The Religious Studies Short Course Is offered in Philosophy & Ethics under the jurisdiction of the OCR Examination Board.  Religious Education is a compulsory subject for all pupils of school age in the United Kingdom.  There is no coursework requirement : pupils work on 4 Units towards a 100% examination in this subject at GCSE.  The exam board specifies that pupils require a knowledge of at least one religion.  At Cecil Jones College we primarily teach the Course based on Christianity,  but also offer Hinduism as an additional religion to study in order to provide variety and enable students to compare and contrast aspects of social and moral issues in these two world faiths. 

The four Units covered on the Short Course are : The Nature of God;  Religion Wealth & Poverty;  Medical Ethics ; Death & The Afterlife.

Pupils also have the opportunity to take a Full Course GCSE in this subject.   This requires knowledge of a further four units of study.  These are : Science & Religion;  Religion & Relationships;  Religion & Equality; Good & Evil.  At the current time, Year 10 & 11 pupils attend a voluntary lesson afterschool for the Full Course.  There are currently thirteen Year 11 pupils who attend Wednesday after-school Full Course GCSE, and a similar number of Year 10 pupils who attend the Tuesday after-school session.

All current Year 9 pupils have commenced Full Course religious Studies GCSE a Year early and so it is expected that a very substantial number of these Cecil Jones College pupils will be entered for the Full Course in Year 11.      

• Teacher: Philip Maddocks