Sixth Form Religious Studies
PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS (OCR exam board)
YEAR 12 (AS)
- Unit 1: Philosophy (G571)
- Following a brief introduction to Philosophy (both Ancient Greek & Judeo-Christian) students will then explore a range of philosophical questions which consider the traditional arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil and religion and science.
- Unit2: Ethics (G572)
- In this section of the course students will consider the variety of theories that can be employed when making moral decisions and will look specifically at how these can be applied to abortion; the right to a child; euthanasia, genetic engineering and War and peace.
YEAR 13 (A2)
- Unit 3: Philosophy (G581)
- Students will explore the use of Religious language, religious experience and miracles, the nature of God and the nature of the soul in relation to life after death.
- Unit 4: Ethics (G582)
- Topics will include meta-ethics, free will and determinism, nature and role of the conscience and virtue ethics. These will then be applied to environmental, business and sexual ethics.
Assessment:
Students will complete two Philosophy and two Ethics units over the course of two years. Each module is assessed by a 1.5 hour long written examination composed of four structured essay questions, from which the student has to choose two. Knowledge, understanding, analysis and evaluation skills are all examined in each essay.
Example of an AS Philosophy exam question:
(a) How do the writers of the bible explain the concept of God as Creator? [25]
(b) Assess the claim that God created humanity for a
purpose. [10]
Example of an A2 Ethics question:
To what extent is it true to claim that people have an individual sense of moral responsibility for the environment? [35]
Why choose Religious Studies?
This course deals with contemporary philosophical and ethical issues alongside the traditional. It gives students the opportunity to study some of the fundamental questions which people have always asked about life: why are we here, how should we behave and what happens to us when we die? There is therefore great opportunity for students to develop
- Skills of analysis and evaluation
- Independent research skills
- Well structured extended writing technique
- debating and presentation skills
- a basis upon which they can go on to develop their own personal opinions.
What next after Religious Studies?
Due to the versatile nature of the skills developed whilst studying the course, there are many options available to students after A-level.
Students in the past have gone on to university to study a whole variety of courses including Medicine, Nursing, Social work, Teaching, Law (and the police force), Environmental science, Journalism, Business Studies and Politics as well as Theology, Philosophy and Religious Studies related areas.
Extra Curricular links
Whilst there are many extra curricular opportunities on offer here at Trinity, students who have chosen Religious Studies often choose to get involved in the environment group, debating society, liturgy group and the paired reading scheme amongst others. There are also various opportunities for charity work throughout the course of the academic year.