Updated 12th December 2022

It’s VCE results day! It’s an exciting and anxious time for you. You’ve worked hard all year learning, studying, doing assessment and then your final exams, and today you’ll find out your study scores for each subject and your ATAR. So, while we’re waiting, let’s have a think about what your results mean, and just as importantly, what they don’t mean.

Your results give you the simplest way to get into tertiary courses

That’s it. Literally the only reason that you get an ATAR, the only reason the system was created, is to give tertiary institutions a simple and efficient way to choose which students to make offers to.

While more and more courses are starting to use other methods of selection as well as (or even instead of) the ATAR, at this stage there are still a lot of courses that use the ATAR as a way to select students for their courses. So the simplest way to get into most courses is to get an ATAR above the lowest selection rank for that course.

Your results don’t give you the only way to get into a course

Just because your ATAR gives you a simple and efficient way to get into a course, doesn’t make it the only way to get into the course you want to study. Far from it.

Firstly, there are lots of courses that either don’t use an ATAR or use it with other selection tools so that they can get a better understanding of who is applying and choose the students who are the best fit for their course. Maybe you have an interview, or you’ve submitted a portfolio of work, or a statement explaining why you want to do the particular course and why they should select you. If you’re applying for one of these courses, remember that you have lots of ways to show them that you’re the right person for their course.

Secondly, even if the course you’re hoping to get into is offered to students based on results only, there is ALWAYS another way to get there if you don’t meet the requirements. Maybe there’s a similar course that you could do for a year and then apply for a transfer. Maybe there’s a diploma or certificate that will help you get up to speed with a particular subject or area of knowledge that will help you be more successful once you get into the course. Or maybe there’s a completely different course you can do that will end up giving you the same or a very similar qualification and will allow you to do the same or very similar work at the end of it. Think of the long game - if you have your heart set on a particular course and you don’t get in, can you still end up in basically the same place in 5 years time?

Your results are not a measure of who you are as a person

Whether you get excellent results or you’re disappointed when they come out, your results are not a measure of your worth. They are literally a measure of how much evidence you could give of your learning in a particular subject on a particular day. At the end of this year you should be reflecting on what you’ve learnt about yourself as a person through 13 years of school, the friends you’ve made, the memories you share. Finishing school is a milestone that should be celebrated as a rite of passage by everyone, whether you’re sad to go or can’t wait to move on to something different. Nothing more, nothing less.

Your results are not something you need to “spend” or “use up”

If you’ve been here for a while, hopefully I’ve convinced you to really, truly, honestly think about what you want to do and pursue that, no matter what your results. If you’ve done that, then getting an ATAR that means you’re likely to receive an offer for your first preference should be something to celebrate. You don’t need to second guess yourself and choose something different that you can now get into because you got an ATAR higher than you expected. 

Your results are no one else’s business

Your results are for you, showing how you went on assessment this year. You don’t need to tell anyone what you got. Whether or not you’re happy with your results, they’re yours to share only if you want to. If people ask you and you don’t feel like sharing, just tell them you’re happy with your results and move on. It’s none of their business, and if they continue to ask they’re being rude. 

Are you happy with your preference list? There’s still time to change it until 4pm on December 14th, and then in change of preference periods between offer rounds after that. Contact me if you need help with this and I can let you know the best way I can support you.