GCSE RE - is it interesting?

[gramercy]

Ds just choosing options. He originally spurned RE but he always gets good marks; teacher has written in his book that he is destined for an A* (although she may be trying to drum up custom and tells that to every pupil!). The syllabus looks rather apt for someone whose greatest skill is (opinionated) waffling, so I wondered if anyone had any knowledge of whether the GCSE is a)interesting and b)a heavy workload.

Doing RE GCSE would bring ds up to 11 academic GCSEs and seeing that he is a lazy boy I fear for my hair colour over the next two years.

There are a lot of different options within RE GCSE so it depends a bit whether what your school chooses to teach aligns with your ds's interests. Dd does Christian ethics and St Marks Gospel and has enjoyed both - one of her favourite lessons in fact (they just seem to debate and argue) and it does seem quite a straightforward choice with just the two exams and no controlled assessments. So... interesting: yes probably; heavy workload: not really.

I'm head of RE in a secondary school and I'd say do it! It's a fascinating subject - lots of questions and no answers!

There are lots of options so it might be worth finding out what his school do but, as pointed out above, no controlled assessment which does put pressure on the exams as if you make a mistake there's no banked marks, but takes the pressure off throughout the year.

Oh, and I know it's a while ahead but universities love it because of it having to make you look at both sides of the argument!

No controlled assessments? It's definitely back in the frame, then!

I loved it at Gcse really interesting and still fascinates me today

I taught it and still examine it. It is fascinating; it covers everything from abortion and euthanasia to Just War, crime and punishment via the environment and medical issues.

There is no 'right' answer and as long as you can argue cogently and back up your point from the religions you have studied, then it perfectly doable.

depends on the syllabus but 90% of schools do philosophy and ethics so its units on medical ethics, equality, rich and poor, war, the media and for phil. its things like the problem of evil, the nature of God, death and the afterlife etc. No coursework but they do have write mini essays in the exams. My current set (24 boys) all really enjoy it and really have some quality debates (there's also lots of opportunities to watch relevant films)

I would imagine that it is very interesting, at least it certainly has the scope to be. I hope so anyway as it is compulsory at DS' school

Hi OP. If your DS is year 9 then its unlikely he will be doing controlled assessments due to the Government's proposed changes - I think that's right. All subjects will have an exam at the end of 2 years i.e. year 11. Double science may be different as it is 1 GCSE at the end of year 10 and 1 at the end of year 11. That is what my DDs school thinks is happening. That might make your decisions easier!

Both mine really enjoyed it, they really got involved in all the ethics debates.

DS's school did not offer this as an A level, but he found out too late that if enough boys had asked they could have put a course on, as he would have loved it and the A level (Philosophy & Ethics) is very respected.

Hellsbells - there isn't any controlled assessment for RE anyway. It's all on exam.

Thanks, all.

Just had a chat with ds and he was much encouraged by the news that it is an exam only subject.

Ds's school thinks that there will be a phased return to final exams, so the current year 9s will still have a mixture of tests. Apparently there is still no news about Science.

DS is going to do it. I don't agree with teaching ethics through RE, but DS's school doesn't do the ethics unit. DS will be doing one unit on Buddhism and Christianity and another unit on religion and expressive art; that makes up a full GCSE. He is very interested in art, so I think doing the unit that looks atreligious architecture, painting and so on will be really great for him and will complement GCSE Art.

DS1 is taking it as an extra curricular subject. He is very science orientated and atheist but loves RE because of the philosophy and ethics content. The RE teacher is inspiring and there is a lot of debating in class.
The GCSE is all terminal exams, 4 papers I think.