Religious Education

Religious Education helps you to better understand yourself, those around you and the values and principles that people choose to live by.

Curriculum Intent

Religious Education helps you to better understand yourself, those around you and the values and principles that people choose to live by. Many subjects can help you to make the next step in life, but by helping you to consider who you are, what you believe and what is important to you, RE will also help you to decide what those steps should be. RE will introduce you to some of the ultimate questions that people have been considering for thousands of years. However, as an academically challenging subject it will help you to learn key transferable skills such as evaluation and critical thinking that can help you be successful in any number of different fields.

Key Stage 3

Students follow a tailored course designed to meet the needs of our Joint Roman Catholic, Church of England setting. Units covered include:

Year 7

Why are we here (What is the nature and purpose of our school?)
Why are there different Christian denominations?
Does God exist?
Who are the people of God?
What does it mean to be a Hindu?
Who are the social justice heroes?

Year 8

What would Jesus do?
What does it mean to be a Jew?
What is love?
What do the parables teach us?
What does it mean to be a Buddhist?
Is all life sacred?

Year 9

What do I believe and why?
What does it mean to be a Muslim?
Why is there suffering?
Who killed Jesus and why?
What does it mean to be a Sikh?
Why do we study GCSE RE?

Key Stage 4

GCSE RE is a vibrant core subject that helps prepare students for modern life in a rapidly changing world. It teaches students about different belief systems and how these have an impact upon peoples’ lives and the decisions they make. GCSE RE at St Edward’s is also a very successful academic subject; with results that equal those of the other core subjects.

Within GCSE RE students learn about the beliefs, teachings and practices of two religions: Christianity and Judaism. They also examine how these religions respond to a range of contemporary moral issues.

RE helps students to develop and refine a number of key transferable skills such as evaluation and critical thinking. The philosophical and theological elements help students to think in abstract ways and the ethical and moral dimensions encourage empathy and respect for the views of others. Students are also expected to engage with original texts and be selective in their use of evidence to support an argument. These skills will help students in their studies for other subjects and help to prepare them for many Key Stage 5 courses.

All students study RE at Key Stage 4.

Exam Board: WJEC EDUQAS GCSE Religious Studies (Route A)

Component 1 – Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies in the Modern World (50%)

Component 2 – Study of Christianity (25%)

Component 3 – Study of Judaism (25%)

Method of Assessment

Exam Board: WJEC Eduqas

External Assessment in the form of one 2 hour examination and two 1 hour examinations.

Pathways after Year 11

RE is widely recognised and valued as a rigorous academic subject, but it is much more than that. It provides students with another qualification to help them take their next steps into education, training or employment, but GCSE RE will also help them to explore their own beliefs and values so that they can more deeply consider what direction they want their life to take. It is a subject that will challenge them in many ways and help to prepare them for life in a changing and challenging world.

In the Sixth Form, students can continue their study and the A Level allows for further exploration of some of the ideas touched upon at GCSE as well as introducing exciting new concepts. The main areas of study are Philosophy of Religion, Religious Ethics and Developments in Christian Thought.