11 Plus Exams Forum

Does anyone know how realistic it is to obtain a place at a good university to read classics without any knowledge of Greek? The admissions requirements do not state that it is required, but neither do they state that 4A* A and AS levels are required.

Hi
I think the only way to get a proper answer is to contact the departmental admissions tutor at a selection of the Universities you are interested in.
Assuming Dc is making A level choices at present? In which case would ask tutors for advice on which subjects they give preference to and a direct question about the Greek.
Could be difficult to get a straight answer because it could depend on whether the school offers it ( & at Oxbridge they may know this as I imagine there aren't that many of them!)
Also may struggle to get prompt response given how busy they will be with this year's selection process.

Good luck!

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthr ... ?t=1352168" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://static.thestudentroom.co.uk/show ... ?t=1332797" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is classics section where you can dig out more info.

I read somewhere classics without either language (latin or greek) is incredibly hard work, so its worth investigating that front too.

KB wrote:Hi
I think the only way to get a proper answer is to contact the departmental admissions tutor at a selection of the Universities you are interested in.
Assuming Dc is making A level choices at present? In which case would ask tutors for advice on which subjects they give preference to and a direct question about the Greek.
Could be difficult to get a straight answer because it could depend on whether the school offers it ( & at Oxbridge they may know this as I imagine there aren't that many of them!)
Also may struggle to get prompt response given how busy they will be with this year's selection process.

Good luck!

Thanks, no A2 choices yet as he is only in Y9, but DS was told categorically by the Latin teacher at school that he could not do classics. He came home and asked to change schools to one where he can study Greek from year 10/12. He is reconsidering taking up a place that he has (on hold) at a boarding school. They have deferred entry until Y10 if he wishes to attend.

It is a shame that the latin teacher has that attitude - I know of one boy at a local GS who wants to do classics and the classics teachers have been supporting him in learning greek (both at GCSE and A level ) out of lesson time. He does put in loads of work himself though

http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/se ... E&single=N" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UCAS do a guide, I was blundering around it a few weeks ago to make sure DS1 in Y10 didn't close any options with AS choices. Cross ref. with the dept. websites just in case something gets lost in the computer translation.

Cambridge say Latin plus Greek preferred, I am sure that means in most cases required.

This is perfectly possible. Universities know that very few state schools teach Greek. I believe that 3 or 4 girls from my daughter's school (which does not offer Greek) have gone to Oxbridge to read classics in the last few years. Oxford (which has the largest classics department in the world) offers different courses for those with only one of Latin and Greek, those with both and, indeed, those with neither.

If however Greek is available at a school then I don't think a candidate who chose not to study it in the 6th form would have much chance of a classics place anywhere decent.

I would strongly support anyone who is genuinely interested in Classics. Wile obviously useful, Greek is not absolutely necessary, though an ability to work hard is. Classics is the most worthwhile of any University course and he or she will not be sorry they chose it!

I think the important point - as made above - is that if the school does not offer the subject then most departments will take this into account & an demonstrable interest will compensate.
However if the subject is offered & not chosen (& the departments will know/check) then it would be very difficult to claim a great interest while explaining why a different choice was made at A level.

Thanks as always. Nice to know that the "doors" are not closed. We had great fun together playing with the languages assessment on the Cambridge site.