Religious Studies

Course summary

We study OCR Religious Studies at A Level. This consists of 3 papers - Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Ethics and Developments in Christian Thought. The A Level is an excellent foundation for university level study but also develops the critical thinking and reasoning skills needed in so many areas of our lives - not just in the academic field. Students enjoy challenging concepts and being able to question each other, and key scholars, using their nurtured powers of reasoning. It is not uncommon for this same logic to be used to find gaps in a student’s own foundation arguments and so in each topic, it is one of academic and personal growth for both teacher and student! You do not need to have studied RS GCSE in order to study the subject at A Level – but good ability in other essay-based subjects that show skill in analysis and evaluation (e.g. History, English) are essential. The RS A Level pulls together teachings of great thinkers from hundreds of years before Jesus’ time, to modern day, and applies them to a wide range of Philosophical, Ethical and Theological ideas. Traditionally part of the Art and Humanities Pathway, the nature of the three-combined papers unites skills of English Language and Literature, History, Critical Thinking, Logic, and analysis. However, the Applied Ethics links nicely to future career areas in Medicine, Law, Sociology, Business and Psychology, with previous students now studying or pursuing Criminology and Sociology, teaching Religious Studies in a secondary school having trained with the highly selective Teach First organisation, Civil Service Fast Stream, Music and Philosophy, and more!