Overall Position (OP) Queensland's Former Tertiary Entrance Rank

The Overall Position (OP) was a tertiary entrance rank used in Queensland, Australia, to guide selection into universities. Unlike systems in other Australian states, the OP showed how a student performed in their senior secondary studies compared to all other OP-eligible students in Queensland. This system was in place from 1992 until the 2019 cohort.

Calculating an Overall Position

OPs were calculated by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) for students who completed the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and met specific criteria, such as participating in the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test and completing at least 20 semesters of Authority subjects. A key feature of this system was that assessment was set and marked internally within schools, subject to QCAA approval.

Assignment of Subject Achievement Indicators (SAIs)

When a student completed a subject, their summative assessment pieces from Year 12 were used to assign a Level of Achievement (LOA). There were five LOAs ranging from Very High Achievement (VHA) to Very Low Achievement (VLA), often further refined by a rating from 1 to 10 (a "rung").

Teachers then ranked students within their subject group using these LOAs and rungs to assign Subject Achievement Indicators (SAIs). SAIs ranged from 400 to 200, with the best student receiving 400 and the bottom student receiving 200. The gaps between SAIs reflected the gaps in student achievement.

Within-School Scaling

The QCAA applied the first stage of scaling to ensure that SAIs were comparable across different subjects within the same school. This was achieved by multiplying all SAIs by an adjusted Queensland Core Skills (QCS) mean. The QCS test was the sole standardized test administered to all students under the same conditions, making it as the only measure for comparison across the state.

The resulting scaled SAIs (ranging from 75 to 275) were then averaged to form a student's Overall Achievement Indicator (OAI) based on their best five scaled SAIs.

Inter-School Scaling

Because an OAI of 200 at one school may not be represent the same standard as an OAI of 200 at another, a second stage of scaling was applied. Inter-school scaling multiplied a school's OAIs by that school's adjusted QCS mean, producing a scaled OAI that was comparable throughout Queensland.

Assignment of OPs

Once scaled OAIs were comparable statewide, students were ranked in a statewide rank order and grouped into OP bands, assigned an OP from 1 to 25, where 1 is the highest and 25 is the lowest. The distribution followed a bell curve, meaning the highest and lowest ranks were much rarer than mid-range OPs.

Field Positions (FPs)

Field Positions (FPs) were provided as supplementary information to the OP. While the OP measured overall achievement, FPs measured achievement relative to specific "Fields" or areas of the curriculum. FPs were measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst, using a calculation method similar to the OP.

Transition to ATAR

From 2020, the OP rank was replaced by the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), bringing Queensland in line with all other Australian states and territories. This transition allowed for a more standardized approach to tertiary admission across the country.