Highgate’s Theology and Philosophy Department draws upon thousands of years of philosophical and theological thought – from Plato to Marx – that stimulate and guide our thinking. The subject is offered as a GCSE option from Year 10 and two A Level course options -Theology and Philosophy or Philosophy.

Theology and Philosophy has a unique and very distinctive feature: it confronts questions and problems that no one has the answers to. These questions are unfathomably deep; there are no definitive answers and this means that pupils are forced to find their own answers and think for themselves. Crucially, we also draw on each other’s ideas and this is an ideal subject for those who love to argue, share their thoughts and challenge the views of others.

In our Sixth Form, we offer two A Level options, with a good deal of cross-over between Theology and Philosophy, and for that reason we don’t recommend choosing both. Theologians study communities in their historical contexts, exploring cultures, the nature of human desires, sources of wisdom, and patterns of liberation. By contrast, Philosophy has a more abstract and technical focus on formal logic and argumentation, with an emphasis on questions about the nature of the human mind and knowledge.