Resources for careers advisers

Application dates and fees for 2026 admissions [PDF]

On the Defence of the ATAR: unpublished paper by Phillip Anthony [PDF]

Preliminary Report on the Scaling of the 2024 NSW ATAR [PDF]

Usefulness of the ATAR Report [PDF]

Information required in an educational impact statement

Your school must:

• indicate that the circumstances claimed have, or have not, affected the applicant’s studies
• indicate the level of impact of the circumstances by ticking the relevant impact box (see definitions below)
• include the duration of disadvantage (years/months)
• include any additional information about the educational impact.

What your school writes in the statement must be specific to the applicant and indicate if the circumstances described in the applicant statement are accurate. Vague and generic statements are not helpful in the assessment process.

Please write a personalised statement for each student and each circumstance claimed.

Definitions of the level of impact on a student's studies

Slight

• Not very noticeable or significant.
• Small in size or degree; not much, or not great.

Moderate

• Average or middle of the road in terms of intensity, degree or amount.
• Not extreme or excessive; within the middle range of a scale.

Considerable

• Large or significant in amount, degree or size.
• Implies a noticeable amount or degree; not insignificant or trivial.

Extreme

• Far beyond the norm or average, or at the very highest level.
• Very intense or severe; at the limit of what is considered normal or acceptable.
• Dangerous or unusual; a situation or condition that is very hard to deal with or endure.
• Unusual or exceptional; outside the range of typical or normal experience.

Applicants with claims for multiple circumstances

Schools are welcome to supply a letter on school letterhead for applicants who claim multiple circumstances.

The letter must cover all the claimed circumstances. Please ensure the duration and level of impact/severity of each circumstances is clearly stated.

EAS assessors rely on the information provided in the school letter to verify each circumstance claimed and to gain an understanding of its impact on the applicant.

Tragic circumstances affecting a number of students

Every year a small number of schools experience tragic circumstances that affect more than one student; for example, the death of a Year 12 student.

In these circumstances schools are advised to provide an individual educational impact statement for each student in order to explain the educational impact the tragic circumstance has had on that particular student. It’s expected that the impact will vary among the student body. It doesn’t help assessment outcomes for students if the school provides the same statement for each of them.

Submitting an educational impact statement to UAC

UAC encourages all schools to return the completed educational impact statement to the applicant to upload to their application.

If this is not possible, you can upload the statement to School Access.