Fewer schools are offering senior drama subjects as student enrolments drop.
Drama Queensland says students are avoiding the subjects in pursuit of high ATAR scores.
An advocate for arts education says ATARs need to be reviewed and the drama syllabus overhauled.
Drama enrolments in Queensland high schools have plummeted so precipitously that 42 fewer schools offered the senior subjects this year compared to before ATAR started.
Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) data shows that 276 schools offered drama or drama in practice in 2026, compared to 318 in 2019.
Drama Queensland president Scott Andrews, who teaches at a Brisbane private high school, told ABC Brisbane Breakfast that Queensland had an "enrolment crisis in drama".
"Ever since the introduction of ATAR in 2019, we've seen an almost 40 per cent drop in enrolments in Queensland drama," he said.
Mr Andrews said students, in pursuit of high ATAR scores, were dropping drama due to severe subject scaling.
"Because drama scaling is so severe, in 2025, students who scored 100 lost around 15 points, down to 85," he said.
"Schools are deterring students from taking subjects that score quite poorly, mainly because they want high ATARs.
Chair of the National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE) John Saunders agreed, and said schools were becoming "ATAR factories".
