What is the Advanced Higher RMPS dissertation, and how do you plan, research and write it?
The dissertation: an independent research piece of around 3,000 to 4,000 words worth 50 marks, requiring a focused question, a range of researched views, a sustained argument and a substantiated conclusion.
An overview of the SQA Advanced Higher RMPS dissertation: a 50-mark, independent research piece of around 3,000 to 4,000 words on a chosen religious, moral or philosophical question. Covers choosing a focused question, researching a range of views, building a sustained argument, and reaching a substantiated conclusion.
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What this key area is asking
The dissertation is the coursework component of Advanced Higher RMPS: an independent research piece of around 3,000 to 4,000 words, worth 50 marks. This single overview sets out what it requires, choosing a focused question, researching a range of views, building a sustained argument, and reaching a substantiated conclusion, and how to approach it. It is the course's largest single component and the fullest test of the analysis, evaluation and independent research the whole course develops.
What the dissertation is
At 50 marks the dissertation is roughly a third of the whole award, as much as either essay area, so it deserves sustained work started early. It is the component that most directly demonstrates the independent research, analysis and evaluation that define the course at SCQF level 7, drawing on the skills used across Philosophy of Religion and the optional area.
Choosing the question
A question that is too broad cannot be argued in depth; a purely descriptive question ("what do religions teach about X") leaves nothing to evaluate; a question with no real disagreement or no accessible scholarship cannot sustain a dissertation. Because the dissertation rewards analysis, evaluation and sustained argument, time spent refining the question into one that invites all three is the highest-value early work.
Research and the use of a range of views
The dissertation must rest on independent research across a range of views: not a single source or one side of a debate, but proponents and critics, or the competing positions on the issue, drawn from credible scholarship. Crucially, the views must be analysed and evaluated, not just reported: each is weighed for its strengths, weaknesses and the force of the objections against it. A dissertation that surveys what people think without judging between them misses the central Advanced Higher demand, and sources must be properly referenced.
Argument and conclusion
Like the question paper essay, the dissertation must build a sustained line of argument, but at greater length and from original research. It should engage the strongest opposing positions, testing the argument rather than presenting one side, and reach a substantiated conclusion that answers the question and acknowledges its limits. The marks reward independent research, the analysis and evaluation of a range of views, and a coherent argument, so a descriptive survey, however thorough, scores poorly.
Worked example
Try this
Q1. What are the three qualities of a good dissertation question? [2 marks]
- Cue. Focused (answerable within the word limit), debatable (genuinely different defensible answers), and researchable (a range of accessible, credible sources exists).
Q2. Why must a dissertation evaluate views rather than simply describe them? [2 marks]
- Cue. Because the central Advanced Higher demand is analysis and evaluation: each view must be weighed for its strengths, weaknesses and objections within a sustained argument, not just reported.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH (dissertation)20 marksDescribe how you would plan and carry out the Advanced Higher RMPS dissertation.Show worked answer →
A strong answer treats the dissertation as an independent research project and shows how each stage builds a sustained argument.
Choose a focused, debatable religious, moral or philosophical question, narrow enough to research in around 3,000 to 4,000 words and with a genuine range of views to weigh. Research widely, gathering scholarly and varied sources representing different positions (for example, both sides of an ethical debate, or proponents and critics of an argument), and keep a careful record of them. Organise the material into a clear structure: an introduction setting up the question, a body that sets out and analyses the competing views and evidence, sustained evaluation that weighs them, and a conclusion that answers the question. Build a sustained line of argument rather than describing views in turn, engaging the strongest opposing positions, and reach a substantiated conclusion that follows from the argument and acknowledges its limits. Reference sources properly. The marks reward independent research, the analysis and evaluation of a range of views, and a coherent argument, so a descriptive survey scores poorly.
SQA AH (dissertation)12 marksExplain what makes a good dissertation question, and why the choice matters so much.Show worked answer →
The marks reward the qualities of a strong question and the consequences of the choice.
A good question is focused (answerable within around 3,000 to 4,000 words), debatable (it has genuinely different defensible answers, so there is something to argue and evaluate), and researchable (a range of accessible, credible sources exists on it). The choice matters because it dictates everything that follows: the views you must research, the structure of the argument, and the kind of conclusion possible. A question that is too broad cannot be argued in depth; a purely descriptive question ("what do religions teach about X") leaves nothing to evaluate; a question with no real disagreement or no accessible scholarship cannot sustain a dissertation. Because the dissertation rewards analysis, evaluation and a sustained argument, the question must invite all three. A full answer links the qualities of the question to the demands of independent research and argued writing.
Related dot points
- The course structure: two areas of study (Philosophy of Religion mandatory plus one optional area), the 90-mark question paper of extended essays, the 50-mark dissertation, and the 140-mark total graded A to D.
How SQA Advanced Higher RMPS is structured and assessed. Covers the two areas of study (Philosophy of Religion plus one optional area), the 90-mark question paper of extended essays, the 50-mark project-dissertation, the 140-mark total, and what the marker rewards.
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