Section A: a passage for unseen translation. As at GCSE, candidates will be issued in advance with a defined vocabulary list.

Section B: EITHER a second passage, from the prose author prescribed for Unit 2, OR five English sentences to translate into Latin. The defined vocabulary list will cover this section also.

Section A: commentary questions (including a short essay) on a prose set text (in 2009, from Cicero In Catilinam).

Section B: commentary questions (including a short essay) on a verse set text (in 2009, from Ovid Metamorphoses).

Section A: a commentary question and an essay on a verse set text (in 2010, from either Virgil Aeneid or Catullus).

Section B: translation of a few lines from, and comprehension questions on, an unseen passage of Latin verse (in 2010, from Ovid elegiacs).

Section A: commentary questions on a prose set text (in 2010, from either Tacitus or Livy).

Section B: EITHER translation of a few lines from, and comprehension questions on, an unseen passage of Latin prose (in 2010, from Caesar), OR a prose composition translation from English into Latin.

The two A-Level Units will be taken at the end of the 7th Year; the two AS-Level Units will be taken at the end of the 6th Year or in January or June of the 7th Year, depending on what is in the best interests of each cohort of candidates. A typical combination for a pupil might be to take Higher Latin and AS-Level Unit 1 at the end of the 6th Year, AS-Level Unit 2 in January of the 7th Year, and the two A-Level Units at the end of the 7th Year. The choice of set authors (where options exist) will normally be made with full reference to the strengths and interests of that year’s candidates. There is no coursework.

Former classicists from the Academy can be found working in the legal profession, medicine, merchant banking, industry, financial services, the higher grades of the Civil Service, computing, the media and teaching, from primary to tertiary level.

An early impetus to the growth of the Academy was a dispute about the pronunciation of Ancient Greek. Things haven’t changed much. What is not disputed is the contribution of the Greeks to Western civilization. They were the first Europeans to think and write coherently about politics, philosophy, and science. They were the source of Western literature as we know it. Their dramatic festivals began the theatrical tradition, their sports festivals inspired our own notions about the philosophy and practice of sport.

The study of the Greek language offers the same advantages as the study of Latin, but extends them and opens doors to an even broader range of cultural benefits. The skills it teaches will be of use to anyone considering further study in an arts or science subject, and the subject is regarded by universities and employers as a sign of high intellectual flexibility and competence.

Special teaching arrangements are sometimes made for Greek but are dependent on availability of staff: please consult the Deputy Rector or Director of Studies and the Head of Classics for further information and to assess whether such arrangements could be made in your own case.

Greek also features regularly in the after-school activity programme.

The Academy can, when appropriate, also offer Greek at Higher, AS-Level and A-Level standard to pupils who have previously attained Standard Grade or GCSE in the subject.

The papers in all of these exams are structured in the same way as the Latin ones.