The Religious Education Department follows the Eduqas Religious Studies A level specification. The course aims to encourage students to develop critical and evaluative skills which will enable them to go on to higher education to study a wide range of courses, including Religious Studies, Theology, Philosophy, Law, Sociology and Social Sciences. There are three components to the A-level Religious Studies course, allowing students to study religion from three different academic perspectives. 1. Christianity covers key theological issues about Christian beliefs and practices; including the birth and resurrection of Jesus (consistency and credibility), the Bible as a source of wisdom and authority, the concepts of the Trinity and Atonement, challenges to Christianity from secularisation and science, Christian practices and festivals, and Liberation Theology. 2. Philosophy of Religion explores a range of philosophical topics including the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil and suffering, psychological challenges to religion, religious experience and religious language. 3. Religion and Ethics examining a range of ethical systems including Virtue Theory, Natural Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism, as well as the application of these ethical theories to issues such as animal experimentation, the use of nuclear weapons, homosexual and polyamorous relationships, immigration, capital punishment, abortion and euthanasia.