Information about GCSE Religious Studies

1. Religious Studies
AQA GCSE

2. Frequent misunderstandings about Religious
Studies (RE) cleared up!
1. Do I need to be religious?
2. Will you try to make me believe in a God?
3. Is it all about reading the Bible?
4. Is the only job I can get, with a GCSE in RE, a priest?

3. No & No & No & No
1. Sometimes its better to be non-religious in RE. Non-religious views are just as
important and you can achieve full marks by using non-religious arguments, it’s the
quality of your answer that counts, if it’s a religious answer or not.
2. My philosophy is to educate, NOT indoctrinate. Your beliefs are your beliefs and its
not my job to tell you what to believe, just educate you.
3. RE is not about reading the Bible or the Tripitaka, although we will make reference
to them and might look up misunderstandings in them - they do not feature a lot
within lessons.
4. RE is one of the most adaptable of all GCSE’S - it could lead to 100’s of different
jobs not connected directly to religion, a few of these are on the next slide.

4. • Newspaper journalist
• Nursery worker
• Police officer
• Primary school teacher
• Religious leader
• Teacher
• Wedding planner
• Youth and community worker
• And much more!
• Hospital doctor
• Aid worker
• Air cabin crew
• Construction project manager
• General practitioner
• Human resources manager
• Hypnotherapist
• Librarian
• Museum curator
Examples of RE related jobs:

5. What skills do I need?
• A basic knowledge of the two religions: Buddhism and Christianity
• Knowledge of current news
• A willingness to learn and be open minded
What skills will I learn?
• Critical analysis skills
• Reasoning skills
• Tolerance and understanding of other viewpoints

6. So what is the AQA RE course?
Christianity & Buddhism

7. The course is set out in 4 modules
The first two units are understanding the Beliefs & Teachings of Christianity and Buddhism.
This is the religious bit where we look at why they believe what they believe, what they do and what non-religious
people would argue against religious believers. Some examples from this section are:
Christianity
• The nature of God:
• God as omnipotent, loving and just, and the problem of evil and suffering
• The oneness of God and the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Different forms of worship and their significance
• The role of the Church in the local community, including food banks and street pastors
Buddhism
• The concept of Karma &Dharma
• Different ideals in Theravada and Mahayana traditions: Arhat (a ‘perfected person’) and Bodhisattva ideals
• Meditation, the different aims, significance and methods of meditation
• The Buddha’s Enlightenment

8. The next two units are sociology based units, Thematic Studies and look at the
Christian & Buddhist response to subjects such as;
• Relationships & Families - Human sexuality, Divorce, Gender equality
• Religion & Life - The origins of the universe, Abuse of the environment/animals
• The existence of God - Evil & the existence of God, Design /first cause argument
• Peace & Conflict - Violent protest, war terrorism, weapons of mass destruction
• Crime & Punishment - Death penalty, reasons for crime, treatment of criminals
• Human rights & Social Justice - Prejudice, discrimination, poverty, social justice

9. How you will be assessed:
Beliefs & Teachings
• Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
• 96 marks, plus 6 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
• 50% of GCSE
Questions
• Each religion has a common structure of two five-part questions of 1, 2, 4, 5 and 12 marks.
• Each religion is marked out of 48.
Thematic Studies
• Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
• 96 marks, plus 3 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
• 50% of GCSE
Questions
• Each theme has a common structure of one five-part question of 1, 2, 4, 5 and 12 marks.
• Each theme is marked out of 24.

10. Need more information?
Book an appointment with the subject teacher.
Follow the Link to AQA website:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-a-8062/specification-at-a-glance