Andy Drozdziak
A new RE qualification has been introduced to provide a qualification for all students in Catholic secondary schools.
Whilst Catholic schools require all students to study RE, and the vast majority are then entered for GCSE, some students are unable to access the GCSE. This leaves around 2000 young people leaving Catholic secondary schools each year without a qualification in Religious Studies.
RE teacher Andy Lewis, Deputy Headteacher at St Bonaventure’s school in London, wanted to address this issue and has helped develop an Entry Level Course.
“We estimate that around 2000 young people leave Catholic secondary schools each year without a qualification in Religious Studies,” Mr Lewis told the Universe.
“This means they have participated in Religious Education lessons, for 10% of their timetable, and leave with no qualification or recognition of their 5 or possibly 13 years of Catholic education. This is because they either get U grade, or do not get entered.”
Mr Lewis was personally invited to work with a team to develop the qualification, with support from the Catholic Education Service and ‘many within Catholic education’.
“Once we looked at the numbers that this effects each year, it felt like something that had to be done,” he said.
“We felt there was both a practical and moral call to address this. The Catholic Christianity & Judaism Entry Level course is the first RS course to be released and was a priority for Pearson due to the high number of schools doing the current Edexcel Spec A RS course.”
The Entry Level Course (ELC) can be used as a progression course prior to GCSE, or students could be entered for both ELC and GCSE, or it could be offered as an alternative to a GCSE qualification. Mr Lewis explained that the new course is a simplified version of the GCSE course, appealing to those who would normally not pass or not be entered for the GCSE.
The aim, he said, is that every single student who leaves a Catholic school can now have a qualification in RE – some a GCSE and some the Entry Level certificate.
He added: “Whilst studying for the course, students can stay in the same lessons as their peers, but then get entered for this course, it is inclusive as well as being genuinely accessible.”
Andy Lewis has already authored ‘foundation workbooks’ for Oxford University Press for GCSE RE, helping make the course more accessible to all students in Catholic schools.
The first cohort of students to gain this qualification will be in the summer of 2025. To find out more about the new Entry Level for RS, visit https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects/religious-studies.updates.html
Picture: Andy Lewis