Studies of Religion I and II Stage 6 Syllabus (2009), examined from 2010 — Studies of Religion II (2 unit)
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.
Past papers on this subject span more than one syllabus. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the modules they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the syllabus it was set under.
2009 Syllabus (Studies of Religion I and II Stage 6, examined from 2010) · 2010–present
The modules, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the syllabus, what the NESA exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
- Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945 (16 indicative hours)
- Religious Tradition Depth Studies — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism (22 indicative hours each; three studied)
- Religion and Peace (22 indicative hours)
- Religion and Non-Religion (16 indicative hours)
Area 1 of 4
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.
What the exam asks
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.
Area 2 of 4
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.
What the exam asks
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.
Area 3 of 4
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.
What the exam asks
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.
Area 4 of 4
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.
What the exam asks
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.
Common questions
Is Studies of Religion I the same exam as Studies of Religion II?
No. Studies of Religion II is the 2-unit course and sits a 100-mark paper with four sections (I 30, II 30, III 20, IV 20) over 3 hours plus 5 minutes reading time. Studies of Religion I is the 1-unit course and sits a separate, shorter 50-mark paper. NESA publishes one marking guidelines PDF each year covering both courses, so check which paper a question came from before you use it for practice.
How many religious traditions do I actually need?
Three for the depth studies. Section II requires two 15-mark answers in different traditions, and Section III requires a 20-mark response in a tradition you did not use in Section II — the instruction is printed on the paper. Religion and Peace is a separate study again and must stay within the same two traditions throughout; those two may overlap with your depth study traditions.
Can I write about Jesus, the Buddha or Muhammad in a depth study?
Not as your significant person. Every Section II and Section III depth study question states the exclusion 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. You need a figure or school such as Paul of Tarsus, Martin Luther, Liberation Theology, the XIVth Dalai Lama, Ramanuja, Al-Ghazali or Moses Maimonides.
How many multiple-choice questions are there, and where?
Twenty, all in Section I — Questions 1–10 on Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945 and Questions 12–21 on Religion and Non-Religion, each worth one mark and answered on the multiple-choice answer sheet. There is no multiple choice on the Religious Tradition Depth Studies or on Religion and Peace, so multiple-choice practice on those topics is revision only, not exam simulation.
Does the mark split inside a Section II question stay the same?
No, and this catches people out. Each of the two questions you answer is always worth 15 marks, but the internal split moves every year: 3/6/6 in 2022, 5/5/5 in 2023, 2/5/8 in 2024 and 3/5/7 in 2025. The safe preparation is to be able to write on significant people, ethics and significant practices at two marks, at five marks and at eight marks, rather than rehearsing one fixed-length answer.
Which syllabus applies, and how far back can I use past papers?
The 2009 Studies of Religion I and II Stage 6 Syllabus, implemented from 2010, with outcome codes H1–H9. Nothing has replaced it, so every HSC paper from 2016 to 2025 was written against the same content and the same 30/30/20/20 structure and all of them are usable. One formatting note: in 2016 and 2017 the question numbering restarted in each section — Section II was Questions 1–5 and Section IV was Question 1 — whereas from 2018 onwards the paper runs continuously to Question 33.