A Level Philosophy and Ethics

Applications Open: - 3rd November 2025

Applications Close: - 31st March 2026

Entry Requirements: - Our Sixth Form entry requirements are five GCSEs at Grade 4 and above for the 'A' Level Pathway (in addition to some individual subject entry requirements) and 4 GCSEs at Grade 4 and above for the Vocational (BTEC) Pathway. The course information gives specific details of course content and entry requirements. Please also refer to the Sixth Form Prospectus for the specific entry requirements for the chosen subjects.

Students need to select the equivalent of 3 A Levels or more. (Triple BTEC counts as 3, Double BTEC counts as 2). Subjects are grouped into option blocks, please be aware that not all combinations are possible.

In addition to academic requirements stated above a place will be dependent on the receipt of a satisfactory school reference.

How to Apply: - Please apply via Kent Choices if you area a student from another school.

Please visit our website www.stanselmscanterbury.org.uk for more information.

This is a great course for anybody who enjoys thinking and talking and putting all of this into writing! During the course, students will have the opportunity to explore why people behave in a certain way and to what extent this behaviour is determined, by the moral authorities around us. Students will have the opportunity to discuss, debate and form their own opinions about different world views.

Component 1

• You will study philosophical issues and questions raised by religion and belief including at least three contrasting arguments about the existence or non-existence of God, gods or ultimate reality
• the nature and influence of religious experience, challenges to religious belief such as the problems of evil and suffering, philosophical language and thought through significant concepts and the works of key thinkers, illustrated in issues or debates in the philosophy of religion
• a comparison of the significant ideas presented in works of at least two key scholars selected from the field of the philosophy of religion, how the philosophy of religion has, over time, influenced and been influenced by developments in religious beliefs and practices, ethics or textual interpretation.

Component 2

• You will study ethical language and thought through significant concepts and the works of key thinkers, illustrated in issues or debates in religion and ethics, three normative ethical theories such as deontological, teleological or character based ethics (at least two of which must be religious approaches)
• the application of ethical theory to two personal, societal or global issues of importance, including religious ethical perspectives
• how the study of ethics has, over time, influenced and been influenced by developments in religious beliefs and practices, the philosophy of religion and/or textual interpretation.

Component 3

• You will study religious beliefs, values and teachings, the nature and existence of God, gods or ultimate reality, the role of the community of believers, key moral principles, beliefs about the self, death and afterlife, beliefs about the meaning and purpose of life, sources of wisdom and authority,
• practices that shape and express religious identity, including the diversity of practice within a tradition
• significant social and historical developments in theology including challenges of secularisation, science, responses to pluralism and diversity within traditions, migration, the changing roles of men and women, feminist and liberationist approaches.
• influence of religious institutions; religious tolerance, respect and recognition and the ways that religious traditions view other religions and non-religious worldviews and their truth claims.

Activities

Students spend considerable time in class discussing and debating ideas. Each year there is usually an opportunity to attend two conferences to hear well-known authors and speakers in their relevant field.

There are three units with three separate two hour exams at the end of the A Level.

• Philosophy of Religion
• Ethics and Religion
• A Study of Religion.

• Five GCSEs at Grade 4 and above including Grade 4 or above in GCSE Religious Studies if studied. English Language at Grade 4.

What can you do with it?

Any student who takes this course will learn how to argue, show analysis, synthesise and evaluate. These are all key skills for a varied selection of courses and further study, such as Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Medicine, Anthropology, Politics and Philosophy, Law, the list is endless!