Resources for GCSE and A Level Religious Studies
02 February 2023
Ewan Brady, Religious Studies Subject Advisor
We have published a range of resources in recent years to support the teaching of our GCSE and A Level Religious Studies courses. In this blog I’ll highlight key resources including textbooks, online resources, and our new teacher website, Teach Cambridge.
What is Teach Cambridge?
Teach Cambridge is our new secure website that provides you with resources and support for the subjects you teach. Created in collaboration with teachers, Teach Cambridge allows you to easily access all the information you need.
- If you already have access, you can log straight in to Teach Cambridge.
- If you don’t have access, please contact your exams officer. You can forward them this link to help get you started.
Resources for GCSE Religious Studies
What resources does OCR have available?
We have the following resources for GCSE RS:
- The specification and sample assessment materials
- Planning and teaching resources – a sample curriculum plan, an editable curriculum plan, an editable scheme of work with suggested resources and activities, and component glossaries
- Assessment resources – past question papers and mark schemes, examiner reports, candidate answers with examiner commentaries, Grade 9 exemplars from the 2019 exam series, and candidate style answers with commentaries for the new 6-mark questions
- Assessment guides – ‘Assessment story - exploring our question papers’, exam walkthroughs for both types of paper with new 15-mark question candidate style exemplars, a command words poster, a student blog with exam guidance and tips, and a student revision checklist.
Please note that the 2022 candidate exemplars are only available through Teach Cambridge.
What textbooks are available?
Our publishing partner, Hodder Education, has produced an endorsed textbook for GCSE RS. It covers:
- Beliefs and teachings & Practices – Christianity
- Beliefs and teachings & and Practices – Islam
- Religion, philosophy and ethics in the modern world from a religious perspective – Christianity
Hodder has published a revision guide covering the same options. They also publish exam question practice materials (not endorsed by OCR). Hodder are publishing a new textbook, along with a workbook, in 2023.
Polity has published a textbook for GCSE Religious Studies which covers philosophy and ethics applied to Christianity and Islam.
You can use textbooks from legacy specifications or generic textbooks – although you should use them with care as they do not match the current specification exactly.
Resources for A Level Religious Studies
What resources does OCR have available?
We have the following resources for A Level RS:
- The specification and sample assessment materials
- Planning and teaching resources – curriculum planners for all components, and posters and videos about new thinkers
- Assessment resources – past question papers and mark schemes, examiner reports, candidate answers with examiner commentaries, candidate style answers with examiner commentaries, and a command words assessment guide.
Please note that the 2022 candidate exemplars are only available through Teach Cambridge.
What textbooks are available?
There are endorsed textbooks available from three publishers:
Hodder Education has published new endorsed textbooks for A Level covering the Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Ethics and Developments in Christian Thought. They have also published three revision guides and workbooks covering the same components.
Hodder has previously published endorsed books covering Year 1 and Year 2, which are still available. They have recently published new revision guides covering Islam and Buddhism.
OUP has published endorsed textbooks for Year 1 and Year 2. They have also published a revision guide.
Polity has published endorsed textbooks for Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Ethics, and Developments in Christian Thought.
Further resources
Here are some links to other resources useful to teachers and students:
- Cambridge in Your Classroom is a collaboration from the Faculty of Divinity and the Faculty of Education Religious Education PGCE course at the University of Cambridge. The videos cover a range of topics and are supported by guidance for teachers with activities. The videos are also available on YouTube. More are on the way.
- A History of Ideas from the BBC Radio 4 programme is another collection of videos on YouTube. The series answers big questions and explains big theories in under two minutes. Philosopher Nigel Warburton scripted the videos.
- Crash Course is a YouTube channel started by John and Hank Green in association with PBS. It features videos covering different aspects of philosophy.
- The Panpsycast is a weekly ‘informal and informative’ philosophy podcast inspiring and supporting students, teachers, academics, and free thinkers worldwide. The show has covered our Religious Studies A Level specification as well as a range of other topics. The goal of each episode is to make exciting and challenging research accessible to students, teachers, academics, and the general public.
- Philosophy gets schooled is a new podcast from Simon Kirchin, Director of the British Philosophical Association, which is aimed at school students and teachers. There are in-depth episodes which see Simon discussing topics with teachers and shorter episodes in which he gives summaries.
- The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy is an online resource which features scholars from around the world in philosophy and related disciplines to create and maintain an up-to-date reference work.
- Seneca Learning is a homework and revision platform with 250+ exam board specific interactive courses. This includes content for both our GCSE and A Level Religious Studies qualifications.
- Massolit has produced video lectures with university academics that cover content from Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Ethics and Developments in Christian Thought.
- Bible Society has published resources for GCSE RS on sources of wisdom for Beliefs and teachings & Practices and for Philosophy and Ethics from a Christian perspective.
Stay connected
If you have any questions, you can email us at religiousstudies@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or follow us on Twitter @OCR_RS. You can also sign up to subject updates and receive email information about resources and support.
About the author
Since joining OCR as a subject specialist in June 2014, Ewan has been responsible for several subjects including Law, Government and Politics, and Sociology. He led the redevelopment of the new AS and A Levels in Law for first teaching in 2017. He took over responsibility for Religious Studies as Subject Advisor in 2017.
Ewan taught for 16 years in Scotland and England and held leadership roles including head of humanities, teaching subjects including history, law, politics, citizenship, and religious studies. In his spare time Ewan enjoys walking, sport, reading, going to the cinema, and playing video games with his family.
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