Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Religious Education (Higher Level) by Paul McAndrew, Religious Education听teacher at The 91制片厂.
- A positive mixture of predicted topics and pleasant surprises.听
Section A: The Search for听Meaning听and听Values鈥櫶齠irst question was听dominated听by Aristotle鈥檚 philosophy. Students听will have听anticipated听this as Socrates and Plato took this role in previous years. The questions were听pleasantly听straightforward, asking the students to either profile his impact upon the discipline or how his ideas could be applied to a contemporary person in search of meaning. There were no tricks or twists to听these听questions as the听examiner听clearly听wants students to really show their knowledge from the off. Question 2 took a similar approach with its second part asking about the arguments of Anselm and Aquinas. As a听result,听this philosophical section invited the students to explore the ideas more directly and听efficiently听without having to decipher the听questions听or jump through hoops.听
Unit Two has three sections, of which students need do two.听The first,听Section B,听on Christianity will be welcomed by students as听anticipated听topics appeared. Students were asked about the threat that Jesus鈥� teaching posed to authorities, both Jewish and Roman in Palestine. The question on Christology听hadn鈥檛听appeared since 2019, so again was听anticipated. The third part鈥檚 emphasis on 鈥渆arly Christian communities鈥� might have caught some out as the locations were听very specific: Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica. Section C on World Religions was also听very听student friendly. The听first question听was a pleasant surprise as听a听question on origins appeared in 2024 and would usually听be on hiatus for another year or two. This is a student听favourite, so many will be happy to with its early return. The following questions were equally听in keeping听with expectations and unburdened by awkward restrictions in their demands. Section D on Moral Decision-Making was nice but will have challenged students to cover the entire course. Those hoping to hedge their bets might have struggled but the span of material presented in the questions was very fair in reflecting the diversity of the topic.听听
Unit 3听contains听four sections and student choice will be dictated by both their interest and their teacher鈥檚 selections. Section E on Religion and Gender is a short topic but a crowd favourite. The phrasing of the opening question might catch out one or two, but with a little thought would be very approachable. The question on the role of women in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism,听Islam听and Judaism (do two) was wonderfully straightforward, allowing the student to shine on the page. Section G on Worship, Prayer听and Ritual followed suit, yet the middle question combined elements from across the听course as a whole. Much like in Section D, the exam challenged those who tried to adopt a myopic approach to studying the topic.听听
Overall, even when trickier sections听emerged听students had听a great selection听of听viable听choices to ensure that they could fairly reflect their grasp of the subject.听