About Philosopher Kings

Welcome to Philosopher Kings.  This is a site dedicated to providing high quality teaching and learning resources for Religious Studies and for Philosophy.  Many of the pages will be of relevance to a variety of A level and GCSE courses however they are written specifically for the following specifications:

  • Edexcel IGCSE
  • OCR Religious Studies AS and A2 (Ethics & DCT)
  • AQA Philosophy AS and A2

Pupils and teachers will find that the resources provided are written and set out in such a way that all the material is clearly linked to the relevant specification and to exam-style questions.  Edexcel RS IGCSE notes make use of the exam board key word definitions.  The Religious Studies OCR A level notes make reference to the Wilcockson AS textbook as well as to the resources suggested in the exam board support material.  AQA Philosophy notes refer to a range of text books and link to the Routledge online resources.  In many instances reference will be made to past paper questions and you will find helpful hints based on comments found in the examiners’ reports. 

Teaching and Learning

Study note summaries are provided for each topic area which is broken down using the key words and named scholars provided by the exam board.  The explanations include referenced material from primary and secondary sources.  Where appropriate you will find links to published material on the web and in print.  

Whilst the study notes are written in detail it is important to note that they are intended to be summaries and students are advised to use the notes to provide them with a sound understanding of each topic area before doing their own wide-reading to explore the subject further.  Teachers are welcome to use material from the website in their own teaching provided they reference it.

Note for teachers: you are welcome to make use of material you find on this site in your own lessons, provided proper attribution is used. 

Revision

The material here is intended to be a good starting point for revision and video soundbites will be uploaded to provide a quick snap summary of key issues.  Proactive revision is more effective than passive revision and we suggest that students revise by using the material to tackle past paper questions.  

Edexcel RS IGCSE pupils are encouraged to use the practice questions provided to do timed questions.  A level OCR RS and AQA Philosophy students should use the links to exam board pages to find past paper material along with mark schemes and examiners’ reports.

Editorial Policies

Philosopher Kings is edited by Catherine Cox, Cambridge Theology graduate, and current Head of RS and Philosophy at The King’s School Canterbury.

This website is in continual development and material will be added over the course of the academic year.  Material will first be added to the OCR A2 and AS Developments in Christian Thought (DCT)  pages.  This will be followed by IGCSE material.  Philosophy and RS ethics material will be added last.