Studies of Religion Scaling HSC 2026: Does It Scale Up or Down?

What Studies of Religion actually asks of you

The HSC examination is 100 marks over 3 hours of working time plus 5 minutes reading time. It has four sections, numbered with Roman numerals, and the section totals 30/30/20/20 have held unchanged across every paper from 2016 to 2025. Section I (30 marks, about 50 minutes) is the only section with multiple choice and splits in two: Part A — Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945, with Questions 1–10 as one-mark multiple choice on the answer sheet and a five-mark short answer at Question 11; and Part B — Religion and Non-Religion, with Questions 12–21 as one-mark multiple choice and a five-mark short answer at Question 22. Section II (30 marks, about 1 hour) sets one 15-mark Religious Tradition Depth Study question per tradition at Questions 23–27; you attempt two, in different traditions. Section III (20 marks, about 35 minutes) sets one 20-mark extended response per tradition at Questions 28–32 and you attempt one, in a third tradition you did not use in Section II. Section IV (20 marks, about 35 minutes) is the compulsory Religion and Peace extended response at Question 33. The internal mark split inside a Section II question changes every year — 3/6/6 in 2022, 5/5/5 in 2023, 2/5/8 in 2024, 3/5/7 in 2025 — so drilling one fixed shape is a mistake. Sections III and IV are marked against four stated criteria: knowledge and understanding relevant to the question, significant aspects of religion used to illustrate the answer, language and terminology appropriate to the study of religion, and ideas presented clearly in a cohesive response. School-based assessment runs alongside the examination and is set by NESA's assessment and reporting requirements for the course.

The Studies of Religion exam is Thursday 22 October 2026, 9:25 am (3 hours 5 minutes (5 minutes reading plus 3 hours working)). Source: HSC timetable.

The 4 areas of study you are examined on

From the Studies of Religion I and II Stage 6 Syllabus (2009), examined from 2010 — Studies of Religion II (2 unit).

• Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945 (16 indicative hours)
  Two strands run through this topic. The first is contemporary Aboriginal spiritualities: the Dreaming as the determinant of that spirituality, expressed through kinship, ceremonial life and obligations to the land and people; the continuing effect of dispossession through separation from the land, separation from kinship groups and the Stolen Generations; and the Land Rights movement, where you need terra nullius, Native Title, Mabo and Wik, plus the argument that the Dreaming itself underpins the land rights claim. The second strand is the religious landscape from 1945 to the present, read through census data — Christianity as the major tradition but declining, post-war and later immigration, denominational switching, the rise of New Age religions, and secularism. The topic closes on dialogue: Christian ecumenical movements including the National Council of Churches in Australia and the NSW Ecumenical Council, interfaith dialogue in multifaith Australia, and the relationship between Aboriginal spiritualities and religious traditions in the process of Reconciliation.
  In the exam: This is Part A of Section I, so it is examined as ten one-mark multiple-choice questions plus one five-mark short answer. Papers read for this hub tested the outcome of the Wik decision (2025, 2022), whether 2021 census statements about Christianity's decline and Hinduism's growth were true (2025, 2024, 2023), an aim of the National Council of Churches in Australia (2025), which listed activity counts as secular (2025), a move from a Catholic to a Pentecostal church as denominational switching (2025, 2023), and religious leaders backing the Uluru Statement from the Heart as support for Reconciliation (2023). Question 11 has asked why religious dialogue matters in Australia post-1945 (2025), for the impact of one named Christian ecumenical organisation (2024), for the relationship between the Dreaming and the land rights movement (2023), and for the importance of interfaith dialogue from a stimulus quotation (2022).
  Where marks go missing: Writing about Aboriginal spirituality in the past tense, or treating dispossession as a finished historical event. The syllabus verb is 'discuss the continuing effect', and the multiple-choice distractors are built on exactly that distinction. The second trap is quoting a census percentage with no year attached — the marks sit in what changed between 2016 and 2021 and why, not in the number.
• Religious Tradition Depth Studies — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism (22 indicative hours each; three studied)
  Each depth study has three parts. Significant People and Ideas asks for the contribution of ONE significant person or school of thought other than the founding figure, and the effect that person or school had on the tradition — Asoka or Tenzin Palmo or Pure Land for Buddhism, Paul of Tarsus or Hildegard of Bingen or Liberation Theology for Christianity, Shankara or the Bhakti Movement or Gandhi for Hinduism, Imam Al-Shafi or Rabi'a al-Adawiyya or Al-Ghazali for Islam, Rashi or Maimonides or Jewish Feminism for Judaism. Ethics asks for ONE area only — bioethics, environmental ethics or sexual ethics — in the chosen tradition. Significant Practices asks for ONE practice from a fixed list: Pilgrimage, Temple Puja or Wesak in Buddhism; Baptism, Marriage ceremony or Saturday/Sunday worship in Christianity; Marriage ceremony, Pilgrimage or Temple Worship in Hinduism; Friday prayer at the mosque, Funeral ceremony or Hajj in Islam; death and mourning, marriage or Synagogue services in Judaism. The unifying idea, and the one the 20-mark questions keep returning to, is the tradition as a living, integrated belief system that answers the enduring questions of human existence.
  In the exam: This content carries 50 of the 100 marks, across Section II and Section III, and you need three traditions to cover both. Section II sets the same three-part question for each tradition at Questions 23–27 and you answer two of them; Section III sets the same 20-mark extended response for each tradition at Questions 28–32 and you answer one, in a tradition you did not use in Section II. Recent Section II parts have asked students to describe how one practice expresses one belief (2025, 3 marks), explain two ethical teachings in one ethics area (2025, 5 marks), evaluate how a significant person gives direction for a meaningful life (2025, 7 marks), outline an ethical teaching and then explain how it is reflected in one ethics area (2024, 2 and 5 marks), and explain from a stimulus how a listed practice expresses belief (2024, 8 marks). Section III has asked for an analysis of the impact of one significant person as an agent of change (2024), how the tradition guides adherents towards living a better life (2023), and how both diversity and unity are expressed within the tradition (2022).
  Where marks go missing: Choosing the founding figure. Every question spells the exclusion out in its own wording — other than the Buddha, other than Jesus, other than the Vedas, other than Muhammad and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, other than Abraham or Moses — and an answer built on the founder scores nothing for that part. The second trap is repeating a tradition: Section II takes two traditions and Section III must be a third, so a student who prepared only two has no legal combination on the day.
• Religion and Peace (22 indicative hours)
  This topic is studied in the SAME two religious traditions throughout, and the whole thing is one argument in four moves. First, the understanding of peace in each tradition as it is informed by significant writings in the sacred texts — the Sutta Pitaka and Dhammapada in Buddhism, the New Testament in Christianity, the Bhagavad Gita in Hinduism, the Qur'an and Hadith in Islam, and the Prophetic vision of peace on Earth in Judaism. Second, the principal teachings about peace in each tradition. Third, how each tradition guides the individual towards inner peace, through prayer, meditation, ritual and ethical living. Fourth, how each tradition is actually contributing to world peace — the organisations, initiatives and statements that make the claim concrete rather than aspirational.
  In the exam: Religion and Peace is Section IV: one compulsory 20-mark extended response at Question 33, usually built on a short stimulus statement your answer must engage with, and marked against the same four criteria as Section III. Papers read for this hub asked students to explain how TWO traditions support adherents towards inner peace (2025), analyse how ONE tradition's values and actions foster inner peace (2024 — the only single-tradition year among those read), evaluate the response of TWO traditions to the issue of peace (2023) and analyse how TWO traditions encourage adherents to seek peace in order to transform the world (2022).
  Where marks go missing: Writing about peace in the abstract. The marks are in the specifics: a named sacred writing, the principal teaching it grounds, and a real practice or organisation. The second trap is preparing for two traditions and then reading the question too quickly — 2024 asked for one tradition where 2025, 2023 and 2022 asked for two, so the number of traditions is a live variable, not a habit.
• Religion and Non-Religion (16 indicative hours)
  This topic sets religious and non-religious worldviews side by side. It opens on the religious dimension in human history — animism, polytheism and monotheism — and what that dimension has provided: meaning and purpose for the individual, social cohesion, and social transformation. It then turns to the global distribution of the five major religious traditions as statistical data, and to the rise of new religious expressions and spiritualities, together with the influences behind that rise: materialism, scientific progress, growing ecological awareness, and disenchantment with traditional religious practice and guidance. The second half covers non-religious worldviews — the essential features of Atheism and Agnosticism, the positions of Rational Humanism and Scientific Humanism, and how these determine aspirations and behaviour. It closes on a direct comparison: the response of ONE religious and ONE non-religious belief system to the transcendent, the human person and social responsibility.
  In the exam: This is Part B of Section I — ten one-mark multiple-choice questions plus a five-mark short answer at Question 22. The multiple choice leans heavily on classification: reading a short dialogue and naming the speaker an agnostic (2025, 2024, 2023), identifying animism from a description (2024, 2022), separating monotheism from polytheism (2025, 2023, 2022), spotting Scientific Humanism from its emphasis on reason and experiment (2025, 2024), and reading global-distribution facts about which country has the most Buddhists or where Islam is dominant (2023, 2022). Question 22 has asked how the religious dimension has been a force for social transformation (2025), for the global distribution of two traditions with statistical data (2024), how humanism influences people to do the right thing (2023) and how the religious dimension may promote social cohesion (2022).
  Where marks go missing: Blurring atheism, agnosticism and humanism. The multiple choice is written to catch exactly that — an agnostic is uncertain, an atheist denies, and a humanist may be either but is defined by placing human welfare and reason at the centre. The second trap is treating Question 22 as a definitions question: it almost always supplies a stimulus or names a concept such as social cohesion or social transformation, and expects the concept applied, with examples, rather than defined.

Full Studies of Religion study-design guide →

How scaling works in New South Wales

In New South Wales, NESA reports an HSC mark for each course, but the ATAR is not built from those marks. UAC takes the raw examination and assessment marks and scales each course separately, so that a mark means the same thing no matter which course it came from. A course whose students perform strongly across everything else they study is scaled up; a course whose students perform less strongly elsewhere is scaled down. UAC then adds your best 10 units of scaled marks: the best two units of English, which are compulsory, plus the best eight remaining units. That aggregate is ranked statewide and reported as an ATAR. Scaled marks are usually lower than HSC marks, and the statewide average scaled mark is close to 25 out of 50.

What scaling is not

Scaling is not a difficulty rating and it is not a bonus. It compares how the students in one subject performed across every other subject they took, so a subject moves because of its cohort, not because of the paper. The consequence is practical: you cannot scale your way out of a weak result. The only lever you control is the raw mark, and the fastest way to move that is full-length timed practice against the real exam format.

Questions

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