Independent rate intelligence & ATAR scaling — sourced, cited, never sponsored.

English EALD — NSW HSC scaling 2024

UAC's verbatim 2024 scaling for English EALD. 1,246 students sat this course. Median scaled mark 19.6; top-decile (P90) scaled 38.2; cohort scaled mean 21.2 (out of 50 per unit).

Scaled marks distribution

PercentileHSC markScaled mark
P99 (top 1%)47.546.8
P90 (top 10%)43.538.2
P75 (top 25%)39.530.2
P50 (median)35.519.6
P25 (bottom 25%)31.511.8

Summary statistics

HSC mark (raw)Scaled mark
Mean35.121.2
Standard deviation6.711.7
Maximum49.049.1
Students (2024)1,246

How English EALD scaled in 2024

This subject scales down. The average student in this course performs below the senior-secondary cohort median across all their subjects, so scaling adjusts most raw marks downward. Important nuance: this does not mean strong students in this subject get poor scaled marks — look at the P90 row in the table. Top performers are still rewarded; the cohort-average position is what moves the mean.

For English EALD specifically, the scaled distribution runs from P25 of 11.8 to P90 of 38.2 — a spread of 26.4 scaled points between the bottom and top quartiles of the cohort. That spread is the practical room for movement within this subject: a student who moves from the bottom quartile of English EALD to the top decile gains roughly 26 scaled points per unit, which is significant when multiplied across 2 units toward the ATAR aggregate.

The gap between HSC mark and scaled mark at P90 was -5.3. That gap is negative — top-performing English EALD students were scaled down in 2024. This is what scaling actually does: it's not a percentage multiplier; it's a candidature-position adjustment.

3-year scaling trend for English EALD

YearScaled mean (/ 50)
2022
202320.6
202421.2

Scaling has risen by +0.6 points over 1 year (2023: 20.6 → 2024: 21.2). This typically reflects a strengthening candidature — more high-achievers picking this subject relative to other subjects.

3-year trend data sourced from the UAC annual scaling reports 2023–2024. See all scaling trends.

Tutor rate context for English EALD

Subject complexity classification: medium. Based on our subject-complexity model, this subject typically carries a no uplift adjustment to the base AU tutor rate band — partly because of the qualified-tutor pool size, partly because of subject-specific marking and exam complexity.

Tutor tierTypical rate for English EALD
University-student tutor$60/hr
Experienced graduate$80/hr
Registered teacher$110/hr
Subject specialist$140/hr

Estimates from the AU rate synthesis at /rates/. Use the rate estimator to add city and delivery format.

How to read the distribution

The HSC mark column shows the raw HSC mark you would have needed to sit at each percentile of the English EALD candidature in 2024. The scaled mark column shows what that performance was worth toward your ATAR aggregate. The two values diverge because scaling reflects the academic strength of the candidature as a whole — it is not a fixed conversion of raw HSC mark to scaled mark.

The same HSC mark can produce a range of scaled marks (because students with that HSC mark may have different positions in the underlying cohort). This is why UAC publishes a distribution rather than a lookup table.

Caveats specific to English EALD

Related resources