2026 WACE Religion and Life exam: What to learn from last year's mistakes

WACE Religion and Life is on Friday 13 November at 2 pm, WA time.

Last year's mean was 58.61%. The examiner report highlights a problem worth fixing now: candidates could address a question without adequately supporting the reasoning connecting sources, course content and key concepts.

I've checked the report and marking key. Here are four lessons to take into your revision.

1. Question 1(c): Evaluate what the source can actually establish

Where an answer loses marks: The question asked about the usefulness of film box-office information for determining religious commitment. Listing advantages or limitations without a judgement was below the top criterion.

What you needed: Consider the limits of the evidence and reach a justified conclusion. Ticket sales do not establish viewers' beliefs or reasons for attending.

My drill: write “this source helps establish…” and “this source cannot establish…” before your final judgement. That forces you to evaluate usefulness for the stated purpose, instead of treating all information as equally persuasive.

2. Question 1(f): Analyse the interplay

Where an answer loses marks: A biography or a list of religious influences does not complete the analytical task.

What you needed: Analyse the relationship between Scorsese's life, context and religion, using evidence from at least two supplied sources.

My practice method: draw arrows between the three elements, then explain those arrows in sentences. Choose evidence that supports a relationship, rather than dropping in two quotations simply to meet the source count. Ask how an influence shaped a response and how that response interacted with the surrounding context.

3. Source 3: Explain the relationship between the indices

Where students went wrong: The report says candidates handled identifying the chart's indices more successfully than explaining their interrelationships for a particular country.

What they should have done: Use the country's position in relation to both measures and explain the connection the question asks about.

My chart drill: first describe the observation accurately, then separate it from your interpretation. Check the axes and labels before drawing conclusions. Don't turn an association into a proven cause unless the available evidence supports that claim.

4. Short answers: Give your example a job

Where students went wrong: Short-answer success varied with the relevance of supporting information and examples.

What they should have done: Select evidence that substantiates the particular claim being made.

My final check: after every example, add a sentence explaining how it answers the question. If that link is difficult to write, the example may be familiar but poorly chosen. Practise swapping the question's command verb and deciding how your response would need to change.

For essays, plan the argument before writing paragraphs. A useful plan contains claims, evidence and links to the question, rather than a list of everything you remember about a religion.

Sources: 2025 examiner report and 2025 marking key. The drills are my suggestions; key-based examples describe answer requirements, not measured error rates.

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Discuss this WACE Religion and Life exam breakdown on the subject board.