Half language, half literature.

• You will take one language paper:

Unseen Translation and Comprehension: 1 hour 30 minutes (100 marks)

A story taken from Roman myth and history, with any vocabulary that is not on the prescribed GCSE vocabulary glossed.

• And two literature papers, one prose and one verse. Both are 1 hour (50 marks each) and contain a variety of simple comprehension and translation questions, analysis of short passages of the Latin and a mini-essay on the whole text. You will have prepared and learnt everything on the paper very thoroughly, so there shouldn't be anything difficult or surprising.

If you would like to see examples of the papers, see the OCR website for the Specimen Assessment Materials.

There is a significant amount of vocabulary, grammar and literature to learn in preparation for this GCSE.

But the good news is you have made an amazing start to this language learning in Years 8 and 9, and we structure your revision very carefully so that everything is covered by the end of Year 10, leaving a whole year to consolidate and revisit this knowledge. We also break down the literature learning, so that it never feels overwhelming. It is also true that, while there is a lot to learn, if you prepare thoroughly for the literature papers, the questions that are asked are mostly very easy to access, so high marks are readily available in return for hard work.

We prefer the term 'immortal'...

The skills developed by learning Latin are applicable to an incredibly broad array of careers and undergraduate degrees. Studying literature teaches skills of analysis and evaluation as well as compassion and empathy, the historical content promotes objectivity and perspective, and learning the language encourages logic, order, discipline, structure, and precision. In other words, this subject will train your brain and teach you how to think. And that is why it is so highly valued by both admissions departments and employers:

Perhaps the single most important quality for a senior executive is the ability to communicate clearly and succinctly. I can think of no better way to learn these skills than by the study of Classics.

Sir Anthony Cleaver, former Chair of IBM

What Classics has always done is just teach people how to think.

Richard Dawkins

To find out more, this video is an excellent argument for the value of Latin.

• Compete in the annual Latin and Greek Reading Competition.

• Recent trips have been to Rome and the Bay of Naples... hopefully Greece will be next.

• Support or run Classics Club for Y7 as they hold Roman dinner parties, direct their own Greek plays and design Greek vases.

• Latin Scrabble

• Teach Beginners' Latin using 'Minimus' in the Junior School

• Attend local Classics lectures and competitions.

The most prominent areas of employment for Classicists are:

• finance, banking, insurance, accountancy, programming

• marketing

• management, civil service, administration, law

• the arts, journalism, publishing

• museums, libraries

But the skills you will develop in this subject are applicable to most careers and valued by all employers.