Religious Studies
Specification – OCR
Students at Chelsea follow a four-unit A-level course in religious studies, details of which
can be accessed at the OCR website. The course consists of two papers in the first year,
and two in the second. Though some flexibility exists as to choice of paper, those studied
recently include
Unit G571 (Philosophy of Religion)
Unit G573 (AS Jewish Scriptures)
Unit G583 (A2 Philosophy of Religion)
Unit G581 (A2 Jewish Scriptures)
Unit G586 (A2 Buddhism)
During the course of their study, candidates will engage with thinkers at the heart of
civilization, such as Plato, Aristotle, the Buddha, Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Freud, Darwin
and Marx. They will develop a capacity to evaluate and to understand arguments which
will set them in good stead in any humane or social science discipline, and will also have a
chance to engage with the Bible, which has been a wellspring of western language and
culture. The papers require students to engage with history, literature, archaeology, and
current debates, and are focused on essay-writing and evaluation. Current philosophical
and religious debates, and arguments surrounding the relative utility of faith and atheism
are also covered in the course, as are controversies in the history of philosophy.