Buddhism | KS3 RE Unit

A complete, no-prep KS3 Religious Education enquiry: "What are the sources of authority in Buddhism, and how do they shape belief, identity and action?"

A six-lesson KS3 enquiry into how authority and teaching work in Buddhism and how they shape Buddhist life. Buddhism is largely non-theistic: authority rests not in commands from a god but in the Dharma — the teaching of the Buddha — and in each person’s own understanding and experience. Pupils investigate the Three Jewels, analyse the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and the three marks of existence, examine the diversity of the Theravada and Mahayana traditions, and evaluate how these teachings shape ethics and action. The enquiry works across two disciplinary lenses — philosophy and theology (the internal logic of the teaching) and the human and social sciences (how a diverse community lives). Teachings are always attributed (‘Buddhists believe…’, ‘the Buddha taught…’), following a ‘religion and worldviews’ approach, and the Dharma is presented as teaching to be tested, not commandments from a god. Scripture is described rather than fabricated.

What is included

• Teacher guide — a full teaching plan for all six lessons, with image credits.
• Six projectable teaching decks (PowerPoint) — child-facing, with teacher script in the speaker notes.
• Six differentiated pupil worksheets — Support, Core and Stretch on every sheet.
• Sources & Artefacts pack — every image with provenance and enquiry questions.
• Knowledge organiser and a baseline + end-of-unit assessment with an answer key.

Lessons

1. The Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha
2. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
3. The three marks of existence
4. Sources of authority: the Dharma and the scriptures
5. Unity and diversity: Theravada and Mahayana
6. Belief in action: Buddhist ethics and life today