Skip to content ↓

Philosophy & Ethics

Lead teacher - Mrs King
Email - nki@ifieldcc.co.uk 
Qualification  - GCSE (in Religious Studies)
Level - Grades 9 -1
Lessons per fortnight - 5

Course Outline

Full Course:

Students may choose to study a full course GCSE in Religious Studies.

GCSE religious studies will explore a range of issues which deal with the role of humans and religion:

Christianity: What do Christians believe? What do they base their faith on? Why do Christians carry out certain actions such as marriage, funerals, baptism? Does an afterlife exist? Does God exist? What impact does Christianity have on our society?

Islam: What do Muslims believe? What do they base their faith on? Why do Muslims carry out certain actions such as marriage, Hajj, Zakah? Does an afterlife exist? Does Allah (God) exist? What impact does Islam have on our society?

Human Relationships: What’s the point of families? Why do people have differing attitudes to homosexuality? Do we need marriage anymore? Why do people get divorced? Are women equal to men?

Good and Evil: What is good? Are we in charge of our own actions? What is evil? Why do people suffer? Why do we punish? Should the death penalty be allowed?

Life and Death: How did the world come into being? What happens after we die? Does life have value? Do we have the right to take a life?
Is abortion acceptable?

Human Rights: Are Human Rights important?  Why does racism happen? Do we have a duty to help the poor? Do people have a right to believe whatever they want? Do we need religion anymore?

All of these topics are explored through two religious perspectives and non-religious perspectives.

Exam Details

Exam Board – EDUQAS

Short course - 100% examination, three papers at the end of year 9 (2hrs).

Full course - 100% examination, three papers at the end of year 11 (4 hours).

Career Progression

By studying religious studies at GCSE you will be picking up a range of skills that will be useful for virtually any job, especially jobs in public services such as medicine, police, teaching, social work and law. You will learn:

  • How people think and what motivates them
  • The value of cultural and religious diversity
  • About different attitudes to many global affairs
  • The debates over moral, ethical and religious issues in the world today
  • To communicate clearly and learn to express opinions both verbally and on paper
Subject Links

Religious studies complement Geography, History, English Language and Literature, Drama and Psychology.

Further Requirements

There are no further requirements.

Further Information