Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Support materials - exam resources and teaching guidance

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by awa

Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A support materials provide a central set of resources for teaching and assessment. The materials signpost the Religious Studies subject page, specification and sample assessment materials, and entry code guidance. They include past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports from 2018 onwards, specimen practice papers, exam question overviews, command words, and curriculum planning tools such as schemes of work, course planner models, mapping resources, baseline tests, and sources of wisdom lists, alongside teacher guidance and SPaG-mark application support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Religious Studies subject page

GCSE Religious Studies Specification A qualification page

News

View the latest subject update online

Specification and sample assessment materials

GCSE Religious Studies Specification A specification

Sample assessment materials

Entry codes

Exam materials

Past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports

Specimen papers and mark schemes

Exam question overviews

Command words

Curriculum planning

Schemes of work

Course planner

Mapping against Catholic Directory

Baseline Tests

Sources of Wisdom

Guidance

GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies Subject guide

Getting started teacher guide

RS recommended time per question

Guidance on using the specification

Guidance on the application of Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) marks

Useful terminology

Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Support materials | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Religious Studies Subject Advisor
Email: [teachingreligiousstudies@pearson.com](teachingreligiousstudies@pearson.com)
Twitter: @PearsonEdexcel
Call us: UK: 0344 463 2535 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm GMT)
A hyperlink is provided for each item of support. Some links are directly to specific files, some are to the webpages or dropdowns where the files are stored. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Website | | | | | | | | Religious Studies subject page | | The Religious Studies subject page is the best starting place for our RS qualifications. It includes the latest news and provides links, to navigate to all other RS qualifications. | | | | | | GCSE Religious Studies
Specification A qualification page | | The GCSE
the go-to
resources | Religious Studies Specification A qualification page is | | | | | | | | page for all exam materials and teaching and learning for this qualification. | | | | | News | | | | | | | | Sign up for subject updates | | One of the
information Studies su | best ways to keep up-to-date with new resources,
and events is to sign up to the monthly Religious bject email updates. | | | | | View the latest subject update online | | You can s
past editi
the ‘news’ | ign up to receive these direct to your email and view ons, from the Religious Studies subject page, under tab. | | | | | Specification and sample assess | | | ments | | | | | GCSE Religious Studies Specification A specification | | This provi
qualificati expectations | des a good starting point to the delivery of this
on. It provides a comprehensive guide of teaching and examined content, according to paper choice. | | | | | Sample assessment materials | | Our samp questions available for | le assessment materials provide example exam and mark schemes for each paper choice. These are Papers 1, 2, 3 & 4 across each religion option. | | | | | Entry codes | | | | | | | | GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Entry codes | | This details the individual entry codes depending on the paper combination selected. | | | | | *
a | | | | | | | | | | Any materials which include exam materials/questions from the previous exam series will require n Edexcel Online password to be able to access. Your exam officer can set up a login for you.
Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Support Materials Page 1 of 4

| | | | | Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Support materials an *Any materials which include exam materials/questions from the previous exam series will require Edexcel Online password to be able to access. Your exam officer can set up a login for you. Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Support Materials Page 2 of 4 | Exam materials | | | --- | --- | | Past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports | These are available for every exam series since 2018.
‘Mark schemes’ include indicative materials which could be included for each question.
‘Examiner reports’ include commentary from the principal examiner on how each question performed and include exemplar answers from the series. | | Specimen papers and mark schemes | These are extra sets of practice papers and mark schemes, to exemplify the GCSE Religious Studies A assessment model. These cover Papers 1A, 1C, 2F, 3A, 3C, 4A and 4B. | | Exam question overviews | These are collations of all exam questions, from Sample Assessment materials and the 2018-2022 exam series. These are available for exam papers each religion and paper choice. | | Command words | This outlines the different command words that are used across our GCSE qualifications and the expectations and assessment requirements around each question type. | | Curriculum planning | | | Schemes of work | These are sample, outline schemes of wor

FAQs

Where should teachers start for Edexcel Religious Studies resources?

Start from the Religious Studies subject page, which links to RS qualifications and provides the best route to navigate support materials.

What exam materials are included for the GCSE Religious Studies Specification A?

The set includes past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports since 2018, plus specimen papers and mark schemes, exam question overviews, and a guide to command words.

What curriculum planning resources are available?

Curriculum planning includes editable schemes of work, a course planner for 2-year and 3-year models, a mapping document for Catholic directory against Specification A, baseline test zip files, and a sources of wisdom list for each religion option.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by awa