Latin

Why study Latin?

Latin has played a definitive role in shaping the languages, literature and thinking of the western world. Learning Latin affords pupils an excellent basis for the acquisition of other European languages as well as helping you to understand structures and conventions in English, leading to greater clarity and sophistication in your writing. The study of Latin also encourages an ordered and analytical approach, logical thinking and a level of intellectual rigour that is widely valued. 

The Latin GCSE comprises elements of both language and literature. Students of Latin are encouraged to take advantage of some of the many and varied opportunities to contextualise their classroom studies and to extend their appreciation of the ancient world through site visits, theatre trips, reading competitions and classically themed lectures. The LSF Classics Department runs an annual Year 10 Latin trip (previous destinations have included York, Bath and Chester) and pupils taking Latin have priority over non-classicists on the biennial overseas LSF Classics trip.

What does the course involve? 

If you choose Latin GCSE you will, in Year 10, continue to study the Cambridge Latin Course. In reading more about our hero, Quintus, and the plots and schemes of our anti-hero, Salvius as he aims to fulfil his ambitions of a senatorial career, you will develop your language skills, broadening your Latin vocabulary and gaining a thorough grounding in grammar and syntax. 

We commence our study of Latin literature by reading extracts from some of the most famous works by seminal Roman authors. Although lightly adapted at times for GCSE purposes, these texts remain largely the same texts that the Romans would have read – our pupils often find mastering these enormously satisfying, stimulating and rewarding. There is also the option to study two Roman civilisation and culture topics in preparation for the optional literature and culture paper, answering questions in English on aspects of content, culture, social practices and values. The topics for examination are selected from myths and beliefs, entertainment and the Romans in Britain. 

How is the course assessed? 

At the end of Year 11 pupils take three examination papers: 

• The compulsory component, Latin language, counts for 50% of the GCSE. It is 1 hour 30 minutes in length. 
• Two further papers, each 1 hour in length and each counting for 25% of the total qualification, are chosen from prose literature A, prose literature B, verse literature A, verse literature B, or literature and culture. 

What can a GCSE in Latin lead to?  

This course caters for a wide variety of interests, linguistic, literary and historical, which makes it an excellent complement to a range of other subjects. Students of Latin are considered to be academic and able to think in a logical and systematic way. The study of literature also develops extended writing, evaluative and analytical skills, which are vital for many subjects at A Level and beyond. Taking Latin at GCSE would be a requirement for study of this subject at A Level.

What skills does the Classical Civilisation course develop?

You will develop a range of key transferable skills in studying the subject, in particular: 

Linguistic skills: developed through translation of Latin and comprehension of unseen Latin passages; 

Analytical skills: developed through applying critical analysis and logical reasoning to complex passages of Latin and through the close study of the literary merits of the set texts; 

Evaluation and communication skills: developed through studying the set texts and articulating your personal response to and evaluating, within its socio-historical context, the literary merits of the literature – its style, form, background and meaning.