A new report released today by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) explores the relationship between National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), receiving an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR), and achieving a high ATAR (90 or above).
Is the die cast? Investigating the relationship between prior academic achievement and tertiary entrance performance found the combination of a student’s socioeconomic status and their NAPLAN scores was the strongest predictor of achieving an ATAR. As their NAPLAN scores increased, individuals from a high socioeconomic background were almost one and a half times more likely to receive an ATAR than individuals from a low socioeconomic background with the same increase in their NAPLAN score.
Just two characteristics were found to contribute towards a student’s likelihood of achieving a high ATAR: prior academic achievement, as measured by Year 9 NAPLAN scores, and being female. Students with higher NAPLAN scores were almost twice as likely to achieve an ATAR score of 90 or above; and females were also almost twice as likely as males to achieve ATAR scores of 90 or above.
The research also found about 13% of the variation in a student’s tertiary entrance score was attributable to the school they attended. This supports previous research that shows schools play a relatively small role in influencing tertiary entrance performance when compared with the individual characteristics of the student.
Background:
This study uses integrated data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY), NAPLAN and MySchool to consider the contextual factors that affect a student’s academic trajectory. The study aims to better understand the association between students’ early academic performance at school and their schooling outcomes using ATAR scores as a measure of tertiary entrance performance while accounting for a range of factors, such as a student's individual characteristics, their socioeconomic status and the school attended.
Download the report: Is the die cast? Investigating the relationship between prior academic achievement and tertiary entrance performance.
Enquiries: Chantal Deutrom P: +61 8 8230 8418 E: chantaldeutrom@ncver.edu.au
About NCVER: we are the main provider of research, statistics and data on Australia’s VET sector. Our services help promote better understanding of VET and assist policy makers, practitioners, industry, training providers, and students to make informed decisions.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department of Education.