April 2023 Religious Studies subject update
Welcome to your Pearson Edexcel Religious Studies April 2023 subject update!
Hello colleagues,
I hope the run up to the summer exam series is progressing well! This month, I wanted to share some resources, information and links to useful CPD to support your RS teaching. Within this, we have some new exemplar answers to share with you. We hope you find them useful!
As always, if you have any questions about anything within this update or about our Religious Studies qualifications, please do get in touch at TeachingReligiousStudies@pearson.com!
Best wishes,
Susan Currey
Religious Studies Subject Advisor
GCSE 12-mark (d) evaluation exemplars
'Exploring answers across levels': Islam
We have published another new resource to exemplify differences between different levelled responses on (d) evaluation questions. This resource includes four answers that were awarded across the four levels, responding to the same question. Each answer includes analysis to explain why it achieved that level and how it could improve.
GCSE: Celebrating success: High-achieving school results
Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy had superb results in their 2022 exam series and achieved marks in their (d) evaluation questions which were consistently higher than national averages. Students across the Federation’s two
secondary schools additionally achieved a Value-Added score of above 2.0 and over 50% of students achieved a grade 9.
We spoke to Peter Jewkes (Head of the Religious Studies department) to both celebrate their success and ask what advice they may have for other schools.
April Topic of the Month
Every month, we release an edition of 'Topic of the Month' with the aim of supporting cultural capital and stimulating discussion within the classroom. Each edition ties a current news event to our qualification content and enables students to see the bigger picture of what they are learning and how it relates to the world around them.
Each edition includes a link to an article alongside some key discussion questions to encourage thought around the subject.
Our previous editions can be found on our qualification pages under the 'Topic of the Month' tab.
Our April edition looked at sustainability and the environment during the period of Ramadan.
A level: 20-mark 'Analyse' questions video
A guidance video is now available which explores how to approach 20-mark 'Analyse' questions at A level Religious Studies. This looks at example answers across our papers achieving a range of different marks and levels.
You can access the slides for this and the example answers at the links below:
International exam start times
Please use our examination start time documents for your region alongside the timetable documents.
Competitions, workshops and CPD
RE:ONLINE leadership resource of the month
RE:ONLINE release a resource of the month to support teachers in the classroom. In April 2023, they have a useful resource on using data in RE lessons.
University of Chester Religious Studies webinars
Religious Studies Webinars Season 4 take place every Tuesday from 4.00-4.35pm. They are open to all A level students of any subject and their teachers. These include a 15-minute live lecture plus anonymous Q&A in the chat (audience is neither seen nor heard). Webinars cover a range of religions and topics covered within our A level specification.
Jewish Museum London
The Jewish Museum London are running an event for 'Teaching Judaism for GCSE and A level' on 13th July 2023 (10:00-15:00).
MASSOLIT Video Essay Competition 2023
This competition is open to UK-based students in Years 10, 11 and 12 to create a “MASSOLIT-style” video lecture running at around 8-12 minutes on any academic topic. The final deadline is 5pm Friday 30th June 2023. The best entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges made up of academics from Brasenose and members of the MASSOLIT team. This competition is open to every pupil in the UK – you do not need to be a subscriber to MASSOLIT.
Trinity College Cambridge University Essay competition
The Philosophy Essay Prize is open to Year 12 or Lower 6th students. The aim of the Prize is to encourage able sixth formers to pursue their interest in Philosophy, with the hope that they will be encouraged to read this or related subjects at University. The deadline is 31st May 2023.
Subject advisor
Susan Currey
Religious Studies
