Classics
Course Overview
Classics is a lively and varied course, which involves the study of the full range of sources for life in the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds. During the course, students are given the opportunity to study not only Latin and Greek language and literature, but also archaeology & art, history, linguistics and philosophy. Find out more about the course here.
The Benefits of Classics at Fitzwilliam College
There is a great community of Classics students at Fitz. The majority start Latin and Greek from scratch, but we cater for students with their language at all levels. We also have students combining Latin or Greek with a modern language (in MML) and students combining Classics with a first year in archaeology to produce a course more geared towards Classical Archaeology / Ancient History.
Students at Fitz are very well supported. They have extra weekly one to one language troubleshooting supervisions (because we know that it is easier to talk about what you find difficult if you don’t have to do that in front of other students). They also have weekly ‘Sources for Classics’ supervisions with the Director of Studies in their year groups - which involve group discussions of various types of sources with coffee and cake.
Facts and Figures
Average intake each year: 4-5
Typical A Level offer: A*AA
Typical IB offer: 41 – 42 points with 776 at Higher Level
Three-year course essential subjects: A Level or IB Higher Level Latin is essential.
Four-year course essential subjects: No specific subjects are essential.
Useful subjects for four-year course: Classical Civilisation, English (language or literature) , History, Languages (ancient or modern)
We may modify offers to take account of individual circumstances.
Application Process
If invited for interview, applicants for the three-year course are required to sit the Classics admissions written assessment. Applicants for the four-year course do not take the written assessment, but instead have an additional interview in the Faculty in which language aptitude is assessed. More details available here.
Applicants are also required to submit two pieces of recent written work that have been marked by a teacher as part of their application.
Director of Studies
Dr Sara Owen
Deputy Senior Tutor
Find Out More
Every year, the College runs an Arts and Humanities Taster Day for Year 12 (England and Wales), S5 (Scotland), Year 13 (Northern Ireland) or equivalent students. More information will be posted in autumn.
The College also runs an Essay Competition in Classics and the Ancient World. Essay questions are posted in November so check back on the link below to enter!
If you want to find out about our open days or visiting the College, see here.