The Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) was a tertiary entrance score used in several

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n states, the ACT and the Northern Territory as a tool for selection to universities in Australia. As of 2010, it has been replaced by the

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for domestic student entry into undergraduate courses in Australian public universities. It was gradually introduced to most states and territories in 2009–10 and has sinc ...

(ATAR) in all states and territories (including Queensland as of 2020).

Usage

All states in Australia used some form of TER in the 1970s onwards, based upon an aggregated scaling procedure that differed in each jurisdiction. Prior to this, admission to university was based upon a pass/fail criterion for school leavers. The TER was used by university institutions until 2000, where it was replaced by a similar ranking scheme known as the UAI.

Equivalence

The TER was used in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

(1994-1998),

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

and the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

Universities Admissions Centre The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC, pronounced ) is an organisation that processes applications for admission to tertiary education courses, mainly at institutions in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. A not-for-profit com ...

(June, 2009){{cite web , author1=ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies , title=What's the TER , url=https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/115855/scpp-00057-act-1992.pdf?sequence=1 , website=University of Melbourne Digitised Collections , accessdate=13 August 2019 Although directly equivalent to the Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) in Victoria, and the

Universities Admission Index The Universities Admission Index (UAI) was used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, as the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate-entry university programs. It was a number between 0 and 100 (though tho ...

(UAI) in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and later adopted in the

, the terms ENTER and UAI were only used in their respective states or territories.

Calculation of the TER in South Australia and the Northern Territory

The TER was accumulated by the

South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre The South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC) processes applications for entry into courses offered at participating educational institutions in South Australia and the Northern Territory. SATAC assesses qualifications presented by applic ...

(SATAC) for students who successfully completed the

South Australian Certificate of Education The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is awarded to students who have successfully completed their senior secondary schooling in the state of South Australia. The SACE Board of South Australia (formerly known as the Senior Secondar ...

(SACE) or the

Northern Territory Certificate of Education The Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training (NTCET) is the credential awarded to High School students who successfully complete senior high school level studies (years 11 and 12 or equivalent) in the Northern Territory, Australia. ...

(NTCE) and fulfilled other criteria to qualify for a TER. In South Australia, students' subject achievement scores (out of 20) were forwarded to SATAC by the

Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

(SSABSA), whereupon they were scaled (adjusted according to the level of performance in the group of students studying the subject in that year to ensure that each subject contributes equally to the TER). The university aggregate was then calculated by adding: * the scaled scores for the best four subjects, * 50% of the scaled score for the next best (fifth) subject. The university aggregates (out of 90) were ordered from lowest to highest, and the TER was assigned as a percentage rank (in steps of 0.05, ranging from 0.00 to 99.95) according to the student's position on that list. The process was the same for secondary students in the Northern Territory, except results were forwarded to SATAC by the

Northern Territory Board of Studies Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

Calculation of the TER in Tasmania

The TER was calculated by th
Tasmanian Qualifications Authority
for students who successfully completed the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) and fulfilled other criteria to qualify for a TER. The tertiary entrance aggregate was calculated as the sum of the best five Level 5 TCE subject scores, of which a maximum of two could be selected from Year 11. As in other TER systems, the aggregates were ranked in order and assigned a TER based on their position.

Calculation of the TER in Western Australia

The TER was calculated by the

Tertiary Institutions Service Centre Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) is an incorporated administrative agency involved with the processing of applications for admission to undergraduate programmes for Western Australian state universities. History The agency was establis ...

(TISC) for students who successfully completed the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and fulfilled other criteria to qualify for a TER. As the WACE qualification was being revised for from 2005 to 2009, the process for calculating the TER for WA students was changed for tertiary entry in 2009. In 2008, a Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) was calculated using the sum of the four highest Course of Study Levels of Achievement. As in other TER systems, the TEAs were ranked in order and assigned a ranking based on their position.

Calculation of the TER in the Australian Capital Territory

Calculation of the ACT TER is detailed in this 1992 ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies information booklet https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/115855/scpp-00057-act-1992.pdf?sequence=1

References

Education in South Australia Education in Tasmania Education in Western Australia Education in the Northern Territory Universities in Australia University and college admissions