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How can I reach an A* in A Level Religious Studies?

Hi,

I am currently studying Religious Studies for A Level and am going into my second year in September. Throughout Year 12, I have been reaching A/B grades and am struggling to even reach high As. My predicted grade for Religious Studies is an A but I hope to do a retake of my mocks in September to increase it - I need to get at least one A* in the three papers to convince my teachers. However, considering that I have not been able to reach this grade at all, it is something I am increasingly getting worried about.

The exam board is OCR and, I am not sure if this applies to other exam boards, but my AO1 skills (describing/reciting knowledge) tend to be much higher than my AO2 skills (analysing/evaluating) and is what is letting me down. The essay structure for Religious Studies is hugely different to English and History (my other A Levels) and I find it difficult to get used to actually evaluating the argument and finding rebuttals to reach those high AO2 marks.

Any help, at all, will be greatly appreciated -- thanks X
Reply 1
If you post one of your previous essays I'd be happy to explain how to improve it to A* level
Reply 2
Thank you, I'll send it via PM? :smile:

Original post by Joe312
If you post one of your previous essays I'd be happy to explain how to improve it to A* level
Reply 3
Original post by MrLordofthemic
I have just got my A-Level results and did OCR Religious Studies, I got an A* with 95% over the 3 papers - got 100% in philosophy (120/120) and 111/120 and 112/120 in ethics and development of christian thought respectively.

I am happy to answer questions and help people out, as through hard work it can be done


Wow thank you and congratulations on those amazing results!!! What degree are you going to study? I'll send you a PM of my questions :smile:
Reply 4
Your exam board is different but in my exam board(educas). For the A02 questions you just needed to know general strengths and weaknesses for a specific argument. We also went through many possible A02 questions grids- for and against. My teacher told us to get the higher grades it is important to explain in detail your points but to also add quotes from scripture or philosophers or individuals to strengthen your argument. Hope that helps even thought it is a different exam board as I am sure some of the questions are similar.
Original post by ibte10
Your exam board is different but in my exam board(educas). For the A02 questions you just needed to know general strengths and weaknesses for a specific argument. We also went through many possible A02 questions grids- for and against. My teacher told us to get the higher grades it is important to explain in detail your points but to also add quotes from scripture or philosophers or individuals to strengthen your argument. Hope that helps even thought it is a different exam board as I am sure some of the questions are similar.


I'm doing Eduqas I'm about an A/B borderline if not a high B but i need to get an A, philosophy and ethics is fine but I haven't revised any of my AS content yet as I'm focusing my other subject..
Reply 6
Original post by kekedoyouloveme?
I'm doing Eduqas I'm about an A/B borderline if not a high B but i need to get an A, philosophy and ethics is fine but I haven't revised any of my AS content yet as I'm focusing my other subject..

There is a lot of content. That is the only real problem. If you take time to learn the content then it should be easy. The A01 questions are simple most of the time as you just need to know the argument so it is basically recall. I thought AS content wise was not so bad. Well I didn’t like religious experiences in philosophy but the rest was fine. I got an A in the full A level so PM if you have any questions or want something checked.
Original post by ibte10
There is a lot of content. That is the only real problem. If you take time to learn the content then it should be easy. The A01 questions are simple most of the time as you just need to know the argument so it is basically recall. I thought AS content wise was not so bad. Well I didn’t like religious experiences in philosophy but the rest was fine. I got an A in the full A level so PM if you have any questions or want something checked.


yeah i didn't like the challenges to religious experiences found it quite boring tbh.

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