1. AQA Religious Philosophical & Ethical Studies
Assessment

2. Aims and learning outcomes of the course
By studying this course you will:
Develop your knowledge and understanding of religions and non-religious beliefs, such as atheism and humanism
Develop your knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings and sources of wisdom and authority, including through your reading of key religious texts, other texts and scriptures of the religions you are studying
Develop your ability to construct well-argued, well-informed, balanced and structured written arguments, demonstrating your depth and breadth of understanding of the subject
Reflect on and develop your own values, belief, meaning, purpose, truth and their influence on human life
Reflect on and develop your own values, beliefs and attitudes in the light of what you have learnt and contribute to your preparation for adult life in a pluralistic society and global community.

3. Assessment
At the end of year 11 you will sit two papers both 1 hour and 45 minutes long: these papers will allow you to demonstrate your ability to:
Apply knowledge and understanding of two religions
Apply knowledge and understanding of key sources of wisdom and authority including scripture and/or sacred texts, where appropriate, which support contemporary religious faith
Understand the influence of religion on individuals, communities and societies
Understand significant common and divergent views between and/or within religions and beliefs
Apply knowledge and understanding in order to analyse questions related to religious beliefs and values
Construct well-informed and balanced arguments on matters concerned with religious beliefs and values set out in the subject content.

4. Exam questions - Questions 1 & 2
Each exam paper will be made up of unit of questions
Question 1 – is worth 1 mark. These are multiple choice
What is meant by ‘omnipotent’?
A all loving
B all knowing
C all powerful
D all creative
Question 2 – is worth 2 marks and will require you to write a brief response
Always give two examples/causes/effects of ……
Name two Persons of the Trinity
Explain two reasons why Jesus had to die
State two things that Christians believe about judgement .

5. Exam Questions – Question 3
Question 3 is an influence question. These are worth 4 marks
These are where you show your understanding of the religion that you have studied and how a persons
beliefs have influence on their lives. When people believe things their thoughts, words and actions
become shaped by their beliefs. In this question you need to explain this.
Examples may be:
Explain two ways in which belief in the resurrection of Jesus influences Christians today
Explain two ways in which beliefs about the creation of the world might influence Christians today
Explain two ways in which learning about the crucifixion might influence Christians today
Explain two ways in which believing in judgement day might influence Christians today.

6. Exam Questions – Question 4
Question 4 will require you to explain two beliefs and or teachings from the religion and is worth 4 marks
The wording will be:
Explain two Christian teachings about judgement. Refer to scripture or sacred scripture in your answer
To answer the question effectively you must:
Chose two teachings and then explain each one
Develop your explanations fully
Ensure that the teachings are relevant
So what does fully develop mean ?
A simple explanation may be one sentence. For these types of questions you need to ‘fully develop’ your explanation.
Quite simply this means giving more detail about each point you make.

7. An example may be :
Explain two Christian teachings about judgement
In the Apostles Creed it says that after you die you will be judges. This means that there will a Judgement Day where everyone is raised from the dead to be judges. The Judgement will be done by Christ based on how people have behaved in this life.
This answer:
Opens by saying where the belief comes from
Explains that this is what they believe about judgement
Explains the belief by mentioning Judgement Day and when and what
will happen

8. Exam Questions – Question 5
Question requires you to Analyse and Evaluate and is worth 12 marks
For GCSE you have to be able to show you can react to a given statement.
This means that you:
Consider what the statement says
Present Arguments to agree and disagree
Come to a conclusion of what you think of the statement
Demonstrate what a religious person would say and what arguments they would
use and why
This is a high mark question and so will take the most time and thought !

9. It is good to use a formula when you answer this type of question
It is good to use a formula when you answer this type of question. One you may use might be:
DREARER X 3 + C
D = Disagree
R = Reason to disagree
E = In depth explanation of that reason
A = Agree
R = Reason to agree
R = Make sure you have used a number of religious arguments not
just secular ones
Ideally there should be at least three reasons on each side (hence x3)
C = Conclusion – This gives your opinion and sums up your answer.