Philosophy and Ethics (Religious Studies) A Level

Applications open: 10 November 2025

Application deadline: 13th February 2026

Entry Requirements: - 5 x GCSEs Grade 4-9 including English. Maths desirable. Please see individual courses for subject entry requirements. Please visit our website for more information https://www.maplesden.kent.sch.uk/830/welcome

Subject Choices: - You will need to select a minimum of 3 subjects to study and these can be a mixture of A Levels and BTECs with SEFA and MWBA in addition to your full time studies.

How to Apply: - Please apply via KentChoices

The A Level specification contains three components which include a wide range of topics for consideration, including an in-depth and broad study of one of the six major world religions, philosophy of religion, and ethics and religion.

Component 1: A) A Study of Religion, B) Philosophy of Religion:

This component includes the study of the following content:

• 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

• how views of religious language have changed over time; the challenges posed by the verification/falsification debate and language games theory over whether religious language should be viewed cognitively or non-cognitively; and a consideration of at least two different views about religious teachings being understood symbolically and analogically

• a comparison of the significant ideas presented in works of at least two key scholars selected from the field of the philosophy of religion, and developments in the way these ideas are applied to issues in religion and belief

• 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: Ethics

This component includes the study of the following content:

• 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 ethical language in the modern era has changed over time; including a study of meta-ethical theories and significant ideas in religious and moral thought such as free will, conscience or authority

• a comparison of the significant ideas presented in the works of at least two key scholars selected from the field of religion and ethics, and developments in the way these ideas are applied to significant issues in religion and belief

• 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: Christianity

This component includes the study of the following content:

• religious beliefs, values and teachings, in their interconnections and as they vary historically and in the contemporary world, including those linked to 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 including, where appropriate, scripture and/or sacred texts and how they are used and treated, key religious figures and/or teachers and their teachings

• practices that shape and express religious identity, including the diversity of practice within a tradition

• significant social and historical developments in theology or religious thought including the challenges of secularisation, science, responses to pluralism and diversity within traditions, migration, the changing roles of men and women, feminist and liberationist approaches

• a comparison of the significant ideas presented in works of at least two key scholars selected from the field of religion and belief

• two themes related to the relationship between religion and society, for example: the relationship between religious and other forms of identity; religion, equality and discrimination; religious freedom; the political and social 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

• how developments in beliefs and practices have, over time, influenced and been influenced by developments in philosophical, ethical, studies of religion and/or by textual interpretation.

Grade 5-9 in GCSE English. (If taken) 5-9 in GCSE Religious Studies

This specification provides a suitable foundation for the further study of Religious Studies, Philosophy or Theology. As with any subject in the area of Humanities, students acquire a great range of skills, such as analysis, interpretation, critical thinking and the ability to produce extended evaluative pieces of writing.