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WACE · WACE Year 12 ATAR · official past papers

WACE Religion and Life past exams 2020–2025, by year and topic

The official SCSA exams, marking guides and examiner reports we index, organised by topic and subtopic and labelled with the study design it was written under. Open the official paper, work the question in your own workspace, or bring a tutor into it live.

Index last synced 19 August 2026.

Papers, marking guides and examiner reports open on the official SCSA website — they stay official and up to date. Question descriptions below are our own; we never republish exam content. Prefer to be walked through it? See the tutor directory →

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ATARMAxxing indexes 13 official SCSA Religion and Life papers from 2020 to 2025, with 24 questions mapped to 7 topics. Every paper opens on the SCSA website.

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Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content) · 2024–2027Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016) · 2016–2023

WACE Religion and Life exams by year: official papers & marking guidance

Past exams indexed: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020. Open the official SCSA papers, with marking guidance where available.

Year	Study design	Official paper(s)	Marking guidance
2025 WACE Religion and Life exam	Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)	Written examination ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗ · Source booklet ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2024 WACE Religion and Life exam	Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)	Written examination ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2023 WACE Religion and Life exam	Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)	Exam ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2022 WACE Religion and Life exam	Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)	Exam ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2021 WACE Religion and Life exam	Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)	Written examination ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2020 WACE Religion and Life exam	Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)	Written examination ↗ · Ratified marking key ↗	Marking guidance ↗

13 official papers across 6 years (2020–2025), 6 with marking guidance, published by WACE. These span more than one study design; the most recent is Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content). Earlier papers may cover material that has since changed.

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Religious inquiry and learning skills (Units 3 and 4) · 5 mapped questions

Reliability, usefulness and contestability of sources and data (tables, graphs, indices)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q1(a)-(d)10 marksUsing box-office data for two religious films, constructs an argument about their relative success, suggests a reason for their contrasting takings, evaluates a source's usefulness for gauging a society's religious commitment, and outlines the purpose of a second source.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Research design and data-collection methods

2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q420 marksOutlines why framing research and focus questions matters before starting a research project, names three further factors an effective research design needs, and names, describes and weighs the advantages and disadvantages of one data-collection method.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Critically evaluating a proposition: the Religion and Life essay

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Three Q8/Q920 marksChoice of two essays: critically evaluate that religion's primary role is helping individuals search for meaning and purpose, or that religion's overall influence on society and people's lives is more positive than negative.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Three Q8/Q920 marksChoice of two essays: examine, with past and/or present examples, the influence religion has on society, or the role religion plays in the life of one significant religious person.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section Three Q7/Q820 marksChoice of two essays: discuss how societal values and attitudes, past or present, shape the way people interact with religion, or discuss how religions are shaped by their interaction with particular places, times and/or people.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Terms, concepts and framing research questions · Origin, purpose and context of sources — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

The search for meaning (Units 3 and 4) · 4 mapped questions

Social factors and how people interact with religion (Unit 3)

2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q212 marksUsing short public figures' reflections on gratitude and on science, explains one view of religion that leads people toward a religious way of life and one that leads people toward a non-religious way of life.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q65 marksEvaluates the impact of one social factor on how people interact with religion.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The life, context and religion of one significant religious person (Unit 4)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q1(e)-(f)10 marksOutlines two factors that shaped how a film director (the significant religious person for this source set) interacted with religion, then analyses the interplay between his life, context and religion using at least two sources.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section Two Q422 marksDescribes key aspects of a chosen significant religious person's life, their context and the place of religion in their life, explains an example of their interaction with that context and with their religion, and discusses the interplay between the person, their context and their religion.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Religious belief and practice (Units 3 and 4) · 3 mapped questions

How one belief, teaching, ritual or practice developed over time (Unit 3)

2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section One Q115 marksOutlines a significant point of change in a religion's teaching on capital punishment, discusses how factors such as religious leaders, texts and commentary influence the development of religious teachings, and constructs a response supporting or refuting the argument that religious teachings can and should develop over time.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The concept of freedom from a religious perspective (Unit 4)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q410 marksDescribes the concept of freedom from the perspective of one studied religion, comments on whether that religious concept enhances or diminishes an individual's own sense of freedom, and explains how a related belief, teaching, ritual or practice can have value for religious and non-religious people alike.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q121 marksOutlines the context and overall perspective on freedom in a source, distinguishes 'negative liberty' from 'positive liberty' in a second source, evaluates that source's reliability, discusses whether the two perspectives align with one religion's concept of freedom, and discusses the contestability of a claim that 'free will' societies produce chaos.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Beliefs, teachings, rituals or practices that help the search for freedom (Unit 4) — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Religious structures and processes (Units 3 and 4) · 3 mapped questions

How a religion uses a structure or process to address an important issue (Unit 3)

2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q515 marksSummarises an important issue a religion has had to address, describes the key elements of the structure or process used, explains how it was applied, and evaluates whether it was effective.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section One Q218 marksIdentifies advantages and disadvantages of the Quakers' consensus decision-making process, discusses its effectiveness in addressing important issues, and compares it with a structure or process used by a second religion for the same purpose.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

How and why a religion develops and expresses its beliefs (Unit 4)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q715 marksIdentifies two reasons a religion develops or expresses its beliefs over time, demonstrates this with one historical example, discusses how that development can be viewed differently, and suggests how the religion might develop or express its beliefs in future.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The place of religion in society (Units 3 and 4) · 5 mapped questions

Differing ways religion is viewed in society (Unit 3)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q218 marksDistinguishes 'conversion' from 'religious switching', draws a conclusion about global switching patterns, suggests reasons for differing switching rates between two named faiths, evaluates the reliability of the switching data, identifies and justifies an outlier in a linked data set, and predicts how changing religious affiliation could affect religion's influence in society.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The role religion plays in the public life of Australia or another nation (Unit 4)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q314 marksReads a Government Restrictions Index and a Social Hostilities Index across several nations, identifies the extreme scorers on each, describes the relationship between the two indices, comments on one named nation's position given its religious diversity, and examines the interplay between religion and public life.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q55 marksJustifies, with a range of supporting examples, the view that religion cannot be avoided in twenty-first-century public life.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q714 marksIdentifies three distinct ways religion plays a role in the public life of Australia or another nation, describes two of them, and evaluates the impact of one on that nation's public life.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section One Q317 marksCompares the religious affiliation of a nation's general population with that of its lawmakers, outlines the impact this gap may have on public life, summarises the views and reasoning of several named religious leaders on a public issue, and argues whether those views are achievable.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Religion in historical contexts (Units 3 and 4) · 2 mapped questions

The significance of a religious event or issue from the past (Unit 3)

2025Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section Two Q615 marksNames a past religious event or issue and its time period, describes the historical context in which it occurred, outlines two reasons for its significance, and discusses how that significance can be read differently by different groups.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The interplay between a religion and an issue within a particular historical context (Unit 4)

2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section Two Q517 marksDiscusses the historical context of a chosen past issue that involved a religion, explains why the religion was involved, and explains two examples that illustrate the interaction between the religion and the issue.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Current issues for religion (Units 3 and 4) · 2 mapped questions

The nature of a current issue generating tension or conflict, and how a religion responds (Unit 3)

2024Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2024 (current, v5; v6 from 2027 unchanged for exam/Unit 3–4 content)Written examination Section One Q313 marksUsing a four-source set on conditions in the global fashion industry, explains how the industry's practices generate tension or conflict in society and summarises how, and why, a named faith-based aid organisation responded to the issues raised.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

A current issue for a religion and how the religion interacts with it (Unit 4)

2023Previous Year 12 syllabus (in force since the first WACE ATAR course examinations in 2016)Exam Section Two Q611 marksIdentifies a current issue for a religion, describes its key features, explains why the religion responds to the issue, and explains how the religion interacts with it.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

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