Why is RE GCSE COMPULSORY???

[Melondramatic]

Dd just got her choices. And RE is a core subject!! How ridiculous

Is it a faith school?

Not compulsory in Scottish schools.

Because it's your school's policy to make it compulsory. It's not a national requirement.

Of course it's compulsory. Don't you want your child to be able to learn and understand perspectives different to their own?

Your school’s choice as it isn’t compulsory everywhere.

When I did my GCSEs around 16years ago RE was compulsory as was Food technology or Design Technology. I would have thought there had been progression since then. And no I didn’t attend a faith school.

Short answer. It isn't.

Long answer, RE is compulsory unless you opt out. So some schools choose to make the pupils do a GCSE in it. Our school does (or at least did) the RE Short course GCSE at end y10 as a 'warm up' to real GCSE in y11.

Some schools make opting out of RE in y10/y11 very easy, giving the opt out as part of the GCSE options form. Others follow the law more closely.

Learning about different religions is important for the modern world. RE GCSE can be much more 'philosophy and ethics' than RE.

Thats intetresting!! I had assumed that it was universal

sinead yes and they do. No need to do a GCSE in fairies for that...computer science would be much more useful

No formerbabe, not a faith school

RS up to 16 is compulsory and has been since 1944 so many school choose to get something useful out of the time by putting the kids through a gcse course.. Often a 'shirt course', which has half the content and worth half a gcse. Modern syllabi concentrate on multiple faith studies and ethics. It's about understanding cultures and the process by which people make moral choices. It also teaches how to write an essay that presents a balanced, supported argument and conclusion. It is NOT any sort of indoctrination or teaching kids that 'fairy tales' are true as so many of these threads on MN seem to think.

RE as a subject is compulsory. It isn't compulsory to do a GCSE in it, but lots of schools choose to do this as the children have to study it anyway.

GCSE in fairies is unnecessarily disrespectful.

Understanding the viewpoint of people who follow different religions is very useful in today's multicultural society.

Eh? The last 2 replies are different to the others. We definitely didnt study RE up to 16 when i was at school

Not compulsory at my children’s school but it was at one of the schools we looked round. Compulsory RE and religious assemblies, where Christianity is taught as fact, have no place in schools in my view.

We definitely didnt study RE up to 16 when i was at school

Schools can apply for an exemption from the council's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

The replies aren't different. RE is compulsory unless you opt out, but taking an exam in RE is purely up to schools.

PE is also compulsory but you don't have to do an exam in it.

Our local school is a faith school and it is compulsory.
Ours isn't as a GCSE but they do do a general culture class . No exam though .

teen her uncle is a christian preacher. 90% of her friends are practising Muslims. Dd has as much understanding of faith as is necessary for an atheist. Probably much more than many adults

My belief is that gods are as real as fairies. That is no more disrespectful than the belief that Mohammed or Jesus are true

‘GCSE in fairies’? Really, op? Millions of people around the world have different beliefs and faiths. And you mock them all? Nice.

Re is not just about RE; it’s also about morals, ethics, philosophy. Have you looked at the gcse curriculum? Might be an idea.

Re is fascinating. Your dd might learn to be more open minded and less biased than you are.

Not compulsory in dc’s school but dd did it at gcse and found it very interesting, lots of debate and food for thought. We are agnostic btw.

Do you even know what is covered?

They learn about different faiths, what people believe and how they worship. It's a fantastic education in respect for and tolerance of different cultures and practices. An opportunity to broaden your knowledge and open your mind.

Religious Studies is a core subject because it’s basically anthropology and gives context to history, modern studies and texts in literature.

I’m in Scotland, but I’d imagine it’s the same reasoning as some schools doing it as a compulsory exam subject... they only have to add one lesson in the week to what they have to do to have enough teaching time to be an exam subject, so they figure they might as well give them the exam pass.

teen so it seems our school has opted out of PE, but not RE. Bloody great

Jesus and Muhammad were real people, according to most scholars.

My belief is that gods are as real as fairies. That is no more disrespectful than the belief that Mohammed or Jesus are true
Views like this are exactly why the Religious Studies GCSE should be compulsory.

Local secondary near me has it as a compulsory GCSE. I asked the teacher and she said that as they have to spend so many lessons on it a week they might as well do a GCSE.
I went to a ‘religious’ (nominally) school about 25 years ago and we were allowed to drop RS at GCSE options time.