England and Wales
GCSE religious studies, one question at a time
Every GCSE religious studies specification asks students to study two or more religions and to compare them. That comparison is the hard part, because most resources explain one tradition at a time and leave the comparing to you.
Every page linked below answers a single question across seven traditions at once: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and a secular or philosophical view. They are grouped here by the themes the four GCSE boards examine, so you can find the ones that match what you are studying.
Whether you sit AQA, OCR, Eduqas or Edexcel, the comparative questions are the ones students find hardest to revise for, because the answer has to hold two traditions side by side. That is what these pages are shaped to do.
The specifications this covers
- AQA 8062
- Beliefs and practices in two religions, plus four themes. Theme B Religion and life and Theme C The existence of God and revelation are the two this site covers most closely.
- OCR J625
- Two religions in beliefs and practices, plus philosophy and ethics themes including the existence of God, and dialogue within and between religions and non-religious beliefs.
- Eduqas and WJEC Route A
- Component 1 is four philosophical and ethical themes: relationships, issues of life and death, issues of good and evil, and human rights.
- Pearson Edexcel 1RA0 and 1RB0
- Religion and ethics through one religion, then religion, peace and conflict through a second. Topic blocks include beliefs and matters of life and death.
75 questions, each answered across seven traditions
The existence of God and revelation
AQA Theme COCR Theme 2Eduqas
Whether God exists, what God is said to be like, and how anyone claims to know. Each page sets a believing answer beside a non-religious one rather than treating either as the default.
- Is God real?
- Is there a God?
- Is God real or man-made?
- How do I know if God is real?
- What is God like?
- What is the meaning of God?
- If God is omnipresent, is God present at every physical location?
- Why does God feel silent or distant?
- Why does God appear but not act?
- I do not believe in God. Can you help me understand?
- Does prayer work?
- What does it mean to have faith?
Evil and suffering
AQA Theme CEduqas Issues of Good and Evil
The problem of evil is the standard argument against the existence of God on every specification. These pages give each tradition's answer to it, including the answers that refuse to explain it away.
- Why is there evil in the world?
- Why is there suffering?
- Why do we suffer?
- Why do bad things happen to good people?
- Why does a child who has done nothing wrong die of cancer?
- Why does God allow death and suffering? Is rage at God a valid response?
- Why did God create me flawed?
- Why do we experience pain, and what does it mean?
- Can I be angry at God?
- What have you ever done for me?
Life, death and the afterlife
AQA Theme BEduqas Issues of Life and DeathEdexcel Matters of Life and Death
What each tradition teaches about death and what follows it, and how those beliefs change the way life is valued. This is the largest group here.
- What happens after death?
- What is death?
- Is there a hell?
- What is heaven?
- How does one enter the afterlife?
- Will I see my loved ones again after I die?
- What is reincarnation?
- What is the soul?
- Do animals go to heaven?
- How do I overcome the fear of death?
- How do different religions mourn and bury their dead?
- Do our loved ones watch over us after they die?
- Can the dead visit us in dreams?
- What is enlightenment?
Good and evil, sin and forgiveness
AQA Theme EEduqas Issues of Good and Evil
What counts as wrongdoing, what each tradition says about forgiving it, and where their ethics agree despite starting from different places.
Dialogue within and between religions
OCR Theme 4
Whether different religions are describing the same thing, why there are so many of them, and how believers and non-believers talk to each other. This is the theme our side-by-side format was built for.
- Do all religions lead to the same truth?
- Do all religions worship the same God?
- Do Jews and Christians believe in the same God?
- Why are there so many religions?
- Does my religion just depend on where I was born?
- What do different religions believe about Jesus?
- Is the Shekinah the same as the Holy Spirit?
- What is the difference between religion and spirituality?
- How do I choose a religion?
- How do I start exploring faith?
- Is it too late for me to find faith?
- Why are young people turning to religion today?
- Why are young people turning to religion?
Purpose, identity and free will
AQA Themes A and FOCR Theme 1Eduqas Human Rights
What a human being is for, what shapes who we are, and whether our choices are our own. Useful for evaluation questions, where you are asked to weigh a view rather than describe it.
- What is my purpose?
- What is the ultimate goal for the human person?
- What shapes identity?
- Why am I here?
- What is the meaning of life?
- What do different religions say about fate and free will?
- What do different religions say about marriage?
- What is the point in helping people if your efforts do not address the underlying causes for their problems?
- What is truth?
- What is wisdom?
Beliefs and practices
Component 1, all four boards
The practices themselves, and the key ideas that carry a whole belief system, set out tradition by tradition.
What this page does not cover
Specification content we have nothing on. Look elsewhere for these rather than assuming the list above is the whole syllabus.
- The named arguments for God: the design argument, the First Cause argument, and miracles as evidence
- The origins of the universe, creation accounts against scientific cosmology, and stewardship of the environment
- Peace and conflict: just war, pacifism, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction
- Crime and punishment, including the aims of punishment and the death penalty
- Relationships in detail: sexuality, contraception, divorce and gender equality
- The textual studies themes on St Mark's Gospel
Not a revision guide
These are our ordinary answer pages, grouped so they are easier to find. Nothing here is affiliated with or endorsed by an awarding body, and the specification your school follows is the authority on what you need to know.
Funeral traditions by faith, described in detail