A level Religious Studies

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Syllabus

Awarding body

Also called ‘OCR’.

OCR’s A level Religious Studies page.

Specification

The specification (H857) is split into three units:

  • 1. Philosophy of religion (H857/01)
  • 2. Religion and ethics (H857/02)
  • 3. Developments in Christian thought (H857/03)

Content

  1. Philosophy of religion
    1.1.1. Ancient philosophical influences
    1.1.2. Soul, mind, and body
    1.2.1. Arguments from observation
    1.2.2. Arguments from reason
    1.3.1. Religious experience
    1.3.2. The problem of evil
    1.4. The nature or attributes of God
    1.5. Religious language: Negative, analogical, or symbolic
    1.6. Religious language: 20th century perspectives
  2. Religion and ethics
    2.1.1. Natural law
    2.1.2. Situation ethics 1 & 2
    2.2.1. Kantian ethics 1 & 2
    2.2.2. Utilitarianism
    2.3.1. Euthanasia
    2.3.2. Business ethics
    2.4. Meta-ethics
    2.5. Conscience
    2.6. Sexual ethics
  3. Developments in Christian thought
    3.1.1. Augustine’s teaching on human nature
    3.1.2. Death and the afterlife
    3.2.1. Knowledge of God’s existence
    3.2.2. The person of Jesus Christ
    3.3.1. Christian moral principles
    3.3.2. Christian moral action
    3.4.1. Religious pluralism and theology
    3.4.2. Religious pluralism and society
    3.5.1. Gender and society
    3.5.2. Gender and theology
    3.6.1. The challenge of secularism
    3.6.2. Liberation theology and Marx

Note: Pages extracted from the OCR specification.

Key words

OCR’s glossary (words & meanings)

Glossary words onlyDownload

Exams

Dates (Year 13, 2027)

There are three 2 hour public exams:

  • 3. Philosophy of religion: Thursday 27 May 2027 am
  • 2. Religion and ethics: Tuesday 08 June 2027 am
  • 3. Developments in Christian thought: Wednesday 16 June 2027 am

OCR exam timetable (2027)

Command words

The instruction words in an exam question that tell you what kind of response is expected.

OCR’s guidance

Command words and phrasesDownload

Paper 01. Philosophy of religion

Paper 02. Religion and ethics

Paper 03. Developments in Christian thought

Note: The 2026 documents aren’t publicly available yet.

Assessment Objectives (AOs)

There are two AOs.

  • AO1 concerns knowledge and understanding
  • AO2 concern critical analysis and evaluation

AO1 is worth 40% of the total mark; AO2 is worth 60%.

AO1 marking criteriaDownload
AO2 marking criteriaDownload

Grade boundaries

Official grade boundaries OCRDownload
Grade boundaries for studentsDownload

Textbooks

Officially approved

OCR’s list

Three by Waterfield, Eyre, and Dean (2020):

Two by Wilkinson, Wilcockson, and Campbell (2016 & 2017):

Two by Ahluwalia and Bowie (2016 & 2017):

Other textbooks

Ahluwalia and Bowie (2018):

Sources

1. Philosophy of religion

Ancient philosophical influences

  • Plato, Republic, Book 474c–480
  • Plato, Republic, Book 506b–509c
  • Plato, Republic, Book 509d–511e
  • Plato, Republic, Book 514a–517c
  • Aristotle, Physics II.3
  • Aristotle, Metaphysics V.2
  • Julia Annas, An Introduction to Plato’s Republic, Chapters 9 and 10
  • Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Plato‘

Soul, mind and body

Arguments based on observation

  • Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I.2.3
  • William Paley, Natural Theology, Chapters 1 and 2
  • David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Part II
  • Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, Chapter 1
  • Michael Palmer, The Question of God, Chapters 2 and 3

Arguments based on reason

  • Anselm, Proslogion, Chapters 2 and 3
  • Gaunilo, In Behalf of the Fool
  • Immanuel Kant, A Critique of Pure Reason, Second Division III.IV
  • Psalm 14:1
  • Peter van Inwagen, ‘Necessary Being: The Ontological Argument’, in Eleonore Stump and Michael J. Murray, eds., Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions
  • Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom and Evil, II.c

Religious experience

  • William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lectures 9, 10, 16, 17 and 20
  • Acts 9:4–8
  • Acts 22:6–10
  • Acts 26
  • Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, Chapters 4 and 5
  • Saint Teresa of Avila, selections from The Autobiography of Saint Teresa, ed. and trans. E. Allison Peers

The problem of evil

The nature or attributes of God

  • Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, Book V
  • Anselm, De Concordia
  • Richard Swinburne, The Coherence of Theism, Part II
  • Matthew 19.23–26
  • Peter Vardy, The Puzzle of God, Section 4
  • John Macquarrie, Principles of Christian Theology, Chapter 11

Religious language: Negative, analogical or symbolic

  • Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I.13
  • Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith, Part 3
  • A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic
  • Richard Swinburne, ‘God-talk is not evidently nonsense’, in Brian Davies, ed., Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology

Religious language: Twentieth-century perspectives and philosophical comparisons

2. Religion and ethics

Natural Law

Situation Ethics

Kantian Ethics

  • Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, Chapter 2
  • Louis Pojman, Discovering Right and Wrong, Chapter 8
  • Onora O’Neill, ‘Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems’, in Russ Shafer-Landau, ed., Ethical Theory: An Anthology

Utilitarianism

  • Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
  • J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism
  • Peter Singer, Practical Ethics
  • Louis Pojman, Discovering Right and Wrong, Chapter 7

Euthanasia

  • Jonathan Glover, Causing Death and Saving Life, Chapters 14 and 15
  • Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Euthanasia
  • Peter Singer, Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics, Chapter 7

Business Ethics

  • Milton Friedman, ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’, The New York Times Magazine, 13 September 1970
  • Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten, Business Ethics
  • FTSE4Good, Index Inclusion Rules

Meta-ethics

  • G. E. Moore, Principia Ethica, Chapter II
  • A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, Chapter 6
  • J. L. Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Part 1.3

Conscience

  • Aquinas, Summa Theologica I–I, question 79
  • Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id
  • Erich Fromm, Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics, IV.2
  • Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Sigmund Freud‘
  • Paul Strohm, Conscience: A Very Short Introduction, Chapters 1 and 3

Sexual Ethics

  • Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae
  • Church of England House of Bishops, Issues in Human Sexuality
  • J. S. Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 1

3. Developments in Christian thought

Augustine’s Teaching on Human Nature

  • Augustine, City of God, Book 14, Chapters 16–26
  • Augustine, Confessions, Book 8
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paras. 385–409
  • Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology, 5th ed., pages 348–355 and 371–372
  • Romans 7:15–20

Death and the Afterlife

Knowledge of God’s Existence

The Person of Jesus Christ

Christian Moral Principles

Christian Moral Action

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, Chapter 1
  • Romans 13:1–7
  • Barmen Declaration
  • Luke 10:38–42

Religious Pluralism and Theology

  • John Hick, God and the Universe of Faiths, Chapters 1 and 10
  • Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology, 5th ed., Chapter 17
  • Gavin D’Costa, Christianity and World Religions, Chapter 5

Religious Pluralism and Society

  • Catholic Church, Redemptoris Missio, sections 55–57
  • Church of England, Sharing the Gospel of Salvation
  • Doctrine Commission of the Church of England, The Mystery of Salvation, Chapter 7
  • David Ford, The Future of Christian Theology, Chapter 7
  • Pope Paul VI, Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions

Gender and Society

  • Ephesians 5:21–33
  • Pope John Paul II, Mulieris Dignitatem, sections 18–19
  • Rosemarie Tong, Feminist Thought, Chapter 1
  • Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology, 5th ed., pages 88–89 and 336–337
  • Neil Messer, SCM Study Guide to Christian Ethics, Chapter 8

Gender and Theology

  • Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sexism and God-Talk, Chapter 9
  • Mary Daly, Beyond God the Father, Chapter 4
  • Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror, Introduction and Chapter 2
  • Michael Wilcockson, Social Ethics, Chapter 2
  • Luke 24:9–12
  • Acts 16:13–15

The Challenge of Secularism

  • Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion
  • Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, Chapter 9
  • David Ford, The Future of Christian Theology, Chapters 3 and 6
  • British Humanist Society
  • Christopher Dawson, ‘The Challenge of Secularism’, in Catholic World

Liberation Theology and Marx

  • Leonardo Boff and Clodovis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology
  • Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation, Chapter 4
  • Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Certain Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation‘
  • Michael Wilcockson, Christian Theology, Chapter 7

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