Religious Studies

Religious Studies is a creative, challenging and endlessly-useful subject. Pupils learn how to construct and articulate an argument, to write cogently and coherently, and to think critically. These essential life skills are of particular value for the many who have gone on to read Philosophy at university.

The Department is staffed by two experienced and passionate subject specialists who, between them, have taught to postgraduate level and published journal articles and teaching resources, and organise lively Department trips including Sixth Form conferences and visits to religious sites.

Religious Studies is compulsory for Year 9 pupils. Those who continue their studies at GCSE level consider the answers provided by different faiths to the big questions surrounding being a good human being, and to explore their own beliefs and reasoning. This runs in tandem with a Philosophy course on which they explore the history of society and the self in relation to the evolution of ideas.

At A-level, the Philosophy, Ethics and Religion syllabus is as engaging as it is demanding. On this course, pupils consider the ideas of eminent thinkers on a wide range of philosophical problems, and formulate their own views and navigate their own paths between apparently conflicting ideologies.