11–12Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus (2026)

Society and Culture Life Skills provides opportunities for students to learn about themselves and the world around them. Students explore how individuals and groups interact with and participate in society and apply this learning in a range of everyday contexts.

Through the study of Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12, students:

• learn about the social world by investigating the structure and diversity of social and cultural groups, and the roles of individuals within them
• learn how data is gathered and used to develop an understanding of the social world
• develop safe and ethical research skills to participate in social research
• plan and participate in a research project of personal interest
• develop knowledge and skills to participate in their communities, including communicating, interacting and building relationships to foster a sense of belonging.

The following focus areas can be studied throughout Year 11 (120 hours) and Year 12 (120 hours).

• The social world
• Identity and the social self
• Communication and interaction
• Research project
• Social and cultural continuity and change
• Popular culture
• Social conformity and non-conformity
• Social inclusion and exclusion
• Worldview

For Society and Culture Life Skills:

• Students are required to demonstrate achievement of one or more Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 outcomes.
• Outcomes and content should be selected to meet the particular needs of individual students.
• The outcomes describe the knowledge, understanding and skills that students are expected to demonstrate as a result of teaching and learning. Teachers should use the outcomes to determine the scope of learning for the content included in each focus area.
• The focus areas provide possible frameworks for addressing the Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 outcomes and content and are suggestions only. Teachers have the flexibility to select, group and sequence outcomes and content to meet the needs, strengths, goals, interests and prior learning of their students.
• The Social and cultural concepts and social research content is to be integrated throughout the course as appropriate to the strengths and needs of individual students.
• Teachers may draw from case studies throughout the course to develop students’ knowledge and understanding.
• Students can undertake a research project exploring a social or a cultural issue that is of interest to them. The research project can be undertaken individually or collaboratively, and students can participate in a whole project or parts of a project.
• Examples provided in the content are suggestions only. Teachers may use the examples provided or use other examples to meet the particular needs of individual students.

In the Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus the concepts of individuals, society, culture, identity, environment, power, authority, and continuity and change are used to understand how individuals relate to each other and to larger social and cultural systems across different contexts.

The Loading  can be used to organise and guide the learning in each focus area. The syllabus content also allows students to learn about and apply other relevant social and cultural concepts.

Throughout the Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus students have the opportunity to engage in a range of Loading  appropriate to the focus area. Undertaking research supports students’ understanding of Social and cultural concepts and how they interact and influence society. By planning and conducting research, students learn the importance of ethical research practices and processes to ensure they engage responsibly and respectfully with the individuals involved in their research activities.

The Social and cultural concepts and the social research content is to be integrated throughout the course as appropriate to the strengths and needs of individual students.

The Society and Culture Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus embeds the use of case studies throughout course content. The use of a case study allows students to deepen their understanding of the Social and cultural concepts and their interaction, and to apply their knowledge to social or cultural groups. The syllabus specifies where case studies can be used and the content for each. Students may participate in a full case study or selected aspects of a case study.

The selection of case studies must include subject matter that is:

• from the last 10 years
• from an Australian and international context.

Schools are required to ensure they follow Loading  in delivering the Society and Culture 11–12 Life Skills Syllabus.