Cambridge Theology graduate with 14+ years tutoring experience for RS and philosophy. A grade essay plans and high-quality resources for religious studies and philosophy A Level.
Cambridge Theology graduate with 14+ years tutoring experience for RS and philosophy. A grade essay plans and high-quality resources for religious studies and philosophy A Level.
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Soul, mind and body questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on soul, mind and body for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question, including on the tricky questions on “category error” and soul as “metaphor”.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
You may get a question focusing on materialism vs dualism, Plato vs Aristotle, the mind-body problem as a “category error” and if the soul is a “metaphor”. These four plans cover all these possible questions to A* standard.
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Arguments Based on Observation questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on argument for God based on observation for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question, including on the tricky questions on “logical fallacies" and “chance”.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
Provided are exemplar, detailed plans for:
Question theme 1: A posteriori arguments for God are more persuasive than a priori arguments.
Question theme 2: Can the teleological argument be defended against the challenge of chance? / evaluate the teleological argument.
Question theme 3: Does the cosmological argument simply leap to the conclusion of a transcendent creator?
Question theme 4: Is the cosmological argument persuasive?
Question theme 5: Do the a posteriori arguments for God have logical fallacies that they cannot overcome?
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in arguments based on reason (ontological argument) questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on the ontological argument for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question, including on the tricky question on whether existence is a predicate.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
These plans cover questions focusing on a priori vs a posteriori arguments, whether the ontological argument justifies belief or has logical fallacies and whether existence can be treated as a predicate.
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Liberation Theology questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on Liberation Theology for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
Provided are detailed plans for:
Question theme 1: should Christian theology engage with atheist secular ideologies?
Question theme 2: does Christianity tackle social issues more effectively than Marxism?
Question theme 3: Does liberation theology engage with Marxism fully enough?
Question theme 4: Is it right for Christians to prioritise one group over another / evaluate the preferential option for the poor.
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Religious Experience questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on Religious Experience for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
Provided are detailed plans for:
Question theme 1: Does religious experience provide a basis for belief in God or a higher power?
Question theme 2: Is personal testimony enough to support the validity of religious experience?
Question theme 3: Evaluate the views and conclusions of William James’ study of religious experience.
Question theme 4: Are corporate religious experiences more reliable than individual religious experiences?
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Conscience questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on conscience for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
Provided are exemplar, detailed plans for:
Question theme 1: Compare Aquinas and Freud on the process of moral decision-making
Question theme 2: Compare Freud and Aquinas’ views on the role of guilt.
Question theme 3: Evaluate the presence or absence of God in moral decision-making
Question theme 4: Is the ‘conscience’ just an umbrella term covering various factors such as culture, environment, genetic predisposition and education? / is conscience linked to, or separate from, the unconscious mind?
These notes provide everything you need to get 40/40 in Problem of Evil questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren not textbook-style lengthy notes explaining the thinkers. They cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on the Problem of Evil for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible questions.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
These plans cover the following questions:
Question theme 1: Is Augustine’s view of the origins of moral and natural evil enough to spare God from blame for evils in the world?
Question theme 2: Does the concept of the world as a “vale of soul-making” justify the existence or extent of evil?
Question theme 3: Which of the logical or evidential aspects of the problem of evil poses the greater threat to belief in God.
Question theme 4: Is it possible to successfully defend monotheism in the face of evil?
If you’re struggling to “get” meta-ethics, these are the notes for you. Meta-ethics is one of the most difficult topics to understand. These very clear, step-by-step notes explain what the topic is and what emotivism, naturalism and intuition are. The notes do not contain essay plans, but they do very clearly explain the AO1 (knowledge) of each theory, as well as bonus sections on Hume’s is-ought gap.
Though these notes aren’t evaluative, they do contain ideas for evaluation and spell out the philosopher’s arguments for their own theories.
My students call these notes a “life saver” for what is one of the hardest topics in the OCR RS A Level.
Note: much of this material would help with AQA RS and Edexcel RS.
These notes provide everything you need to get an 40/40 or a high A in Meta-ethics questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. Don’t download if you don’t understand the main thinkers already! These notes cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on meta-ethics for the OCR A Level. As with all OCR RS topics, there are a limited number of possible questions from the specification, and this document gives you A Grade essay for all possible question.
These plans use a structure of six shortish paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be two thirds AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
Provided are exemplar, detailed plans for:
Question theme 1: ‘What is meant by the term “good” is the defining term in the study of ethics’. Discuss.
Question theme 2: Does the word “good” have an objective factual basis in describing something? / Evaluate the cognitive approach to ethical language
Question theme 3: Evaluate the view that the terms “good”, “bad”, “right” and “wrong” refer only to what is in the mind of a person using such terms / evaluate emotivism / evaluate the view that terms like “good” and “bad” are meaningless
Question theme 4: Do people “just know” what is right and wrong as a matter of common sense?
These notes provide everything you need to get 40/40 in Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato and Aristotle questions. The plans are clear, easy to read and colour-coded so you can see AO1 and AO2. I’ve been tutoring OCR RS A Level for over a decade, and I have a degree in Theology from Cambridge.
I’m offering them for free as a sample of my wider set of essay plans for OCR RS.
These aren’t textbook-style notes explaining the thinkers. They cut straight to the point and give you 40/40 essays for all possible questions on Plato versus Aristotle for the OCR A Level.
These plans use a structure of six paragraphs, with two AO1 and four AO2. You could, instead, have paragraphs that mix AO1 and AO2. Whatever you do, two thirds of your essay should be AO2 because two thirds of the marks are AO2.
There are many other strengths and weaknesses of these theories, this is just one way of writing 40/40 essays. You may have to adapt a plan to the exact wording of the question set, but in OCR RS there are a small number of possible question themes and these plans cover all those themes, if not the exact wording of every possible question.
With Plato and Aristotle, you may get a question focusing on just one of them, or a question that mentions both. In either case, you can use a plan in which they argue with each other, as they are the main rival theories to each other.
There are three plans — one supporting Plato against Aristotle, one supporting Aristotle against Plato, and one for the narrower question on the Form of the Good vs the Prime Mover.
Based on a decade of tutoring OCR RS A Level, a Theology degree from Cambridge and marking hundreds of essays. A simple, step-by-step guide to get an A. Keep being told you need to “evaluate more”, or “develop your arguments”? Told you need a “clear line of argument”? Tired of being told you need “more AO2”? This guide tells you simply how to improve your grades.
Check out my other resources for exemplar essays.