The textbook always gives the humanist position on whatever we are studying, what's a humanist? Do I need to know for the exams?

Humanism is a secular worldview. Humanist's believe in the power of human reason and empathy to answer moral questions without needing moral guidance from any god. You can think of it as the atheist viewpoint except atheism isn't a belief system, just the lack of belief in a god, so talking about what an atheist's position may be is difficult because there are no overriding rules an atheist must follow, they could have any opinion on an issue, they just don't believe in God.

You won't get a question asking about what humanism is directly but it's useful to know the humanist position because it gives a strong basis to answer the part d) evaluative questions in the new format GCSE questions. Typically, they will ask something such as: ""Christians are right to condemn abortion" Discuss". Knowing the humanist position gives you something to contrast with the christian standpoint and can help you start to structure your argument, evaluating the positions against one another.