AQA GCSE Religious Studies A Past Papers 2020–2025 (8062) – All Religions, Thematic & Textual Studies Question Papers & Mark Schemes
- Oliver Bennett
- Feb 18
- 10 min read
Updated: Mar 1
Everything you need to practise for AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) is right here — past papers from 2020 to 2025, covering all religions, thematic studies, and textual studies, complete with official question papers and mark schemes. If there's one piece of revision advice I give every student, it's this: do the past papers. Not to tick a box, but to genuinely understand how the exam works.
But before you dive in, I'd strongly encourage you to read through the examiner tips by clicking here first we spent hours compiling for you. Every year, students lose marks on the same predictable mistakes. Take five minutes to go through them. It might be the most valuable five minutes of your revision.
2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2025 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2024 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2023 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2022 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2021 AQA Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2021 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062) Paper 1 & Paper 2 Question Papers – Full Set of Religion and Thematic Studies Exams
2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies | Downloads | |
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/11) Paper 1: Buddhism | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/12) Paper 1: Catholic Christianity | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/13) Paper 1: Christianity | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/14) Paper 1: Hinduism | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/15) Paper 1: Islam | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/16) Paper 1: Judaism | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/17) Paper 1: Sikhism | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2A) Paper 2A: Thematic Studies (Non-Textual) | ||
June 2020 AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062/2B) Paper 2B: Textual Studies | ||
The Most Common Reasons Students Drop Marks in AQA Religious Studies A (According to Examiners)
1. Missing That Final Mark on 5-Mark Questions
This is the single most common mark students leave on the table at GCSE Religious Studies — and the good news is it's one of the easiest to fix.
On 5-mark questions (usually the .4 questions), the fifth mark is reserved for a "source of authority" — basically, where does this teaching actually come from? The problem is that most students gesture vaguely in the right direction without quite landing it. Phrases like "Hindu scriptures teach..." or "Sacred writings say..." feel like they should be enough, but the AQA examiner needs something more specific.
Here's the fix: name the source. That's it. You don't need a chapter reference or a verse number — just tell the examiner which text or authority you're drawing from. The Qur'an. The Bhagavad Gita. The Guru Granth Sahib. The Bible. The Ten Commandments. Even something like "The Buddha taught..." or "In the Mool Mantar, it says..." is enough to pick up that mark. One small habit change, one extra mark. It's genuinely that straightforward.
2. Don't Just Describe the Belief — Show What It Does
This one catches out a surprising number of students, even the well-prepared ones.
When a question asks how a belief influences believers today, it's not asking you to explain the belief itself — it's asking what that belief actually does to a person. How does it change the way they live, act, think, or feel? The question is less "what is this?" and more "so what?"
The classic trap looks something like this: a student writes a beautifully detailed explanation of something like the Imamate in Islam or the Tri-murti in Hinduism — genuinely impressive theological knowledge — and then stops there. But the examiner isn't just looking for understanding, they're looking for impact. What does believing this actually mean for someone's day-to-day life?
The fix is to train yourself to always ask: "And therefore, a believer would..." Use that as a mental prompt. Belief in the Ascension? A Christian might therefore find hope in the idea of life beyond death, or be inspired to focus less on material things. Belief in the Imamate? A Muslim might therefore look to the Imam's guidance when making moral decisions.
The belief is your foundation. The influence is the building on top of it. Examiners want to see both — and most students only give them one.
3. Muddling Up Key Terms
GCSE Religious studies has a lot of vocabulary, and some of it is genuinely tricky — especially when terms sound similar or cover overlapping ideas. But getting these wrong can cost marks quickly, and examiners notice.
The most common slip-ups tend to cluster in predictable places. In Buddhism, students mix up anatta (no fixed self) and anicca (impermanence) — two distinct ideas that are easy to conflate. In Thematic Studies, omnipotence (all-powerful) and omniscience (all-knowing) get swapped surprisingly often. And terms like Imamate, Akhand Path, or manmukh are sometimes used with a vague, approximate understanding rather than a precise one — which rarely fools an examiner.
The solution isn't glamorous but it works: use the AQA subject-specific vocabulary glossary and use it regularly. The goal isn't just to be able to define these words in isolation, but to be comfortable enough with them to drop them naturally into an answer on any question. That flexibility is what separates a student who has revised a definition from one who actually understands the concept.
4. Forgetting the "Religious" Part of Religious Studies
This one sounds obvious when you say it out loud, but it's remarkably easy to fall into — especially for students who are personally non-religious or scientifically minded.
When a question asks for religious beliefs, it means exactly that. Bringing in the Big Bang, evolution, or a humanist perspective might feel like a well-rounded answer, but if the question restricts responses to religious views, those points simply won't earn credit. Similarly, some students see a trigger word — "God", for instance — and write everything they know, when the question is actually asking something much more specific, like God's role as Creator. More isn't always more.
The habit to build is reading the question carefully and asking: "Is this asking for religious views specifically? And exactly which aspect is it asking about?" Non-religious perspectives do have a place — they can work well in 12-mark evaluation questions — but students need to know when they're invited and when they're not.
5. Describing Instead of Evaluating in 12-Mark Questions
The 12-mark question is where students can really pull away from the pack — but it's also where a lot of marks get left behind. The most common issue is writing a response that's essentially descriptive: here's one view, here's another view, here's a third. That's AO1 — knowledge and understanding — and while it has its place, the 12-mark question is primarily looking for AO2: evaluation. The examiner wants to see you weigh ideas against each other and make a judgement, not just catalogue them.
Writing frames like FARM or DREARER can be useful scaffolding, but they become a trap when students use them on autopilot — labelling an argument as "weak" or "strong" without ever explaining why. An examiner isn't convinced by the label; they're convinced by the reasoning behind it.
The best answers zoom in on the specific wording of the statement — particularly phrases like "most important" — and genuinely grapple with it. Why might someone find one argument more persuasive than another? What does that reveal about the values or priorities involved? That's the kind of thinking that earns the top marks.
6. Exam Technique: The Easily Avoidable Errors
Some of the marks lost in GCSE Religious Studies have nothing to do with knowledge — they're down to exam technique, and that makes them especially frustrating because they're so fixable.
A few of the most common:
Attempting too many themes in Paper 2. Students are required to answer on four themes — no more. Attempting extra themes doesn't earn bonus credit; it just spreads answers thin and eats into time needed for the questions that actually count.
Forgetting Christianity in Theme questions. When a question explicitly asks for reference to "the main religious tradition of Great Britain," that means Christianity. It needs to be named and engaged with, not assumed or left implicit.
Running out of time on the 12-mark question. This is the highest-value question on the paper, and rushing it — or not reaching it at all — is a costly mistake. Students should practise writing proportionally to the marks available: a 2-mark question needs two clear points, not a paragraph; a 12-mark question deserves real time and attention.
The through-line across all of these is the same: read the question, answer the question, manage your time. Simple in theory, but worth drilling until it's second nature.
What are the key changes to the AQA GCSE Religious Studies exams for 2026 that you need to be aware of when using past papers?
These changes apply only to Specification A (8062) and the Short Course (8061) — not other specifications. From Summer 2026, the structure of each 5-part question section has been restructured to a new mark pattern of 1, 1, 4, 6, and 12 marks. Here is what changed compared to older past papers:
The 2-mark question has been reduced to 1 mark, now focusing purely on accurate subject recall.
The 4-mark question stays at 4 marks, but the word "contrasting" has been replaced with "different" to improve clarity.
The 5-mark question has increased to 6 marks, with an updated mark scheme that rewards how well students apply sources of authority, not just identify them.
The 1-mark and 12-mark questions remain unchanged, including the 3 SPaG marks attached to the 12-mark evaluation question.
This means past papers will show a different mark distribution, so do not be confused by the old 2-mark and 5-mark questions — these no longer exist in the current format.
How many marks do I need for a Grade 9 in AQA GCSE Religious Studies (Short Course) – Option A?
For AQA GCSE Religious Studies (Short Course) Option A (max 102 marks), a Grade 9 has consistently been within the tight range of 86 to 89 marks out of 102.
Here are the Grade 9 boundaries by year:
2018 (Jun): 88 / 102
2019 (Jun): 89 / 102
2020 (Nov): 89 / 102
2022 (Jun): 86 / 102
2023 (Jun): 86 / 102
2024 (Jun): 86 / 102
2025 (Jun): 87 / 102
Our Recommended Safe target: aim for 88+ marks to stay comfortably in Grade 9 territory across most years.
Our Insider examiner tip: Most “dropped” top-grade marks actually come from evaluation questions (where students don’t give a clear judgement) and weak use of religious teachings. To push into Grade 9, always make a clear line of argument and support it with specific teachings + developed reasoning, not just assertions.
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