Sociology Level 3 BHS315116 course document current for 2026 (Version 2d) and External Assessment Specifications Version 2, March 2026
The TASC written examination is 2 hours working time plus 15 minutes preparation time. There are two sections, each with four essay questions of which you answer one, and each answer goes in its own answer booklet. Section A (Questions 1 to 4) is drawn from Module 1 only — Socialisation and Social Control, Identity Construction, Alternative Sociological Theories of Deviance, and Relativity of Deviance — and assesses Criteria 1 and 7. Section B (Questions 5 to 8) is drawn from Module 2 only — Stratification, Power and Politics, Interrelationships of Institutions, and Changes Over Time across family, education, work and media — and assesses Criteria 2 and 7. Each section supplies four stimulus items and a suggested working time of about 60 minutes. TASC does not mark the exam out of a total: every criterion is reported as an extended rating from A+ to z, combined into a final external rating of A, B, C, t or z for Criteria 1, 2 and 7. ATARMAxxing's practice papers use an indicative 100-mark scheme (50 marks per chosen essay, split 30/20 between the module criterion and Criterion 7) purely so progress can be tracked; this is not an official TASC mark and every generated page states so alongside a matching rating band. Module 3 (Equality and Inequality) and Module 4 (Sociological Research Methods) are assessed internally and through the externally marked Investigation Project folio (Criteria 3 to 6, plus Criterion 7), and never appear on the written exam.
Past papers on this subject span more than one course document. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the modules they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the course document it was set under.
Course document Version 2–2d (content unchanged since 11 January 2016; renewed without amendment through Version 2d, current for 2026) · 2016–current
The modules, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the course document, what the TASC exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
- Module 1 — Socialisation: Conformity and Deviance
- Module 2 — Institutions: Power and Politics
- Module 3 — Equality and Inequality (not examined in the written exam)
- Module 4 — Sociological Research Methods (folio; not examined in the written exam)
Area 1 of 4
Module 1 — Socialisation: Conformity and Deviance
Culture, statuses and roles; primary, secondary and tertiary socialisation and its agents (family, school, peers, media, workplace); formal and informal social control, sanctions and internalisation of norms; the four sociological perspectives (functionalist, conflict, feminist, interactionist) applied to socialisation; identity construction through Cooley's looking-glass self and Mead's stages of self; deviance as relative to time, place, gender, culture and age; Durkheim's functions of deviance, Hirschi's social control theory, Becker's labelling theory, Sutherland's differential association, and structural strain theory (Durkheim's anomie and Merton's five adaptations); patterns of crime and imprisonment in contemporary Australian society.
What the course document lists under this area · 9 points
- Culture, society, statuses and roles; norms, values, subcultures and counter-cultures
- Forms and agents of socialisation, from primary to tertiary; resocialisation and anticipatory socialisation
- Social control and conformity: formal and informal sanctions, internalisation of norms, agency
- Functionalist, conflict, feminist and interactionist perspectives on socialisation
- Identity construction: Cooley's looking-glass self and Mead's play stage, game stage and generalised other
- Deviance as a relative concept (time, place, gender, culture, age) and who has power to define it
- Durkheim's four functions of deviance and Hirschi's social control theory (attachment, commitment, involvement, belief)
- Becker's labelling theory (primary/secondary deviance, degradation ceremonies) and Sutherland's differential association
- Structural strain theory: Durkheim's anomie and Merton's five adaptations; moral panic and Australian crime/imprisonment patterns
What the exam asks
One essay chosen from four Section A questions, each tied to a fixed topic in this order on recent papers: social control and conformity, identity construction, deviance theories, and the relativity of deviance. Each question is paired with its own stimulus item and asks students to explain and evaluate the concept, then analyse and evaluate at least two alternative sociological theories using that stimulus and course knowledge.
Where marks go missing
Listing a theory's features without naming the theorist or evaluating a strength and a limitation — the 2025 assessment report notes the deviance question (chosen by roughly seven in ten candidates that year) rewards two or three theories developed in depth over four or five mentioned superficially, and penalises essays that only restate the stimulus instead of connecting it to theory.
12 real TASC questions indexed on this area →
Area 2 of 4
Module 2 — Institutions: Power and Politics
Institution as a sociological concept (Robertson's stable cluster of values, norms, statuses, roles and groups) and Weber's definition of power; legislation as contested ground, e.g. the Family Law Act 1975, the 1996 Enrolment Benchmark Adjustment and the 2001 SES schools funding model; the family (forms, change since 1975, government policy); education (latent and manifest functions, hidden curriculum, meritocracy, cultural capital and habitus, funding and retention); work (sectors, casualisation, automation, alienation, unemployment and underemployment); media (first and second media age, ownership concentration, agenda setting, gatekeeping, moral panic); and, for each institution, its interrelationships, change over time, and role in stratification from functionalist, conflict, feminist and interactionist perspectives.
What the course document lists under this area · 6 points
- Institution as a concept (Robertson 1989) and Weber's definition of power; legislation as contested ground
- Family: forms, change since the Family Law Act 1975, and government policy
- Education: latent/manifest functions, hidden curriculum, meritocracy, cultural capital and habitus, funding and retention
- Work: sectors, casualisation, automation, alienation, unemployment and underemployment
- Media: first and second media age, ownership concentration, agenda setting, gatekeeping and moral panic
- Each institution's interrelationships, change over time and role in stratification, across four theoretical perspectives
What the exam asks
One essay chosen from four Section B questions, each requiring detailed treatment of at least one named institution (family, education, work or media) from among stratification, power and politics, interrelationships, and change over time. Recent papers ordered them Q5 stratification, Q6 power and politics, Q7 interrelationships, Q8 changes over time, and supplied one stimulus item per institution.
Where marks go missing
The 2026 External Assessment Specifications require detailed treatment of ONE named institution, while the 2023–2025 papers instead asked for 'at least two' institutions and rewarded that coverage — always answer to the paper's actual wording on the day, and structure the essay so the required institution(s) get sustained, theory-linked analysis rather than a shallow tour of all four.
12 real TASC questions indexed on this area →
Area 3 of 4
Module 3 — Equality and Inequality (not examined in the written exam)
How social categories — gender, ethnicity, Indigenous people, age, and rural/regional Australians (two are studied) — are constructed through stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination; how socialisation and institutions reproduce structured inequality; and the social, political and economic causes and consequences of that inequality.
What the course document lists under this area · 2 points
- Social categories (gender, ethnicity, Indigenous people, age, rural/regional Australians) and how they are constructed
- Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination; structured inequality reproduced through socialisation and institutions
What the exam asks
Assessed internally against Criterion 3 and is not part of the written examination. Concepts from this module may still support a Section B answer about stratification, but a written-exam question will never be set directly on it.
Where marks go missing
Treating a practice essay on gender, Indigenous inequality or another social category as exam preparation — these are internal-assessment and folio content, not written-exam material, so time is better spent on Module 1 and 2 theory and essay technique.
Area 4 of 4
Module 4 — Sociological Research Methods (folio; not examined in the written exam)
The social inquiry approach; research methods (surveys, interviews, case studies, non-participant observation); the four ethical considerations (voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality); and the Investigation Project — an 800 to 1,200 word report, including the student's own primary research and APA referencing, on one of three set inequality topics for one social category.
What the course document lists under this area · 3 points
- Social inquiry methods: surveys, interviews, case studies, non-participant observation
- Research ethics: voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality
- Investigation Project: 800–1,200 word primary-research report with APA referencing, externally assessed on Criteria 5, 6 and 7
What the exam asks
Assessed internally against Criteria 4 to 6 and externally through the Investigation Project folio, which is graded against Criteria 5, 6 and 7 and submitted separately from the written exam via TRACS.
Where marks go missing
Confusing folio research-design questions (sampling, ethics, method choice) with exam content. The written exam never sets a research-methods or folio-planning question; keep folio work and exam essay practice as two separate preparation streams.
Common questions
Is the Sociology written exam marked out of 100?
No. TASC reports the real exam using extended alpha ratings (A+ to z) for Criteria 1, 2 and 7 — there is no numerical exam mark. ATARMAxxing's practice papers use an indicative 100-mark scheme (50 per chosen essay) only so you can track progress against a stated model, and every practice page names it as indicative alongside a matching rating band.
How many essays do I actually write, and how long do I get?
Two: one Section A essay chosen from four options on Module 1, and one Section B essay chosen from four options on Module 2, each in its own answer booklet. Total working time is 2 hours (about 60 minutes per section) plus 15 minutes of preparation time, during which you may read the paper and take notes but not begin writing.
Are Modules 3 and 4 on the written exam?
No. Module 3 (Equality and Inequality) and Module 4 (Sociological Research Methods) are assessed internally and through the externally marked Investigation Project folio — an 800 to 1,200 word report on an inequality topic. The written exam covers Module 1 and Module 2 only.
Can I use Sociology exam papers from a few years ago?
Yes. BHS315116's course document has been renewed without content amendment since Version 2 in January 2016 (the current Version 2d, from 25 September 2025, made only minor administrative changes), so the section structure, topics and Criteria 1, 2 and 7 have stayed the same across recent papers. Check each paper's exact question wording against the current External Assessment Specifications (Version 2, March 2026), since the number of institutions each Section B question asks you to cover has varied between papers.
What do Criteria 1, 2 and 7 actually assess?
Criterion 1 assesses theories about socialisation, identity construction and deviance (examined in Section A). Criterion 2 assesses theories about institutions (examined in Section B). Criterion 7 assesses how well you communicate sociological ideas, information, opinions, arguments and conclusions, and is rated on both essays.