Philosophy and Ethics — WA WACE scaling 2024

TISC's verbatim 2024 scaled-score statistics for Philosophy and Ethics. Scaled mean 61.3/100, SD 13.1, 150 students. Range observed: 19.3 to 97.1.

Summary statistics

Scaled mean	61.3 / 100
Standard deviation	13.1
Minimum scaled score	19.3
Maximum scaled score	97.1
Students (2024)	150

Scaled scores by percentile

Percentile	Scaled score
P90 (top 10%)	77.0
P75 (top 25%)	69.5
P50 (median)	61.5
P25 (bottom 25%)	53.0

The P25-to-P90 spread for Philosophy and Ethics was 24.0 scaled points in 2024.

How Philosophy and Ethics scaled in 2024

This subject scales close to neutral. The candidature performs around the senior-secondary cohort median, so raw marks and scaled marks track each other closely. Scaling is not a major factor either way for this subject.

The scaled-score scale in WA is 0–100, with the cohort-wide mean across all subjects sitting around 60 by construction. A subject with a scaled mean above 60 had a candidature performing above the WACE-wide average; below 60 means the average student in this subject performed below the WACE-wide average. Note that this is the scaled mean across the course's candidature, not a measure of conceptual difficulty.

3-year scaling trend for Philosophy and Ethics ↓

Year	Scaled mean (/ 100)
2023	63.0
2024	61.3

Scaling has fallen by 1.7 points over 1 year (2023: 63.0 → 2024: 61.3). 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 TISC annual scaling reports 2023–2024. See all scaling trends.

Tutor rate context for Philosophy and Ethics

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 tier	Typical rate for Philosophy and Ethics
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

In WA, the Tertiary Entrance Aggregate (TEA) is formed from your best 4 scaled scores, with a 10% bonus added to scaled scores in Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist, and LOTE subjects (highest LOTE only). The maximum aggregate in 2024 was 430.

• Philosophy and Ethics scaled to a mean of 61.3 — above the WACE average.
• If you scored at the P90 of this subject (77.0) and it was one of your best 4, you contributed 77.0 scaled points to your aggregate (or 84.7 with the LOTE/Maths bonus where applicable).
• Strong individual results in subjects with lower scaled means can still produce strong scaled scores — look at the P90 row, not just the mean, before deciding a subject is "weak" for ATAR.

Caveats specific to Philosophy and Ethics

• This is 2024 data. TISC recalculates scaling each year.
• WACE scaled scores are NOT directly comparable across states. NSW and VIC use a 0-50 scale; QLD and WA use 0-100. Cross-state comparisons need to be normalised by scale.
• The WACE Maths Methods / Specialist / LOTE 10% bonus applies after scaling, only when the bonused subject is one of your top 4.

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