The Philosophy department is an experienced team of three teachers who are passionate and excited by the subject. The department develops pupils' perception of the world and the meaning that we take from it. Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE) is a critical and reflective study of the philosophy of religion, ethics and Buddhism. It is much more philosophical and theological than GCSE Religious Studies. It is highly regarded by admissions tutors at the UK’s top universities. You will explore some of the fundamental questions that humanity has explored for thousands of years and evaluate the views of some of history’s most important philosophers and theologians. You’ll develop your own ideas and arguments and develop your reading, writing and critical thinking skills. You’ll learn through a variety of methods, including debates, seminars, independent study and textual analysis. Sometimes, you will discuss and explore topics that are controversial and challenging. After two years, you’ll be a confident, mature, critical thinker with excellent transferable skills highly valued by universities and employers.

 

  

 

Marking & Feedback

 

Academic Enrichment & Extension Opportunities

Revision Booklets:

Students are provided with an electronic revision booklet for each theme on Google Classroom during the year that lists a range of suggested activities to help embed knowledge outside the lesson along with past exam questions.

Fortnightly Reading:

Students are provided with a reading resource listing multiple articles related to the topics covered to encourage wider reading and application of course content. This is as well as the independent work set.
 

Tutorials:

A once-term philosophy tutorial runs to discuss current affairs and apply philosophical and Ethical Ideas.

Sixth Form Learning Platform:

Lessons and resources are all accessible via the learning platform.

Review Questions

Once in Year 13, students will be provided with specific knowledge retrieval questions to review past topic areas for prep work.

 

Future Options & Career Opportunities

As well as being a subject highly respected by Oxford, Cambridge and Russell group universities, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics also aids in many subjects, some even study it alongside maths and Physics! Philosophy is very much recognised as a subject of today and the future, a subject which artificial intelligence could never replace new ideas, individual thinking and debate.

Philosophers develop a good all-round skills base which enables them to follow numerous careers. At Samuel Whitbread Academy, we have seen many students progress to diverse careers, including:

 

Revision Materials

The best source of revision resources is through your own lesson notes and use of the A Level Learning Platform for Philosophy, Religion & Ethics and the Google Classroom you will be added to, which will always have the most up-to-date lesson resources. In addition to these, the following can be accessed: