The Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS) is a certificate awarded by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
It is designed:
- for teachers who will be in Catholic schools, so that they may have a basic understanding of the church, its teaching and way of life, to enable them to contribute to the maintenance of the ethos of the Catholic school;
- for catechists, to give them a basic understanding of the faith of the Catholic Church, as a foundation for their ministry; and
- for adult members of the church, to enable them to continue to grow in understanding and living their catholic faith.
It does not automatically carry academic credits, but some Universities offer it as a component of another academic award.
The Course is offered in all five Catholic Colleges of Higher Education and at centres in every diocese in England and Wales.
It is traditionally thought of as a pre-requisite for a job as a teacher in a Catholic School. However, schools will often employ non-CCRS teachers, or ask newly employed teachers to work towards the award.
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