Is Latin considered a better GCSE by the best Unis

[fairyelephant]

There was a programme on Radio 4 earlier this week in which someone said that when English public schools were exported overseas they took with them the teaching of classics, and that part of the reason for this is perpetuating a sort of exclusive club of academia - that a knowledge of classics marked you out as educated. Hopefully that sort of thing is dead and buried but it may be something classics teachers wish were still true Perhaps they are worried they may become superfluous...
I didn't study classics and manage to get by perfectly well, although it might have been useful to have some general knowledge. DD is doing Latin GCSE, doesn't find it any harder than Spanish. DS thought he should do it for the same reasons as the OP's DS but he finds it hard and soon passed it over for other more enticing (to him) subjects. However on the subject of vocab mentioned above, we were told that they will have covered all the GCSE vocab by the end of year 9, so it can't be that onerous. I don't feel he has in any way disadvantaged himself. What he needs is some vaguely decent results and some subjects he is keen on. End of.

[JaneEyre]

There was a programme on Radio 4 earlier this week in which someone said that when English public schools were exported overseas they took with them the teaching of classics, and that part of the reason for this is perpetuating a sort of exclusive club of academia - that a knowledge of classics marked you out as educated. Hopefully that sort of thing is dead and buried but it may be something classics teachers wish were still true Perhaps they are worried they may become superfluous...
I didn't study classics and manage to get by perfectly well, although it might have been useful to have some general knowledge. DD is doing Latin GCSE, doesn't find it any harder than Spanish. DS thought he should do it for the same reasons as the OP's DS but he finds it hard and soon passed it over for other more enticing (to him) subjects. However on the subject of vocab mentioned above, we were told that they will have covered all the GCSE vocab by the end of year 9, so it can't be that onerous. I don't feel he has in any way disadvantaged himself. What he needs is some vaguely decent results and some subjects he is keen on. End of.

What an interesting post! I find it particularly reassuring for the OP to know that Latin is not harder than Spanish for your DC.

However, I will also offer a different perspective here.

It seems to me that in England, very unfortunately, you apprehend the Classics like to a social class issue. This is certainly not the case in France where everybody used to study either Latin or Greek for two years after an initiation in ‘classe cinquième’ ( = year 8 ) which helped students to decide between the two.

For years, the government has been sabotaging the teaching of French grammar, dismantling bilingual classes, limiting the teaching of Latin and Greek…. and for years, teachers have been trying to fight against all the calamitous reforms which destroy the rather very good school education pupils used to receive in this European country. And believe you me, there are PLENTY of debates and lots of abhorrence for what is happening ( It seems that today’s children would not be able to learn in primary school what a direct object is! )! I nearly posted something about the bilingual classes on the French thread today, but I know that it does not interest anyone here, so I didn’t. But the debate is hot and many teachers are revolted by what is happening in schools due to very poorly thought out governmental measures.

So I have to say that Greek and Latin is certainly not only for the upper class! One can live without studying them, like one can live without studying geography, history or a MFL, but learning them bring so much!!

[kenyancowgirl]

Ds1 is predicted A* in Latin. He is Y11...he finished the vocabulary needed at the end of Y9 but they then study literature - he also does Spanish and says Latin is much harder now, although it was very easy in Y7/8/9...He enjoys it but will be giving it up - the boys who don't enjoy it find it wry hard - you have to sit and spend the time - there are not shortcuts.

I wish everyone studied it for the first couple of years - as JE says, it shouldn't be elitist - it forms the basis of so many English words and, even though I only studied it for a year, some of the roots of words help me work out others.

[KB]

Sadly I guess it's a vicious circle. As there are fewer people studying classics there are fewer teachers and most of them will want to be in schools where there is a strong department and they can teach to A level. So schools without 6th forms of where very few students study classics to GCSE or A level will have difficulty employing staff.

It may be that post current changes to GCSE there will be less difference but it has been considered by many as a more academically vigorous subject that many others. Certainly at DS' school, which was very academic, there were many boys who sailed through at GCSE with a clutch of A*s without breaking a sweat ( not mine!) who found they actually had to do some work for Latin and Greek. Admittedly this is a few years back now.