Explore Studies of Religion at accredited Level 3. Course level is distinct from the school year in which you study it.
Confirm your cohort: Check the linked course version and school availability for your cohort.
What will I learn?
Module 1 — Religious tradition 1 and a major variant
Accredited course guide — check versionYou 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.
Module 2 — Religious tradition 2: suffering or ethics
Accredited course guide — check versionYou 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).
Module 3 — Depth study topics
Accredited course guide — check versionYou 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.
How will I be assessed?
School arrangements: TASC course assessment applies to the accredited course and level, whether you take it in Year 11 or Year 12. Check criteria, work requirements and any external assessment in the course document, plus your provider’s internal assessment outline.
Needs verification: Accredited course guide (Studies of Religion Level 3 (REL315124), Version 1c (accreditation renewed without amendment as ongoing from 1 January 2026, with no expiry date, so it applies in 2027), read with the External Assessment Specifications Version 3 (February 2026)): 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. Confirm the syllabus and assessment schedule for your own completion year.
Progression and companion subjects
No complete companion or exclusion review is attached to this profile. Check the official course-entry conditions, language eligibility and your school’s sequence before enrolling. Links between resource hubs show related learning; they do not establish a compulsory prerequisite.
Will I find it hard?
Difficulty depends on your experience, interests, teaching and assessment. These are our reflection prompts, not an official difficulty rating.
- Try explaining a case, source or argument with evidence. Does this type of writing interest you?
- Look at the amount of terminology, examples and source material in the sample rather than assuming the subject is easy.
Does it scale up or down?
TASC awards and scaled TE scores are distinct. The old requirement for three final-year results was removed from 2025.
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Scaling is not a measure of difficulty or a guaranteed bonus. Prioritise content you can engage with and required subjects for courses you are considering.
Try a little of the subject
What is a religion? Smart's dimensions and the four disciplinary lenses
1. Why the introduction to religious traditions is examinable The opening strand of Module 1 looks like background reading, but it supplies the analytical vocabulary every exam essay needs. The course document groups it under four headings: theological , philosophical , historical and sociological issues. No exam question is set on this strand by itself, yet Criterion 3 element E03 asks you to analyse different perspectives on beliefs, values and practices, and the course footnote explains that perspectives can be historical, philosophical, theological, intercultural or sociological. In other words, the four lenses are the perspectives the criterion is looking for. The 2024 assessment report makes the same point from the marker's side: because Studies of Religion is a transdisciplinary course, insights from sociology, philosophy, history and theology can be built into responses with confidence. A response that only describes what adherents believe is working at the C standard ("explains beliefs and values"). A response that asks why a belief arose (historical), whether it is logically coherent (philosophical), what it claims about the divine (theological) and what it does for a community (sociological) is already analysing and assessing. Use this note as a toolkit. Every time you revise a belief or practice in Modules 1 to 3, run it through the four lenses and through Ninian Smart's seven dimensions. By the exam, you want to be able to turn any fact into a sentence that explains its significance , which the course glossary defines as why the information matters: its impact on individuals, on the tradition, or on the evolution of belief and practice. 2. Theological issues: the divine is understood in different ways The course makes two theological claims you should be ab
Original practice question: Explain how TWO of Ninian Smart's dimensions work together in ONE practice of a religious tradition you have studied.
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Worked solution
This is ATARMAxxing’s original sample learning material. It is not an official assessment task or a prediction of your school’s workload.
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Sources, versions and verification dates
Profile source metadata last checked: 2026-11-14. A source check is not an endorsement by the authority or confirmation that a future course version is unchanged.
- ATARMAxxing Studies of Religion Level 3 (REL315124), Version 1c (accreditation renewed without amendment as ongoing from 1 January 2026, with no expiry date, so it applies in 2027), read with the External Assessment Specifications Version 3 (February 2026) guide — ATARMAxxing; 2026-11-14. Original existing study guide, not an independent official verification or a forecast of a future syllabus.
- Studies of Religion REL315124 — Level 3 — TASC; 2026-11-12. Official source snapshot; Course span 2024 onwards. Check accreditation and school delivery for your cohort.