OCR Utilitarianism

This resource provides a comprehensive introduction to Utilitarianism as part of the OCR A Level Religious Studies specification (Religion and Ethics). It explores Utilitarianism as a teleological, consequentialist, and relativist ethical theory, focusing on its key thinkers, principles, and applications.

Students are guided through the origins of Utilitarianism with Jeremy Bentham, including the principle of utility and the aim of achieving “the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” The resource develops secure AO1 knowledge through detailed explanations of Act Utilitarianism, the Hedonic Calculus, and its seven criteria, alongside applied ethical scenarios to build understanding.

The later sections introduce John Stuart Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism, including the distinction between higher and lower pleasures, addressing criticisms of Bentham’s approach and strengthening students’ evaluative skills.

Throughout, structured tasks, exam-style questions, and ethical debates support both AO1 knowledge and AO2 analysis and evaluation, preparing students for extended writing questions.

This resource is designed to scaffold learning, encourage critical thinking, and develop exam confidence, making it well-suited for Year 12 students studying Utilitarianism within the OCR A Level Religion and Ethics course.

This resource includes:

• Fully resourced PowerPoint covering the complete Utilitarianism unit.

• High-quality explanations of all key concepts, scholars, and terminology.

• Retrieval practice and structured DO NOW starters to consolidate prior learning.

• Student activities, paired discussions, and guided debate tasks.

• Real-world ethical applications, including moral issues such as sexuality, education, justice, and social policy.

• Explicit AO1 knowledge-building tasks and AO2 evaluation frames, including success criteria and model responses.

• Detailed teaching and application of the Hedonic Calculus, including all seven factors required for exam success.

• Comparative tasks exploring Act vs Rule Utilitarianism and Bentham vs Mill.

• Challenge and stretch questions to extend higher-ability students.

• Exam-style questions, including 40-mark essay preparation and WAGOLL analysis.

• Summary activities, plenaries, and exit tickets to assess understanding and retention.