This dissertation charts the history of religious education in terms of the legislative framework surrounding and governing religious education in England and Wales. Key academic stimuli to change in religious education are also considered. These dual foci of change contextualise the original empirical component of the research.
The impact of sex, personality and religiosity are investigated across a range of areas. It is shown that individual differences in students' motivations for studying religion at A-level, their perceptions of the aims of religious studies, their interests in different aspects of religious studies and their perceptions of efficacy of teaching methods within religious studies are all shown to be
predicted by sex, personality, and religiosity.
Sex, Eysenckian personality constructs, and different aspects of religiosity each shape the perceptions and opinions of students across this range of subject perceptions within A-level religious studies.