WA ATAR exams: Hundreds more students achieve high ATAR scores in Western Australia

Hundreds more West Australian students scored an ATAR above 90 in 2024 than five years ago, data shows, with the number of students ranking above 99 in their university admission scores also increasing.

That is despite a declining proportion of people in the school-leaving age cohort of the WA population completing a course that makes them eligible for an ATAR.

In 2020, 3003 students – or 28 per cent of the cohort – scored an ATAR of 90 or more, compared with 3390 students, or 34 per cent of the cohort, receiving the same in 2024.

Professor Rod Yager, chair of the committee responsible for calculating the scores in NSW, said the academic strengths of school populations were unlikely to differ.

Instead, he pointed to broader demographic changes in candidates driving the uplift – as more