Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 9 Religious education Guides

Year 9 - Religious education

Linda Woodhead's exploration of the 'nones' - agnosticism

Census: How has the landscape of belief changed in Britain?

Unit Summary

In this unit pupils will interpret census data to explore religion and belief in the UK. They will examine the growing diversity within Christianity and the rise of cultural Christians. They will use work by the sociologist, Linda Woodhead, to analyse the rise of 'no religion' in the UK.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain why some of the 'nones' may be agnostics and use survey data to better understand this.

Key Notes

  • Agnosticism means believing we cannot know if there is a God or not.
  • A person may be religious and agnostic.
  • Using surveys can be a useful way to find out what people believe.
  • The Understanding Unbelief Project surveyed agnostics and athiests across various countries in the world.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • agnosticism: the belief that it is unknown or unknowable whether any deities exist
  • nones: individuals who identify as having 'no religion', a term explored in-depth by Linda Woodhead
  • Understanding Unbelief Project: a global study used to assess agnosticism and related beliefs through survey data

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • That agnostics have 'nothing in common' with religious people.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Agnosticism means believing we cannot know if there is a God or not. A person may be religious and agnostic.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'agnosticism'

the belief that it is unknown or unknowable whether any deities exist.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: That agnostics have 'nothing in common' with religious people. Correction: Agnostics have much in common with religious people and some people who have an agnostic faith stance identify as religious.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 9 Religious education guide library.