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

English — QLD QCE scaling 2024

QTAC's verbatim 2024 scaling for English (QCAA code 0001). Raw median 70/100 mapped to scaled 70.06; top-decile raw 91 mapped to scaled 90.38.

Raw → scaled distribution (2024)

PercentileRaw mark (/ 100)Scaled mark (/ 100)Adjustment
P999994.1-4.9
P909190.38-0.6
P758283.82+1.8
P50 (median)7070.06+0.1
P255953.05-6.0

How English scaled in 2024

This subject scales up. The candidature performs slightly above the cohort median across all subjects, so raw marks are adjusted upward in the scaling process. A typical raw mark scales to a slightly higher scaled mark.

For English specifically: a median student in the cohort had a raw mark of 70/100 and ended up with a scaled mark of 70.06/100 — an adjustment of +0.1 from raw to scaled. A top-decile student (P90) had a raw mark of 91 mapping to scaled 90.38 — adjustment of -0.6.

QCE General subjects are scored 0–100 raw. QTAC's inter-subject scaling runs a 40-iteration calibration algorithm that maps each subject's raw distribution to a scaled distribution based on how that subject's students performed across all their other subjects. The scaled mark is what counts for the ATAR aggregate; the raw mark is what your QCE certificate reports.

3-year scaling trend for English

YearScaled mean (/ 100)
202270.65
202369.8
202470.06

Scaling has fallen by 0.6 points over 2 years (2022: 70.65 → 2024: 70.06). This typically reflects a weakening candidature — the average student in this subject is performing relatively less well in their other courses than they used to.

3-year trend data sourced from the QTAC annual scaling reports 2022–2024. See all scaling trends.

Tutor rate context for English

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
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.

What this means for ATAR planning

Three reads of this scaling distribution matter for QCE students:

  1. The median (P50) shows the typical adjustment for an average performance in English. Roughly neutral.
  2. The P90 row shows where strong students land. Even in subjects with a low median scaled position, strong individual students typically score well in scaled terms — look at the P90 column before deciding a subject is "bad".
  3. The spread P25→P90 (53.05 → 90.38, a 37.3-point spread) shows the room for movement within this subject. Bigger spreads mean tutoring leverage is higher.

Caveats

Related resources

Source
  1. QTAC — ATAR Report 2024 (22-page PDF, February 2025), Table 6.
  2. QCAA — Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (curriculum authority).