Cover lesson · RE · Year 10 · Intermediate
DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy
Name: Class: Date:
What this practises: GCSE Religious Studies (Made for Wales), Unit 2: Religion and relationships, section 2.1.2, which asks for “a basic understanding of the changing landscape of religious belief” and how it connects with changes in UK law on relationships. Unit 2 is assessed by NEA, so this lesson builds background knowledge only. It is practice only, not NEA work: it uses no set theme or statement, and pupils should not copy anything from it into an NEA.
Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “The changing landscape of belief in Wales: census data pack”, one between two, in colour if possible. No computers are needed. The same data is in census-religion-wales-rct.csv if you are in a computer room. Pupils need a calculator, a ruler and coloured pencils.
Run: 5 min pupils read the pack in pairs · 10 min Step 1, group the data · 8 min Step 2, measure the change · 10 min Step 3, draw the chart · 12 min Step 4, test four posts · 10 min Step 5, limits and the link to relationships · 5 min check against the success criteria. Total 60 minutes.
Collect: this sheet. Religion and belief are personal: pupils work with the published figures only and are never asked about their own or their family’s beliefs.
Every ten years the census asks everyone in Wales “What is your religion?”. You will turn the real figures for Rhondda Cynon Taf into percentages, measure how much they changed, draw a chart, and test four posts about the census against the evidence. Then you will decide what the census cannot tell us, and how the changes might connect with changes in the law on marriage and relationships.
Key words: percentage point (the gap between two percentages: 50% to 40% is a fall of 10 percentage points), percentage change (how much a number changed compared with where it started).
Use section 3 of the pack (Rhondda Cynon Taf). “Other religions” means Buddhist + Hindu + Jewish + Muslim + Sikh + any other religion: add the six numbers. Then work out each percentage: group ÷ all usual residents × 100, to one decimal place. 2001 is done for you.
| Group | 2001 number | 2001 % | 2011 number | 2011 % | 2021 number | 2021 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 150,600 | 64.9 | 118,388 | 86,474 | ||
| Other religions | 1,841 | 0.8 | ||||
| No religion | 58,665 | 25.3 | 95,549 | 133,486 | ||
| Not answered | 20,840 | 9.0 | 17,353 | 13,826 | ||
| All usual residents | 231,946 | 100.0 | 234,410 | 237,652 |
Check: each year’s four percentages should add up to 100 (or 99.9 or 100.1 because of rounding).
(a) By how many percentage points did the Christian share fall in Rhondda Cynon Taf? In Wales? (Wales: use section 4 of the pack.)
(b) By what percentage did the number of Christians fall in Rhondda Cynon Taf? In Wales? Percentage change = (2021 number − 2011 number) ÷ 2011 number × 100.
(c) Your answers to (a) and (b) tell different stories about Rhondda Cynon Taf and Wales. Explain why.
Draw a percentage bar for each year in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Each bar is 100%, and each grid square is 10%. Measure each part with a ruler, shade the four groups in four colours, and add a key.
Key: Christian Other religions No religion Not answered
Describe the trend your chart shows in one sentence.
For each post in section 5 of the pack, give a verdict (supported, partly supported or not supported) and the figures that prove it.
| Post | Verdict | Evidence: figures from the pack, with the year and the place |
|---|---|---|
| A | ||
| B | ||
| C | ||
| D |
(a) Give two things about religious belief in Wales that the census does not measure. Use section 1 of the pack.
(b) Write one paragraph (80 to 100 words): How might the changing landscape of belief in Wales connect with changes in UK law on relationships? Use one census figure and one change in the law from section 6. Be careful: the data shows two changes happening at the same time. It does not prove that one caused the other.