Do I have to do RS? Yes, you will have one lesson each week in year nine and one lesson a week in year ten and eleven. You will follow the edexel short course or full course. Your teacher will make a decision about which course is best for you. Each course will lead to a qualification.
Is it anything like the 'FULL' GCSE Course? No, it is very different; both of the courses compliment each other, but it shouldn't put you off from choosing the 'full' course if you want to. The GCSE course is very different from the compulsory 'short course', which you will take. There is virtually no overlap between the two courses; in combination they make good preparation for AS levels RS.
What content do we cover? The course followed is an interesting and relevant one; you will study a variety of contemporary issues from the perspective of Christians and Muslims.

Why Study GCSE RS?
 RS will help you to develop important skills such as the ability to analyse and evaluate ideas, arguments and theories.
RS will help you to make sense of the world around you and will help you get to grips with why some people act the way they do and what motivates their actions.
RS will help you to consider ultimate questions, for example why are we here? How did we get here? And is there an afterlife?

What will you actually study?
Students in year 10 will study a specification called ‘Religion and Life’. This specification is made up of four individual units. The four units are as follows:

	Beleiving in God - This module looks at reasons for believing in God such as Religious Upbringing and Religious experience. It also includes philosophical and scientific arguments for and against the existence of God.
	Matters of life and death - This module focuses in contemporary issues connected to life and death, such as abortion and euthanasia. It also looks at how the media influences our attitudes to life after death.
	Marriage and the family - This module focuses on how society has changed over past decades in terms of our attitudes to sex, marriage and divorce. The module also looks at religious and non religious attitudes to contraception and homosexuality.
	Religion and Community Cohesion - This module includes social issues such as religious and non religious views on sexism, racism, immigration and religious intolerance. Students will also look at how these issues are portrayed by the media.

Groups that show a particular interest and aptitude for the subject will be given the opportunity to study a second unit in order to complete a full GCSE. This unit is called ‘Religion and Society’. This unit will also include four modules. These are as follows::

	Rights and Responsibilities - This module centres on human rights and genetic engineering.
	Crime and Punishment - This module focuses on the new laws concerning drugs and alcohol and how crimes relating to these issues should be dealt with.
	Peace and Conflict - The role of the United Nations in the world and two areas of conflict in the world today. Students will also study religious and non religious attitudes to war including just war theory.
	Environmental and medical issues - This module centres on global warming and infertility treatments and religious and non religious views on these issues.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES as an OPTION

What can I do with GCSE RS

GCSE RS gives you an excellent start if you are planning on studying subjects at college or in the 6th form that are to do with people. Some good examples include, Geography, History, sociology, psychology, English and of course Philosophy and Theology. If you plan on going straight into employment then RS is a great qualification to have because it helps you to develop valuable life skills and prepares you for the issues that you may face. The sky is the limit!

What will you gain?

You will develop the ability to think about personal and global issues for yourself. RS will help you to form your own opinions about whats going on in your world and will allow you to have a say in the issues that effect you. You will learn about two of the worlds major religions, Chrisinaity and Islam. You will look at ket beliefs and practices of each faith and have the opportunity to debate the issues that affect the lives of people around the world (including you)

The skills and knowledge you develop will be very useful in todays multi-cultural society.

CORE MODULE

All students will complete an examination that lasts 1 hour 30 minutes. This will make up 80% of your mark, you will also complete a piece of course work entitled Religion in the media, this will make up the final 20%.

Students selected or particularly intersted will complete a further examination lasting 1 hour 30 minutes and a second piece of coursework, again the coursework been worth 20% of the final mark. If this is completed then you will have completed a GCSE full course RS.