The Student Room Group

OCR Religious Studies A Level Predictions

Paper 1:
Based on previous papers and the content within the topics, its likely that the following will come up:
- Plato & Aristotle
- Problem of evil
- Religious lang: falsification, Wittgenstein, logical positivism
- Soul, mind & body
- Ontological argument
Its unlikely that religious experience or via negativa/positiva will come up again

Paper 2:
Not many topics to cover in paper 2 which means there less questions for examiners to come up with:
- 100% sure sexual ethics will come up - its the only one that hasn't come up yet - make sure you know it inside out!
I'd focus on applied ethics questions for this paper, get your head around the 4 main approaches to ethics and how to apply them. Euthanasia and conscience are less likely to come up, but still worth revising, questions are limited in paper 2 so examiners will repeat topics a lot.

Paper 3: (Christian thought)
Questions in paper 3 so far have been quite similar so examiners might stem out this year with different topics, these are the topics that haven't really come up yet and could come up this year:
- Augustine, the fall & original sin
- Gods existence
- Christian morality
- Exclusivism, inclusivism & pluralism
- Multi-faith societies, scriptural reasoning & interfaith dialogue
- Liberation theology & Marx
Its unlikely that the following will come up:
- Bonhoeffer
- Secularism

Any topics that haven't been mentioned are still worth having a look at, but if you're cramming, I'd avoid the ones mentioned as unlikely (this does NOT mean they won't come up!). Also don't forget - if they really wanted to, they could ask all 4 questions on the same topic, although this will almost certainly never happen, they have asked 2 questions on the same topic in the past. Good luck :smile:

Scroll to see replies

these are pretty similar to what my teachers have said, id say theyre as accurate as they can be
Hi, I just wanted to ask whether all of the religious language chapters come under one topic, so would it be possible to skip the whole of religious language. I really struggle with this topic and from what I understand you are able to skip one topic for each paper.

Original post by Nikki0333
Paper 1:
Based on previous papers and the content within the topics, its likely that the following will come up:
- Plato & Aristotle
- Problem of evil
- Religious lang: falsification, Wittgenstein, logical positivism
- Soul, mind & body
- Ontological argument
Its unlikely that religious experience or via negativa/positiva will come up again

Paper 2:
Not many topics to cover in paper 2 which means there less questions for examiners to come up with:
- 100% sure sexual ethics will come up - its the only one that hasn't come up yet - make sure you know it inside out!
I'd focus on applied ethics questions for this paper, get your head around the 4 main approaches to ethics and how to apply them. Euthanasia and conscience are less likely to come up, but still worth revising, questions are limited in paper 2 so examiners will repeat topics a lot.

Paper 3: (Christian thought)
Questions in paper 3 so far have been quite similar so examiners might stem out this year with different topics, these are the topics that haven't really come up yet and could come up this year:
- Augustine, the fall & original sin
- Gods existence
- Christian morality
- Exclusivism, inclusivism & pluralism
- Multi-faith societies, scriptural reasoning & interfaith dialogue
- Liberation theology & Marx
Its unlikely that the following will come up:
- Bonhoeffer
- Secularism

Any topics that haven't been mentioned are still worth having a look at, but if you're cramming, I'd avoid the ones mentioned as unlikely (this does NOT mean they won't come up!). Also don't forget - if they really wanted to, they could ask all 4 questions on the same topic, although this will almost certainly never happen, they have asked 2 questions on the same topic in the past. Good luck :smile:
Reply 3
Firstly, they can ask you two questions in the same topic, essentially forcing you to write about that topic - this is especially likely in paper 2 where theres less content! But religious language is divided into two sections, the first is via negativa, via positiva & symbol and the second is logical positivism, falsification and Wittgenstein. I would definately revise the second, the first has come up already and is unlikely to come up again, so get your head round those 3 topics because they are very likely to come up I'm afraid :/
Heres some practise questions for you:
Q. ‘Anthony Flews falsification principle presents a significant challenge to religious language’ Discuss.
Q. Assess the view that we can only talk about God in a non-cognitive way.
Q. 'Religious language is meaningless' Discuss.
Q. Assess the view that analogy provides the best way to comprehend God.
Original post by JoeBacon3000
Hi, I just wanted to ask whether all of the religious language chapters come under one topic, so would it be possible to skip the whole of religious language. I really struggle with this topic and from what I understand you are able to skip one topic for each paper.
Ok thank you, really appreciate your help
Reply 5
theyve asked 2 questions on the same topic?? tf when? I thought they could just ask two from the same section of the spec, not the same exact topic omdnrbgajjfakjf i was gonna miss one out
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 6
Sorry yeah I meant same section, although nothings stopping them from doing the same topic, thats just unlikely, I imagine it'd get very boring to mark.
(Original post by dx31)
theyve asked 2 questions on the same topic?? tf when? I thought they could just ask two from the same section of the spec, not the same exact topic omdnrbgajjfakjf i was gonna miss one out
Reply 7
Haha yeah! How's revision going? I still have quite a bit of DCT left...
Original post by Nikki0333
Sorry yeah I meant same section, although nothings stopping them from doing the same topic, thats just unlikely, I imagine it'd get very boring to mark.
(Original post by dx31)
Reply 8
Don't even get me started, I feel so unprepared haha, I'm sure I'll be fine when I get in there. I'm lucky cus I take philosophy and R.E, so they cross over a lot. DCT is so much later than the rest though, I don't think many people have fully revised for it yet
Original post by dx31
Haha yeah! How's revision going? I still have quite a bit of DCT left...
If they said ‘religious language is meaningless’ discuss how would people go about this question? It’s so broad and obvs you don’t have that long to answer it so how many theories do you think you’d cover?
Original post by Nikki0333
Firstly, they can ask you two questions in the same topic, essentially forcing you to write about that topic - this is especially likely in paper 2 where theres less content! But religious language is divided into two sections, the first is via negativa, via positiva & symbol and the second is logical positivism, falsification and Wittgenstein. I would definately revise the second, the first has come up already and is unlikely to come up again, so get your head round those 3 topics because they are very likely to come up I'm afraid :/
Heres some practise questions for you:
Q. ‘Anthony Flews falsification principle presents a significant challenge to religious language’ Discuss.
Q. Assess the view that we can only talk about God in a non-cognitive way.
Q. 'Religious language is meaningless' Discuss.
Q. Assess the view that analogy provides the best way to comprehend God.
Reply 10
I would first quickly seperate in my head non-cognitive and cognitive theories. I'd try to pick 2 from the side I'm arguing, even if one is a really short one and 1 from the other side. As long as you're doing a ping-pong back and forth dialogue I don't think it matters too much how much content you stick in, they just want to see that you understand it and can create a clear argument.
Original post by itslibby
If they said ‘religious language is meaningless’ discuss how would people go about this question? It’s so broad and obvs you don’t have that long to answer it so how many theories do you think you’d cover?
This is basically what my teacher predicted, anyone doing Buddhism?
Okay thank you I think I’d take a similar approach tbh:smile: with such a broad question I think it would be so easy to make it way too content heavy which obviously isn’t what they’re looking for.
Original post by Nikki0333
I would first quickly seperate in my head non-cognitive and cognitive theories. I'd try to pick 2 from the side I'm arguing, even if one is a really short one and 1 from the other side. As long as you're doing a ping-pong back and forth dialogue I don't think it matters too much how much content you stick in, they just want to see that you understand it and can create a clear argument.
Any one know the grade boundaries per essay so like how many marks I would need for an b or c?
https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/500693-new-a-level-grade-boundaries-june-2018.pdf
scroll down to religious studies and if you just divide the total needed for a b/c by 3 then that's how many were needed last year to get that grade (although obviously grade boundaries change year on year so don't take it to be exact)
Original post by lowkeyneedhelp
Any one know the grade boundaries per essay so like how many marks I would need for an b or c?
Reply 15
Original post by Wooord
This is basically what my teacher predicted, anyone doing Buddhism?

I'm doing Buddhism!! its so hard to find resources XD
Original post by Zoe_H
I'm doing Buddhism!! its so hard to find resources XD

yes it is!! its like learning a new language
do you have any predictions?
Reply 17
Original post by Wooord
yes it is!! its like learning a new language
do you have any predictions?


No I literally have no idea, but theres the past papers on the OCR website and the 4 nobel truths have come up a lot but other than that idkkkk
Reply 18
I don't think I'm going to revise nature of God maybe?
Reply 19
Can anyone help with this question: "Assess the view that any attempt to discuss the mind-body distinction is a category error"

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending