ATAR coming? Remember: it’s the start, not the end

For many, the number between 0 and 99.95 feels like the culmination of all their schooling. A single measure of whether they are “good enough” to reach their dream course. For Jennifer Day, psychology lecturer, the ATAR was both a source of anxiety and the beginning of a new path.

If she could speak to her 18-year-old self, Jenny’s advice would be simple:

“Take a breath. You are so focused on what you think you should be doing, that you haven't even thought about what makes you happy. Your ATAR cannot encapsulate you. By the time you're 18 you've experienced 9,460,800 minutes of life. How could one number encompass all of that?”

High school expectations and missing out on your ATAR

By her final year, Jenny had set her sights on law. The cutoff for her chosen university was 98.

“Even at the time I think I knew that was pretty unlikely,” she said. Her high school also had a “principal’s list” for high achievers, which became another goal. When results arrived, the 98 wasn’t there.

What hurt more was missing the principal’s list by half a point. “I felt so embarrassed; it felt like a clear benchmark for being good enough that I had missed.”

The year was marked by constant stress. “It felt like there were constant tests… I often ended up feeling too sick to go to school. Looking back now I realise that being sick was probably my body showing the physical signs of anxiety,” said Jenny.

Identity and self-worth

The ATAR result left a lasting mark. “I didn’t feel smart or capable. By the time I got to uni, I had dismissed myself as unlikely to ever amount to much.”

University as a turning point

Starting a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology, Jenny soon discovered a new freedom. “I just took electives that sounded interesting to me. There was such freedom in being able to decide what I wanted to do.

“Unlike school, university offered fewer assessments and I excelled when I was given the ability to work how I wanted, I was motivated to try.”

Is the ATAR stress worth it?

From a psychological perspective, Jenny says the ATAR’s singular focus can be damaging.

“It creates a metric that feels outside of students’ control. That pressure can create anxiety and take away from the joy of learning,” says Jenny.

Stress can also affect sleep, memory, and even the immune system. And not all students respond the same way. “Some students thrive under pressure. Others don’t. It’s not a character flaw, it’s biology, context, and depends on what support they have.”

For those who don’t get the result they hoped for, her advice is clear: “It starts with not letting any students feel like ATAR is a cliff they’re falling off. Students should know there are many ways to get to where they want to be.”

Rethinking the importance of the ATAR

“You can't take a number, or even a set of numbers, and expect that to give you an accurate idea of an individual.”

Alternative pathways such as foundation programs, transfers, or contextual admissions should be embraced more widely.

Success says Jenny should be about experience, not labels.

“I have never met anyone who is incapable of learning these things, but we start very early on with the labels and create these limiting beliefs.”

And confusion and struggle, are not failure but part of growth.

As Jenny says, “today, I’m a psychology lecturer. I didn’t end up studying law, and I’m grateful for that. I “fell into” psychology through a random elective, and it reawakened my love of biology and my curiosity about people.

“University gave me the space to explore, to work in bursts, to find my rhythm. And I thrived.

As a researcher, I now understand how the ATAR system can harm students. It creates a singular metric that feels out of their control. It can make students anxious and undermine their self‑worth, and affect sleep, memory, and immunity.

Students can forget the joy of learning, replacing curiosity with fear. Some students thrive under pressure. Others don’t. It’s not a character flaw, it’s biology, context, and support. We need to stop treating the ATAR as a cliff edge. There are many ways to reach your goals, and no time spent learning is ever wasted.