Download our information leaflet for study in 2009

CCRS leaflet Page 1 || CCRS leaflet Page 2

Because of the over-run of the previous course (caused by ill-health) and because of the arrival of new Director this spring at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, the new course will now begin in September and will follow the academic year rather than the calendar year. A number of people - teachers and parish catechists - have registered, but spaces are still available.

To register, for further queries, please contact Deacon John Morrill, who chairs our Diocesan Commission for Evangelisation (see leaflet for e-mail):

or write to CCRS, Parish Office, 14 Exeter Road, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8LT

The Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS) is a nationally-recognised diploma, validated by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.  It seeks to guarantee that the recipient has a good understanding of core Catholic teaching (Old Testament, New Testament, Christ, Church, Sacraments and Moral Theology) along with practical skills (school teacher, catechist, pastoral assistant, etc).

It is the policy of the Bishops' Conference that all Catholic teachers in Catholic schools obtain the Certificate once in post if they have not obtained it during their training or since.  The CCRS replaced the former Catholic Teacher Certificate.

The Bishops' Conference also hopes that Catholics involved in the ministry of catechesis will obtain this Certificate, along with any other interested lay people.

Our diocesan Commission for Evangelisation works with the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge (part of the Cambridge Theological Federation) to ensure that the programme is efficiently and effectively delivered. 

 All sessions are being held at the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge, with support throughout from the Director based there and from members of the Commission.

To complete the course candidates must satisfactorily complete eight units. Each unit consists of ten hours of teaching (on two Saturdays one month apart), follow-up reading and one written assignment. Assistance with written work is available through the Course Director.

Each unit is being taught by a different specialist, under the guidance of a Course Director based at Margaret Beaufort. Each year those involved in the teaching, together with the Director, will have a training day where they will exchange ideas about content and appropriate assessment tasks, which will be carefully measured against the national standard.

In the first year the units are The Old Testament, The New Testament, Jesus Christ, and the Church. In the second year the units will be the Sacraments and Catholic Moral Teaching. For teachers, the final units will be The Catholic School and Catechetics in the Catholic School.  For parish catechists and others, the final units will be Justice and Peace and Catechetics in a parish context.

Any candidate who does not complete particular modules can repeat them during a second or third cycle. The course for each individual therefore lasts a minimum of two and a maximum of six years.

The cost of each unit is £60 (i.e. £240 for four units in each year, £480 for the whole course).