26.08.2008 Exam results comment - Religious Studies maintains its place as the most popular GCSE short course, with 55.6% of all students taking short courses choosing it. While this statistic no doubt reflects Religious Studies' unique position in schools, it is clear that the huge number of students taking the short course is a reflection of the continuing interest in Religious Studies as a subject. 293,756 students sat the exam compared with 292,491 last year – over 53% gaining an A*-C grade. In the full course, 179,139 students sat the exam compared with last year’s total of 171,123 and an amazing 72% gained an A*-C grade. At A level, the number taking Religious Studies continues to rise. For the first time ever, over twenty thousand students sat the exam - 20,134 compared with 19,006 in 2007, and 98.6% of students gained an A-E grade. The conclusion we gain from these figures is that the growth in students' interest in Religious Education over the last four years is not just a passing blip. The excellent teaching provided by RE teachers is justly rewarded in excellent results. Well done all and richly deserved. 06.08.2008 Applications to RE PGCE courses in England at the end of the year are looking very positive indeed. Overall there has been a 4.2% increase in applications – a most welcome trend. This year 1115 graduates applied for the 750 places available on PGCE courses. Naturally, such competition means that applicants must now make even greater efforts to meet the standards providers require. Not only is it necessary to be a graduate, it is also essential to gain school experiences, and provide evidence on the application form, if you are lacking in subject knowledge, of a route by which this knowledge can be gained. Contact TeachRE for advice about this. 14.07.2008 What better reason could a person want to come into RE teaching? Maxim Cardew, previously from Helston Community College, graduated this month from Oriel College, Oxford with a first in Philosophy and Theology. He said this of his RE teacher: "I would like to thank my RE teacher at school. It was really my A level years studying RE that inspired me to do the course at university". With applications to RE PGCE courses still consistently high, there is no doubt that one of the main reasons graduates continue to come into RE teaching is because of the inspired teaching they have received. Well done Maxim on your degree result, and thank you for recognizing the efforts of your teachers 15.05.2008 Recruitment of graduates onto RE PGCE courses is holding its own. The May statistics published on the GTTR website show that RE applications to the 35 or so English teacher training institutions are up by just 3 applications by comparison with this time last year. This might sound a little bit on the bleak side considering how we have been seeing a year on year increase in applications over the last five years but if you consider that the total for all other secondary subjects is down by 13.9% you can gauge that RE applications are in a strong position and that it is likely that RE will meet its target. 07.03.2008 RE teaching is still a very popular choice for graduates. The GTTR February figures showed a slight decrease of .6% in applications for RE PGCE courses compared with last year – 482 applications compared with 485. However, if Welsh figures are included there is a slight increase in applications from 511 to 515. This compares with a decrease of 9.6% for all other subjects. Some subjects such as English and Mathematics have a decrease of 15% whilst Physics has a 30% decrease in applications this year. By this month, 609 graduates had applied (184 men, 425 women) compared with 615 in March 2007 (197 men, 418 women). This is a decrease of 1%. However, Welsh applications are up from 27 to 36. In total therefore, RE figures for both England and Wales are still on the increase with 645 in 2008 as against 642 in 2007 (+.46%) . Again there is an overall decrease in all other subjects of 8.7%, with History and Geography suffering badly at the moment.