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

What Studies of Religion actually asks of you

The external written examination runs for 3 hours of working time after 15 minutes of preparation time (notes on the supplied paper and highlighting the exam booklet only). No materials, notes, texts or information sheet are permitted. You answer one question from each of three sections, each in its own booklet, spending about 60 minutes per section. Section A (Questions 1–2, answer one) is on religious tradition 1 and a major variant; each question may carry one written or pictorial stimulus, and it assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 6. Section B (Questions 3–4, answer one) is on religious tradition 2: Question 3 on responses to suffering, Question 4 on responses to an ethical issue; it assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 7. Section C (Questions 5–9, answer one) offers one question for each depth-study topic — women and religion, contemporary war or conflict, religious ethics, science and religion, and Aboriginal Spirituality — and assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 8. If you answer Question 3 you cannot answer Question 6, and if you answer Question 4 you cannot answer Question 7. No question names a particular religion. TASC rates each criterion A+ to z and the exam supplies 5 of the 13 ratings used for your award; there is no raw mark or percentage. ATARMAxxing's practice papers use a 180-mark study allocation (60 per section, split 20 per criterion) only to help you judge balance — it is not TASC's grading method.

The Studies of Religion exam is Wednesday 18 November 2026, 1.30 pm (3 hours working time (15 minutes preparation time)). Source: TCE timetable.

The 3 areas of study you are examined on

From the REL315124 Studies of Religion Level 3 course document, Version 1c (current for 2026; accreditation renewed without amendment from 1 January 2026), read with the REL315124 External Assessment Specifications Version 3 (February 2026).

• Module 1 — Religious tradition 1 and a major variant
  You study one tradition chosen by your school from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism: what it teaches about the divine and the metaphysical, the purpose of human life and the human condition, how humans relate to the world, how belief is expressed in ritual, worship, story and text, and how death and the afterlife are understood. You also study a major variant — how it developed, how its doctrine and practice differ and why, and where its adherents have cooperated or come into conflict with the wider tradition. The course frames this with Ninian Smart's dimensions and theological, philosophical, historical and sociological lenses.
  In the exam: Section A: one essay from two generic questions, each possibly with a quotation or image stimulus. Assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 6 (origins of the variant, similarities and differences in doctrine, conflict and cooperation).
  Where marks go missing: Examiners want two variants analysed in depth, not a tour of church history. The 2025 report criticised essays that covered every Christian division from Judaism to Methodism and treated 'Protestantism' as a single group; stronger answers worked from practices such as baptism or the Eucharist back to the beliefs that explain them.
• Module 2 — Religious tradition 2: suffering or ethics
  You study a second, different tradition's beliefs about the divine, the metaphysical and human purpose, then investigate one contemporary issue through it: either suffering (how teaching explains suffering, how adherents find guidance and solace through ritual, leaders and texts, why suffering is allowed, with a case study) or ethics (how beliefs such as the sanctity of life underpin ethical views, how commandments, precepts and leaders guide decisions, with a case study on an issue such as ecology, social justice, war, medical intervention or relationships).
  In the exam: Section B: one essay from two — Question 3 on suffering, Question 4 on an ethical issue — both on your second tradition. Assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 7 (the rationale for the tradition's view, how beliefs and practices reinforce it, and how the tradition has responded).
  Where marks go missing: A case study is evidence, not the essay. Both reports said many suffering essays became histories of the Holocaust instead of analysing how Jewish belief and practice helped adherents understand and endure suffering; the 2025 report also found most students ignored the required link to human nature and purpose.
• Module 3 — Depth study topics
  You complete a teacher-guided depth study on one of five topics — women and religion, contemporary war or conflict, religious ethics, science and religion, or Aboriginal Spirituality — and then an independent depth study that extends it. You analyse the historical, social and doctrinal contexts of a tradition's attitude, the range of perspectives within it, the impact of change or lack of change, and the context, purpose, bias and reliability of your sources.
  In the exam: Section C: one essay from five, one per topic. Assesses Criteria 1, 3 and 8 (points of view of adherents, and their coherence and consistency). Questions ask you to draw on both depth studies and on primary and secondary sources.
  Where marks go missing: Answer the question for the topic you actually studied. In ethics, the 2025 report told teachers to move away from secular frameworks such as utilitarianism and Kantian ethics; link any approach (natural law, double effect, situation ethics) to a named tradition and variant. Aboriginal Spirituality answers must be about spirituality, not rights or the Apology.

Full Studies of Religion study-design guide →

How scaling works in Tasmania

In Tasmania, TASC rates each Level 3 and Level 4 course against its criteria, from your school's assessment and the external examination, and combines the ratings into an award from Exceptional Achievement down to Preliminary Achievement. Scaling then converts each award of Satisfactory Achievement or better into a course score on a common scale, by comparing every result a student achieved with the results of every other student across all their courses; in 2025 course scores ran from 1.0 to 26.0. Your Tertiary Entrance score combines your best course scores from any two years of senior secondary study to a total of 60 to 75 points — normally five 15-point courses — and the ATAR is your rank on that score. Scaling is recalculated every year from that year's cohort, so a published score range describes one past cohort and is never a guarantee.

Source: official TASC scaling report (PDF). Last checked 2026-08-18.

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 scales down 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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