Religious Studies

Course summary

Do you enjoy thinking about big questions such as ‘Why are we here?’, ‘Is there a purpose to our existence’, ‘Why do bad things happen?’ or ‘Does God exist?’. If the answer is ‘Yes’, then this is the course for you. In Religious Studies we develop the age-old academic skill of developing our own views and assessing the arguments of others to critically evaluate our understanding of the philosophy and ethics associated with religion. Whether you are religious, atheist, or agnostic, it doesn’t matter. Being able to argue your point is what is important here. Within the course, we think about lots of issues such as abortion, capital punishment, embryo research, war, arguments for and against God’s existence, the nature of human life, the afterlife, evil and suffering, and many other topics which means we have lots of thought-provoking discussions. It’s a course that makes you question preconceptions you might have, or might not even realize you have! If you like to make your mind melt from thinking too much about difficult questions and don’t mind there not being a right answer to a question then this is the course for you. We will visit places of worship during your time studies in order to extend your knowledge of religion, philosophy, and ethics and how this functions in the world today. Thinking about the future, this course will support any degree at university, apprenticeships, and also the world of work - where will you ever find a future where you won’t have to consider the views of others, critically analyze them, and reach your own conclusion? This is exactly what this course will give you the skills to do. It will also be suitable for students who want to debate their point of view in class and develop their skills in preparation for university. There are also specific career paths and courses in which studying this course will be highly beneficial such as; medicine, health and social care, journalism, uniformed and armed services, travel and tourism, law, sciences, and education. Religious studies is a highly valuable course at university. You will receive 5 hours of contact time with your teacher each week, outside of that you will be expected to be revising consistently throughout the course, along with being set specific tasks for homework including reading to deepen your knowledge, group projects, research, and essays. Independent study is an important part of this course, not only will you need to revise throughout the course but you will also be set reading on topics covered to deepen your knowledge. Often these will be specific to your target grade or the level you are currently working at. Google Classroom is used on a regular basis to share lesson materials, homework resources, and other revision resources. We also use Google Drive to complete group projects allowing you to develop digital literacy skills for your future. The nature of the course means that we will look at many current issues as and when they occur, students will be encouraged to read about current affairs in their own time and apply this to their learning.