Departmental Courses
- GCSE Religious Studies (AQA)
- GCE Religious Studies (AQA)
Welcome to the Religious Studies Department
Welcome to our Ethics & Philosophy department. Our courses address different religious and non-religious responses to ethical issues
The aim of this subject is to enable students to relate to people of different beliefs and none, so that they can better understand a diversity of attitudes and lifestyles. From these studies, students are encouraged to reflect on their own understanding, beliefs and opinions.
Year 7 and 8 students study Beliefs & Values, focusing on the big questions of life and how students can respond to them. Students receive two one-hour lessons per fortnight for this.
Units of work include the following themes:
- Journeys (including the study of Buddhism),
- Leadership (a study of Christianity),
- Religion & Art (a study of a number of religions)
- Death and the Afterlife (a study of Christianity and Islam).
There also 2 units of work that introduce students to Christianity and Islam; these are the religions that will be studied in Key Stage 4.
Students are encouraged to self-evaluate and to assess each other’s work on an on-going basis. At the end of each unit, all students in the year group are formally assessed either through project work, oral work or extended writing; the teacher marks this work following National Curriculum levels.
As a core subject all students follow the full GCSE course with an impressive record of achievements. Examinations test student ability to understand religious views and respond to them, considering reasoning behind alternative views. The new AQA Specification A course will be taught starting September 2016. This will include a study of Christianity and Islam in one exam paper. In the second paper students study a variety of ethical issues including War & Peace, Crime and Punishment and animal testing.
The course is split into three different units; Philosophy, Ethics, Developments in Christian Thought.
Year 12
Philosophy | Ethics | DCT |
Ancient Greek influences Soul, Mind & Body Cosmological Argument Teleological Argument Ontological Argument Problem of Evil Religious Experience
| Natural Law Situation Ethics Kantian Ethics Utilitarianism Business Ethics Euthanasia | Human Nature Death and the Afterlife Knowledge of God’s Existence Jesus Christ Christian Moral Principles Christian Moral Action |
Year 13
Philosophy | Ethics | DCT |
The Nature of God Religious Language
| Meta Ethics Conscience Sexual Ethics | Pluralism Gender Secularism Liberation Theology |
Assessment
There are three exams, each 2 hours long. In each exam, you will be expected to write 3 essays.
Religious Studies is a very highly thought of subject that fits equally well with the arts and the sciences because of its logical nature. At University, one of the most prestigious degrees is Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). Students often study go onto study Philosophy and Ethics, Philosophy & Maths, Theology or Anthropology. UCAS suggest that RS is useful for law, counselling and social services, marketing, sales and advertising, catering and hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism, retail and customer services, education and training, medicine and nursing and service sector roles.