Hello and welcome to Religion and Ethics at Reigate College.
My name is Ellen Collins and I’m the course leader for Religion and Ethics A Level. I’m looking forward to welcoming you in person at the beginning of the academic year and sharing my passion for the subject.
In the meantime, I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities at home over the coming months. These tasks will not only fuel your enthusiasm for the subject but also introduce you to some of the topics we will be covering and give you a great insight into studying Religion and Ethics at A Level. At A Level you will be expected to work independently and motivate yourself, so use this time as a training session. I’m looking forward to discussing what you have learnt when we meet in September.
The tasks are organised in three distinct steps and should all be completed by Choices Day on 25 August 2026. This is to give you the best insight into what the courses will be like and/or help prepare you for them.
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | Suggested Completion Dates | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 June | 1 August |
| Aim High | 1 June | 1 September |
Task 1:
Studying A Level Religion and Ethics provides a coherent and thought-provoking programme of study. Throughout the course, you will develop your understanding and appreciation of religious beliefs and teachings, as well as the disciplines of ethics and the philosophy of religion.
Religion and Ethics challenges us to think critically, question assumptions, and explore the nature of knowledge, reality, and reasoning. One of the most essential tools within philosophy is the argument – a structured way of presenting ideas and supporting them with evidence or logic. In this task, you will explore different types of arguments commonly used in philosophy. Each type of argument has strengths, and limitation, but understanding how arguments work will help you evaluate the ideas of others with greater clarity
- As an introduction and to give you some background information, please begin by watching the following Crash Course Philosophy video: How to argue: induction and abduction.
Make some notes on the content of the video according to the following headings:
- What is inductive reasoning, and how does it differ from deductive reasoning?
- What are the limitations of inductive reasoning, and how does the “grue” paradox illustrate these challenges?
- How does abductive reasoning work, and in what ways does it differ from induction?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of abductive reasoning when forming hypotheses or explanations?
- How are inductive and abductive reasoning used in scientific inquiry and everyday problem-solving?
- Why is it important to understand the limitations of inductive and abductive reasoning when evaluating arguments?
Task 2:
As part of the philosophy section of your REA course, you will study traditional arguments for the existence of God. One of the most well-known of these arguments is the cosmological argument. Whilst it can take a deductive, inductive or abductive form, the presentation of the argument from Aquinas is deductive.
Listen to the first 23 minutes of the following podcast:
PGS – Cosmological Argument(s) – Philosophy Gets Schooled
- Produce summary notes on the main claims of Aquinas’ cosmological argument (his first and second ways)
- Explain why this is a deductive argument for the existence of God
A third of your A Level in REA consists of the study of Christian teachings through the ‘Developments in Christian Thought’ unit. In preparation, it is important to understand biblical themes as the foundation for the ideas you will learn about.
There are three videos to watch to explore different biblical themes. Having watched each video clip, please answer the accompanying questions:
Video 1: Justice
- How does the Bible define the concept of justice, and what Hebrew term is usually used to represent it?
- In what ways does the biblical understanding of justice differ from contemporary secular views?
- What role does Jesus play in showing the Bible’s vision of justice?
Video 2: The Son of Man
- What is the significance of the term “Son of Man” in the Bible?
- In what ways does Jesus’ self-identification as the “Son of Man” influence the understanding of his role in the New Testament of the Bible?
- To what extent is the title “Son of Man” essential to understanding Jesus’ role in Christianity? You can use your own ideas in answering this question too.
Video 3: The Human Condition
- How does the story of Adam and Eve show the belief that humans have been separated from God?
- How does Israel’s exile to Babylon show the human experience of feeling separated/removed from a place of comfort?
- How do Christians believe that Jesus helps to solve the problem of human separation from God and bring people back to Him?
The tasks below centre around the ethics part of the REA course and will provide you with an introduction to some key areas of debate which will be covered in the A Level.
Task 1
Read the introductory section (pages 3-7) from the book Ethics for A Level, Dimmock and Fisher (2017) available here: Ethics for A-Level: For AQA Philosophy and OCR Religious Studies. You should then answer the questions below:
- How would you explain what philosophy is to someone?
- Do you think philosophy is important? If yes, why? If no, why?
- List some examples of ethical questions
- What role, if any, does science have in ethical arguments?
- “Because there are so many different views on moral issues there cannot be any moral truth”. What do you think of this line of argument
Task 2
Use a note taking method such as the Cornell method or mind-mapping method to produce an A3 summary (or two pages of A4) of one podcast of your choosing, based on the list below:
Episode 101, Talking about the Mind (Part 1 – The Fabric of Reality)
Episode 122, ‘Justice for Animals’ with Martha Nussbaum (Part II – Further Analysis and Discussion)
Episode 121, The Philosophy of Privacy (Part II – Privacy in Peril)
Course Leader Religion and Ethics
