Religious Studies
Specific Course Entry Requirements | |
Examination Levels Offered | AS and A2 Level |
Examination Board | OCR |
A-Level
The Religious Studies A-Level is linear, so assessment of a student’s knowledge and understanding of the whole course takes place at the end of two years. The course content for the first year of the A-Level and the AS is designed to be co-teachable, so students could take the AS level at the end of Year 12.
Religious Studies offers students the chance to address profound and fascinating questions about knowledge, existence and life and death issues. Throughout the course, students develop their ability to interpret and analyse information, think deeply and evaluate scholars’ theories and their own.
Year 12
Unit 1: Philosophy of Religion
- Ancient philosophical influences
- Soul, mind and body
- Life after death
- Religious experiences
- Existence of God
- Challenges to religious belief
Unit 2: Religion and Ethics
- Normative ethical theories: Virtue Ethics, Natural Law, Situation Ethics
- Applied ethics: Sex and sexuality; Euthanasia
- Ethical language: key concepts
Unit 3: Developments in Christian thought
- Human nature and purpose of life
- The self and immortality
- Knowledge and revelation of God
- The Bible
- The nature of Jesus Christ
- Presentations of Jesus Christ
Year 13 (Unit 1)
- The nature of God
- Religious language
- Twentieth Century Perspectives
Year 13 (Unit 2)
- Ethical language: meta-ethics
- Freewill and conscience
- Developments in ethical thought
Year 13 (Unit 3)
- The challenge of secularism
- Responses to secularism
- Pluralism in theology
- Pluralism in society
- Gender in society
- Gender in theology
Staff Contact
Mrs U Codling - urszula.codling@oxted.thpt.org.uk