Religious Studies Department

The Religious Studies Department at Nonsuch is a well-established and rapidly growing department. Currently it consists of the Head of Department, two full-time subject specialists and one part-time member of staff.

Religious Studies at Nonsuch is multi-faith in focus, in line with legal requirements, and our schemes of work are based on the Sutton Agreed Syllabus. There is an emphasis on active learning where students are encouraged to investigate new ideas and information; lively debates and discussions help students to appreciate a variety of views on a given subject. The subject is well received by all students who are motivated and challenged by the subject matter.

Religious Studies is taught throughout the school. At Key Stage 3 students examine the major world religions through a combination of systematic and thematic study. They are also given an opportunity to consider significant moral and philosophical issues. All students follow a short course GCSE in Religious Studies and those who wish may opt to do a full course GCSE (following the Edexcel specifications). At Key Stage 5 all students follow some lessons of Religious Studies as part of the General Studies programme. A Level Religious Studies has proved to be a popular course with the introduction of the Edexcel course in Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics.

In 2004 the examination results were excellent. 82% of students attained an A grade at A’level. The remaining 18% students achieved B grades. At GCSE 83% of students gained an A* or A grade for their short course qualification, and 95% of students who sat the full course examination were awarded an A* or A grade. These results are well above the national average.