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Religious Studies at A Level is an exciting opportunity for those who wish to develop their knowledge and understanding of ultimate questions. It gives scope for those who wish to sharpen their own critical approach.

If you are opting for Religious Studies, you should have an enquiring mind and be willing to think, to question and to search. No religious faith is assumed or expected, merely an openness to discover and explore.

The subject is open to those students either following an arts or a science based course of study and may provide useful reflection upon other subject areas.

This specification is designed to:

• develop a range of transferable skills which can be applied far beyond the study of Religious Studies
• help students gain a thorough grounding in key philosophical concepts, themes, texts and techniques
• enable students to develop the ability to reason, form their own judgements, express themselves coherently and contribute to the process of debate
• show students how to consider philosophical problems through the study of a key text.

Here at Queen’s, we study the OCR A-Level specification and during their course of study the students will study the following:

Component 1: Philosophy of Religion

• Ancient philosophical influences
• the nature of the soul, mind and body
• Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God
• The nature and impact of religious experience
• The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil
• Ideas about the nature of God
• Issues in religious language.

Component 2: Religion and Ethics

• Normative ethical theories
• The application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues of importance
• Ethical language and thought
• Debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience
• Sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious beliefs.

Component 3: Developments in Religious Thought From a Christian perspective

• Religious beliefs, values and teachings, their interconnections and how they vary historically and in the contemporary world
• Sources of religious wisdom and authority
• Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition
• Significant social and historical developments in theology and religious thought
• Key themes related to the relationship between religion and society.

The course will be examined by a two-hour exam on each component at the end of Year 13.

The study of Religious Studies  can be very helpful for those wishing to study medicine or wanting to have a career in the medical profession.

Past students have gone on to study PPE, Philosophy, Medicine, Theology, Religious Studies and Applied Ethics.