Religious Studies

Course summary

You will study towards the Eduqas WJEC A Level in Religious Studies. There are three areas of study. Philosophy of Religion includes elements such as arguments for the existence of God, challenges to religious belief, the nature of miracles and how language is used in religious philosophy. You will engage with the big ideas and find out what different scholars think about how convincing they are. Ethical Philosophy involves the analysis of various methods that scholars have proposed for determining what is right or good, such as whether it is following the rules or doing what is best that matters most, together with theories such as Situation Ethics, Utilitarianism and Natural Law. You will also explore moral issues such as sexual ethics, animal experimentation, immigration and capital punishment as well as considering the question of whether we are truly free. The world religion you will study is Buddhism. You will explore the core teachings and beliefs of Buddhism and the ways in which those beliefs influence the practices and lives of believers as well as the social and historical development of the religion and the work of scholars on the subject. You will sit a separate, 2 hour examination in each of the three areas of the course. In each examination you will be asked to choose two essay questions from a total of five.