The shaded area indicates a University (ATAR) Pathway.

Mathematics Specialist and Methods TEA Bonus

What is the bonus?
10% of the final scaled score/s in Mathematics Methods and Mathematics Specialist will be added to the Tertiary Entrance Aggregate, from which the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is derived. If you take Mathematics Methods and Mathematics Specialist, you will get the bonus from each of them. Even if one or both of the mathematics courses isn’t one of your best four scaled scores, the bonus will still be added to the aggregate. The bonus does not apply to Mathematics Applications.

Mathematics Course Combinations

For university admission, unacceptable combination rules will apply to Mathematics ATAR courses:

• Mathematics Applications ATAR and Mathematics Specialist ATAR are an unacceptable combination.
• Only one scaled score from the unacceptable combination can be used in the calculation of the ATAR.
• Scores from Mathematics Methods ATAR and Mathematics Specialist ATAR still benefit from the TEA 10% bonus point.

Mathematics Specialist
The Mathematics Specialist ATAR course has been designed to be taken in conjunction with the Mathematics Methods ATAR course. Mathematics Specialist is an ATAR course which provides opportunities, beyond those presented in the Mathematics Methods ATAR course, to develop rigorous mathematical arguments and proofs, and to use mathematical models more extensively. The Mathematics Specialist ATAR course contains topics in functions and calculus that build on and deepen the ideas presented in the Mathematics Methods ATAR course, as well as demonstrate their application in many areas. This course also extends understanding and knowledge of statistics and introduces the topics of vectors, complex numbers and matrices. The Mathematics Specialist ATAR course is designed for students with a strong interest in mathematics, including those intending to study mathematics, statistics, all sciences and associated fields, economics or engineering at university. Students of the Mathematics Specialist ATAR course will be able to appreciate the true nature of mathematics, its beauty and its functionality.

• TEA Bonus Points apply: 10% of the final scaled score/s in Mathematics Mathematics Specialist ATAR will be added to the TEA, from which the ATAR is derived.
• The Mathematics Specialist ATAR course is the only ATAR mathematics course that should not be taken as a stand-alone course. It must be taken with the Methods course.

Course Description
The Year 11 syllabus is divided into two units, each of one semester duration, which are typically delivered as a pair. In order to study this syllabus, it is desirable that students complete topics from 10A.

Organisation of content
Unit 1 - topics

1.1 Combinatorics

1.2 Vectors in the plane

1.3 Geometry

Unit 2 - topics

2.1 Trigonometry

2.2 Matrices

2.3 Real and complex numbers

Retrieved from: School Curriculum and Standards Authority. 29 June 2023.