To be eligible for an ATAR in 2015, you must satisfactorily complete at least 10 units of ATAR courses. These ATAR courses must include at least:
- eight units from Category A courses
- two units of English
- three Board Developed courses of two units or greater
- four subjects.
The fourth point can easily be overlooked or misunderstood. A subject is an area of study (eg mathematics). Within that subject there may be a number of courses (eg Mathematics General 2, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2). If a student studies, for example, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2, English Advanced, English Extension 2 and Biology they will not meet the four subjects requirement because they have only studied three subjects: mathematics, English and biology.