HSC Chemistry Scaling 2026 — Free Calculator

Your HSC Chemistry mark (out of 100)

/ 100

Enter a mark between 0 and 100.

Estimated scaled mark

0.0 / 50

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Scales up vs other subjects

Subject median: 33.9/50

Estimate based on UAC's 2025 percentiles for Chemistry. Your official scaled mark is set by UAC and released with your ATAR in December.

Quick answers

How is HSC Chemistry scaled?

UAC scales your raw Chemistry mark against how the whole Chemistry cohort performs across all of their subjects. A strong cohort lifts a subject; a broader one lowers it. Chemistry's average scaled mark is about 32.0/50 per unit versus roughly 25 across all subjects, so it scales up.

Does Chemistry scale up or down?

Relative to other subjects, Chemistry scales up. Its cohort's average scaled mark is about 32.0/50 per unit, against about 25 across the whole state. HSC marks are reported high. Most students sit in Bands 4 to 6. So scaled marks come out lower than HSC marks in almost every subject. What matters is how a subject's scaled marks compare with others. The raw drop in the number is not the point.

What's a good HSC Chemistry mark?

The median student scores about 76, which scales to roughly 33.9/50. Beat that and you're in the top half of the cohort; a mark in the top 10% sits near 90.

What raw mark do I need for a Band 6 in Chemistry?

A Band 6 is an HSC (aligned) mark of 90–100 out of 100. It's set each year when NESA aligns raw marks to standards, so the exact raw mark moves year to year. This tool estimates your scaled mark, which is what actually feeds your ATAR.

Reference

HSC Chemistry scaling table (2025 data)

Approximate scaled mark and percentile for a given HSC Chemistry mark, from UAC's 2025 report. Scaled marks are shown per unit (out of 50).

HSC mark (/100)	Scaled mark (/50)	Percentile
50	19.0 /50	19th
60	22.8 /50	22th
70	27.8 /50	31th
80	36.8 /50	62th
90	43.6 /50	90th
100	50.0 /50	99th+

Source: UAC — Preliminary Report on the Scaling of the 2025 NSW HSC, Table A3. Updated February 2026.

How it works

From raw mark to scaled mark

STEP 1

Enter your mark

Type your raw or predicted HSC Chemistry mark out of 100. Predicted is fine before results day.

STEP 2

UAC scaling applied

Your mark is mapped onto UAC's 2025 scaling curve for Chemistry, drawn from the official percentiles.

STEP 3

See your scaled mark

Get your estimated scaled mark out of 50, your percentile, and how Chemistry scales versus other subjects.

About this HSC Chemistry scaling calculator

This tool estimates the scaled mark you'd receive in HSC Chemistry from your raw HSC mark, using UAC's Preliminary Report on the Scaling of the 2025 NSW HSC — the most recent official scaling data. It's the same source behind our NSW ATAR calculator, so your Chemistry scaled mark here lines up with your full ATAR estimate there.

In 2025, Chemistry scales up relative to other subjects: its average scaled mark was about 32.0/50 per unit, versus roughly 25 across the whole state — above the state average. HSC marks are reported high. Most students sit in Bands 4 to 6. So scaled marks come out lower than HSC marks in almost every subject. What matters is how a subject's scaled marks compare with others. The raw drop in the number is not the point. Scaling isn't a measure of how “hard” the subject is; it reflects how the Chemistry cohort performs across all of their subjects. So two students with the same scaled mark would rank equally. That holds even across different subjects. It assumes every student had sat both.

One point to be clear about. UAC says there is no single scaled mark for a given HSC mark. Each HSC mark can come from a small range of raw marks. So read this as a close estimate for planning, not an exact figure. To see how Chemistry combines with your other subjects, use the NSW ATAR calculator; to compare subjects, browse all HSC scaling calculators or read our methodology.

HSC Chemistry scaling — common questions

I got 90 in HSC Chemistry — what scaled mark is that?

A raw HSC mark of 90 in Chemistry scales to roughly 44 out of 50 (a per-unit scaled mark). For comparison, a raw 80 scales to about 37, and a raw 95 to about 48. These are estimates from the latest UAC scaling pattern — the exact figure shifts a little each year with the cohort.

Does HSC Chemistry scale up or down?

Chemistry is one of the stronger-scaling HSC subjects. Its median student's scaled mark is about 34/50, well above the roughly 25/50 state average, because the Chemistry cohort is academically strong. In absolute terms a scaled mark still sits below the raw HSC mark through the middle of the range — as it does in almost every subject — but Chemistry loses far less than weaker-scaling subjects, which is what people mean when they say it 'scales up'.

Why is my scaled mark lower than my HSC mark in Chemistry?

Because the two numbers measure different things. Your raw HSC mark (out of 100) is aligned to performance bands; your scaled mark (out of 50 per unit) places you against every student in the state on one common scale, adjusted for how strong the Chemistry cohort is. A raw 90 in Chemistry, for instance, becomes about 44/50. Scaled marks sitting below raw HSC marks in the middle of the range is normal and happens in nearly every subject.

What raw mark do I need in Chemistry for a scaled mark of 40?

A scaled mark of about 40/50 is a strong contribution to your ATAR aggregate. In Chemistry, reaching it takes a raw HSC mark of roughly 84 out of 100. Lifting your raw mark above that pushes your scaled mark higher still, up to about 50/50 at the very top.

Is HSC Chemistry worth taking for a high ATAR?

From a pure scaling view, yes — Chemistry is among the better-scaling subjects. But the catch matters: scaling rewards the subject only if you actually perform well in it. A middling mark in Chemistry scales worse than a high mark in a 'weaker' subject. Choose it if it's a genuine strength, not just for the scaling.

What scaled mark is a Band 6 in Chemistry?

A Band 6 in Chemistry starts at a raw HSC mark of 90, which scales to about 44/50. The very top of the band (a raw 100) scales to roughly 50/50. So even within Band 6 there's a real scaled-mark gap between a 90 and a 100.

What HSC mark puts me in the top 10% of Chemistry?

Roughly the top 10% of Chemistry students score a raw HSC mark of about 90 or higher. Your position within the cohort is what drives your scaled mark — the stronger your rank, the higher your scaled result.

How is HSC Chemistry scaled for the ATAR?

UAC scales your Chemistry marks (exam plus moderated assessment) so they compare fairly with every other subject. The scaling reflects how academically strong the Chemistry cohort is — the stronger the field, the higher the subject scales. It's your scaled marks, not your raw HSC marks, that feed into your ATAR aggregate.

HSC Chemistry scaling — see your scaled mark in seconds.