The IB Admissions Score (IBAS) adds a decimal to your overall IB score, showing how high your marks sat within each grade. It runs from 24.00 to 45.75 in steps of 0.25, so students on the same IB score can get different ATAR equivalents. It applies if you've sat the IB in Australia since November 2022. Other students use their whole-number IB score.
No. Unlike the VCE or HSC, IB subjects aren't scaled against each other, so a 6 counts the same in any subject. All six of your subjects count towards your IB score.
IB students get an ATAR equivalent rather than an ATAR. Your IBAS is converted using a national table, and the result is called a Notional ATAR in Victoria and a Combined Rank in NSW and the ACT. Universities across Australia treat it as comparable with the ATAR.
It adds your six grades and bonus points to get your IB score, estimates your IBAS from the Low, Medium or High you choose for each subject, then reads your ATAR equivalent from the official 2026 table. The table is official, but Low, Medium and High are our own simplification, because your real IBAS uses your exact marks. The table can change each year, so treat the result as a guide.
