The Assignment: overview of the SQA Higher RMPS coursework component
An overview of the SQA Higher RMPS assignment, the 30-mark coursework component, covering how candidates choose a religious, moral or philosophical issue, research and reference sources, structure a balanced and evaluative response, and how it fits the 110-mark course assessment.
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The assignment is the coursework component of SQA Higher RMPS, worth 30 marks of the 110-mark course assessment. It is an independent investigation in which a candidate chooses a religious, moral or philosophical issue, researches it, and writes up a balanced, evaluative response under controlled conditions. This page is the overview: how the assignment works, how it is marked, and how it fits the course.
What the assignment is
The assignment is a candidate-chosen investigation of a religious, moral or philosophical issue, written up under controlled conditions and worth 30 marks. Candidates have an open choice of issue, drawn from any of the three content areas or a related topic. The best issues are debatable and phrased as a question, so the write-up naturally weighs more than one side.
How it is marked
The marks reward a small set of skills:
- A clear issue or question to investigate.
- Relevant and accurate knowledge drawn from sources, with the sources referenced.
- Balance: more than one viewpoint presented fairly, religious and non-religious as appropriate.
- Analysis and evaluation: the arguments weighed, not just described. This is the skill the SQA most often reports as weak.
- A conclusion that reaches a judgement following from the analysis.
How to approach it
- Choose a debatable issue. Phrase it as a question you can argue both ways, for example "Should euthanasia be legalised?" or "Is the design argument convincing?".
- Research and reference. Gather a range of sources and record where each point comes from.
- Plan a balanced structure. Introduction, a section for each viewpoint with evidence, an analysis that weighs them, and a supported conclusion.
- Build the evaluation. For each argument, plan a comment on its strength and weakness, and a conclusion that rests on that weighing.
- Reuse your knowledge. Choosing an issue from a topic you have studied lets you play to your strengths.
How it fits the course
The assignment is not separate from the rest of the course: it draws on the knowledge built in World Religion, Morality and Belief, and Religious and Philosophical Questions, and rehearses the evaluation the question papers also test. Together, the assignment (30 marks) and the two question papers (60 and 20 marks) make up the 110-mark course assessment, graded A to D.
For the official course specification
The SQA (now Qualifications Scotland) publishes the full Higher RMPS course specification, the coursework assessment task, and guidance on conditions of assessment at sqa.org.uk. Always work from the current specification and the official coursework task, because requirements are board-specific.