Unit 2: Religion and Ethical Themes - a complete overview for WJEC GCSE Religious Studies

What this covers

Unit 2: Religion and Ethical Themes is the second unit of the full WJEC GCSE Religious Studies course, a written exam worth 50 percent. This overview ties the dot points together: Part A is the practices of Christianity and one other religion, and Part B is the two ethical themes, Relationships and Human Rights, studied through religious and non-religious responses.

Part A: practices

In Part A you study the practices of Christianity (or Catholic Christianity) and one other religion. This site uses Christianity and Islam. For Christianity, the key practices are worship and prayer, the sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist), the role of the Church, the festivals (Christmas and Easter), pilgrimage, and mission and charity. For Islam, the key practices are the Five Pillars (Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Sawm and Hajj), worship in the mosque, the festivals (Id-ul-Fitr and Id-ul-Adha) and the meaning of jihad. Practices express the beliefs studied in Unit 1.

Part B: the ethical themes

Part B studies two ethical themes through religious and non-religious responses.

Theme 3: Issues of Relationships. Marriage, sex, cohabitation, divorce, the family, gender roles and equality, and contraception, with Humanist as well as religious views.

Theme 4: Issues of Human Rights. Human dignity and equality, prejudice and discrimination, social justice, poverty and wealth, and freedom of religion and expression, again with non-religious responses.

The assessment objectives and question types

Unit 2 marks are split evenly between AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (analysis and evaluation). Questions follow a ladder: a short (a) definition, a (b) describe, a (c) explain (often with a source of wisdom), and a (d) evaluation ("Discuss this statement"), on which SPaG is marked. Plan the (d) answer with religious and non-religious views and a clear judgement.

Check your knowledge

1. What two parts make up Unit 2? (2 marks)
2. Name the two ethical themes in Part B. (2 marks)
3. What is a sacrament? (2 marks)
4. Name the Five Pillars of Islam. (2 marks)
5. Give one religious view on divorce. (2 marks)
6. Why do many religions teach that all people are equal? (2 marks)
7. How do Muslims help the poor through the Pillars? (2 marks)
8. Why must Part B include non-religious views? (2 marks)