Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

AQA Religious Studies

Content

Component 1(A): The Study of Religion

Christianity

Students study the beliefs, teachings and practices of Christianity below and their basis in Christian sources of wisdom and authority.

Beliefs: Nature of God and the Trinity, Creation, Afterlife, Life of Jesus Practices: Worship, Sacraments, Festivals, the Church in the community

Islam

Students study the beliefs, teachings and practices of Islam and their basis in Islamic sources of wisdom and authority.

Beliefs: Six Articles of Faith, Five Roots of Usul ad-Din, Nature of Allah, Angels, Akhirah, Sources of Wisdom and Authority Practices: The Five Pillars, Ten Obligatory Acts, Jihad, Festivals

Component 2(A): Thematic studies in Philosophy and Ethics

Theme B – Religion and Life

The origins and value of the universe: Origins of the universe, environmental attitudes, use and abuse of animals.

The origins and values of human life: Origins of life, abortion euthanasia, afterlife

Theme C – The existence of God and revelation

Philosophical Arguments: Design Argument, Cosmological Argument, Miracles, The Problem of Evil, Religion vs. Science.

Nature of the divine and revelation: Special and general revelation

Theme D – Religion, peace and conflict

Violence, Terrorism and War: Peace, justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, terrorism, Just War Theory, pacifism

21st Century Conflict: Nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction

Theme E – Religion, crime and punishment

Crime and its causes: Good and evil intentions and the reasons for different types of crimes.

Punishment: The aims of punishment, treatment of criminals, forgiveness, capital punishment.

Assessment

The AQA syllabus is a full GCSE course assessed through two 1 hour 45 minute examination papers, each worth 50% of the overall GCSE grade. There is no coursework in this specification.

2 written papers:

- Each paper = 1 hour 45 minutes

- Each paper = 96 marks + 6 SPaG marks

- Each paper = 50% of GCSE

Questions: Each religion has a common structure of five-part questions of 1, 2, 4, 5 and 12 marks.

Teaching Methodology

RPE is a subject where you are awarded not only for what you know but for the strength of your argument. We therefore spend time honing debating and critical analysis skills and exploring issues that have no right or wrong answer. Students relish this ability to learn and achieve through discussion! Each student will have 5 lessons a fortnight with a specialist RPE teacher. Lessons will address both specification content as well as specific exam technique to ensure success in the final exams.

Co-curricular and Enrichment

We provide a variety of enrichment opportunities through the Forder programme including Junior and Senior Philosophy societies where GCSE students enjoy taking a lead in some of the discussions, a philosophical film club and, our RPE Magazine ‘Telos’. There will also be opportunities outside of the classroom for GCSE students to attend conferences where they debate issues of life, death, truth and, secularism with other students from around the country as well as trips to local places of worship. We also regularly welcome guest speakers from Christianity, Islam and Humanism to provide additional insight into the diverse perspectives across modern British society.

Progression after GCSE

A significant number of students continue with RPE to A Level, but the fact the GCSE trains students to argue confidently and analytically is a skill highly valued by other essay subjects at A Level such as English, History, Geography, Classical Civilisation, Economics, and Business. This is why RPE is known as the Queen of all the Humanities! It is valued by universities as a subject that encourages clarity of articulation, appreciation and analysis of alternative perspectives and, the development of empathy and tolerance.