Religious Studies (A Level)

• A minimum average point score of 4.25
• Grade 5 English Language GCSE; Grade 4 Maths GCSE

The Religious Studies (Ethical Philosophy) A Level is taken alongside two other A Levels or alongside one other A Level and one Level 3 Extended Certificate/AAQ. It pairs well with other subjects from the social sciences and humanities. The exam board is OCR and assessment consists of three two-hour exams (with three full-length essays and no short questions on each) at the end of the second year.

This qualification is designed to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of religious beliefs and teachings, as well as the disciplines of ethics and philosophy of religion. Students will develop their skills of critical analysis in order to construct balanced, informed arguments and responses to religious, philosophical and ethical ideas.

The course aims to engage learners thoroughly and develop an interest in religious studies and ethical philosophy which extends beyond the classroom and can be applied to the world around them.

The course is split into three components:

• Philosophy of Religion: ancient philosophical influences (Plato and Aristotle); the nature of the soul, mind and body; arguments about the existence or non-existence of God; the nature and impact of religious experience; the challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil; ideas about the nature of God; issues in religious language.
• Religion and Ethics: normative ethical theories (utilitarianism, Kantianism, natural law, and situation ethics); the application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues of importance (business ethics and euthanasia); ethical language and thought (meta-ethics); debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience; sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious beliefs.
• Developments in Christian Thought: religious beliefs, values and teachings, their interconnections and how they vary historically and in the contemporary world (Augustine on human nature, death and the afterlife); sources of religious wisdom and authority (knowledge of God' existence, Jesus); practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition (Christian moral principles, Christian moral action); significant social and historical developments in theology and religious thought (religious pluralism and theology, religious pluralism and society); key themes related to the relationship between religion and society (gender and society, gender and theology, secularism, liberation theology and Marx).

The assessment method is 100% exam.

• Philosophy of religion
• Religion and ethics
• Developments in religious thought
• Sources of wisdom and authority
• Religion and society
• Dialogues between philosophy, ethics and religion