What is RE in Year 11?
Many of you may have found parts of R.E. challenging in year 9, yet you may also have found much of what you learnt stimulating. You have been training for GCSE RE throughout year 9, so you already have already learnt the skills.
Whether you choose full course or short course R.E., you will be answering the questions in exactly the same way. There is no coursework, so you will answer 4 out of 5 topics in the exam for short course and 8 out of 10 for full course. The levels of question are the same, but you will cover more information in full course because you do more topics.
The questions will always ask for the same skills, 1 describe, 2 explain and 3 discuss. These reflect the way that you were answering your assessment questions in year 9, so if you did well and made progress during year 9 R.E. the full course is likely to be a good option for you. If you like debate, investigation and writing then R.E. is a good choice.
1 The Nature of God
2 The Nature of Belief
3 Religion and Science
4 Death and the Afterlife
5 Good and Evil
6 Religion and Human Relationships
7 Religion and Medical Ethics
8 Religion and Equality
9 Religion, Poverty and Wealth
10 Religion, Peace and Justice
Medical Issues -looking at genetic engineering, transplant surgery, and fertility treatments.
Social Responsibility- looking at the law and justice, the government in relation to religion, and the welfare state.
Crime and Punishment– looking at the differences between sin and crime, prisoners of conscience, capital punishment compared to imprisonment
Peace and Conflict – looking at modern wars like Kashmir or Palestine/Israel, at personal conflicts e.g. between families or bullying, at Christian and Muslim attitudes to war.
Environment – looking at ideas of creation and principles behind care of the environment.
It’s a good idea to ask people who have studied R.E. or Citizenship last year what they thought of the course. Even though you will not be studying R.E. in the same way that they did, you may get a good idea from them about their feeling about the subject.
R.E is a great subject that allows you to learn about the world around you in moral and political ways, and lets you think and decide for yourself.