Morality and Belief: overview of the SQA National 5 RMPS component
An overview of the Morality and Belief component of SQA National 5 RMPS. Explains that a centre chooses one contemporary moral issue, studied through religious and non-religious responses and sources of moral authority, with Crime and Punishment as the worked example and study tips.
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Morality and Belief is one of the three components of SQA National 5 RMPS, alongside World Religion and Religious and Philosophical Questions. In this component you study one contemporary moral issue in depth and learn to describe, explain and evaluate religious and non-religious responses to it. This page maps the component and shows how its parts fit together.
Choosing one moral issue
The SQA does not make every learner study the same moral issue. A centre chooses one contemporary issue to teach in depth. Commonly taught options include:
- Crime and Punishment
- Relationships
- Medical ethics
- The Environment
- Conflict
You answer the exam questions on the one issue your school has taught. The detailed pages on this site use Crime and Punishment as the worked example, but the framework below works for any of them.
How any moral issue is studied
Whatever the issue, the component is built around the same ideas, and these are the focus of the dot points in this module.
- The nature of the issue
- What it actually involves, and the key terms. For Crime and Punishment this means the nature of crime and how crime differs from sin and immorality, and the causes of crime.
- Religious responses
- What religious people think and why, drawing on their sources of moral authority (for Christians: the Bible, the teaching and example of Jesus, the Church and conscience).
- Non-religious responses
- What non-religious people such as humanists think and why, drawing on reason, evidence, empathy and human welfare rather than scripture.
- The key debate
- Most issues contain a sharp debate to evaluate. For Crime and Punishment it is the death penalty (capital punishment).
Sources of moral authority
A central idea in this component is the source of moral authority: where a person's sense of right and wrong comes from. Because religious and non-religious people use different sources, they can reach different responses to the same issue. Being able to name and use these sources lifts an answer.
How this component is assessed
Morality and Belief is examined in the question paper (worth 60 marks) using source-based and extended-response questions, and it can be the focus of the assignment (worth 20 marks). Watch the command words: describe wants accurate responses with detail; explain wants reasons and consequences; evaluate or "to what extent" wants a reasoned judgement weighing both sides.
How to study Morality and Belief
- Learn both sides. For your issue, know at least one developed religious and one developed non-religious response, and where each comes from.
- Use sources of moral authority. Naming the Bible, Jesus, conscience, reason or human welfare shows why people respond as they do.
- Note disagreement within groups. Religious people do not all agree, and neither do non-religious people. Showing the range, accurately and respectfully, earns marks.
- Prepare the key debate. Have arguments for and against the main controversy (for Crime and Punishment, the death penalty) ready, plus a judgement.
- Practise SQA past papers. Learn the source-based question style and the wording markers reward.
The three dot points
Work through the dot-point pages for full answers, worked examples and cross-links: the nature and causes of crime, the purposes of punishment, and responses to crime and the death penalty.
For the official course specification
The SQA publishes the full National 5 RMPS course specification, specimen and past papers, and marking instructions at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and SQA past papers, because the moral issue your centre teaches and the exact question style are set by the SQA.