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Exam boards for Latin

Latin qualifications in the UK available to private candidates are offered by the following boards: Eduqas, CIE and OCR.

Eduqas GCSE Latin 

The new spec brings the GCSE into line with the new OCR, so that there is less difference between them. There are three papers - Latin Language, Latin Literature and Sources (both compulsory) and then a choice of either further Literature, or Roman Civilisation. The Eduqas spec is designed to fit well with the Cambridge Latin Course.

OCR 9-1 Latin GCSE

The new spec has one compulsory Language papers and then a choice of two papers out of 5 (2 prose, 2 verse, and a Literature and Culture.

CIE IGCSE Latin Exam code 0480

"The Cambridge IGCSE Latin syllabus aims to develop learners' ability to understand Latin, leading to an understanding of Latin's influence on modern European languages. By comparing the structure of Latin with other languages, learners also develop an analytical approach to language learning. They study Latin prose and verse literature in its social and historical context, and are encouraged to develop a personal response to what they read. This will develop an awareness of a different time and culture, and an appreciation of Rome's legacy to the modern world."

The CIE IGCSE consists of two papers: Latin Language and Latin Literature.

WJEC Level 2 Certificate Latin Language and Roman Civilisation

This certificate course is still being offered by WJEC. There are two papers, Latin Language and Roman Civilisation. This is really a legacy qualification since it is no longer offered by English schools and cannot attract performance points, however it is still counted as a GCSE and is acceptable for general entry into sixth forms or college. It is graded A* to C.

The accompanying certificate Latin Literature has now been withdrawn. If you have a student who wants to study Latin at A level then it would be advisable for them to study a GCSE/IGCSE option. The WJEC certificate contains no Latin literature component and therefore is not acceptable to many sixth forms for entry onto Latin A level courses.

Textbooks

Cambridge Latin Course is recommended by many home educators working towards Latin WJEC because the book ties in directly to the exam. Books 1,2 and 3 for core language and books 1-5 for additional language.

John Taylor's "Essential GCSE Latin."

The Amazon reviews say there are no answers, but the author has emailed out answers to home-educators in the past.

Galore Park publish a range of Latin materials and are very home-ed friendly.

Past papers WJEC Latin Language and Roman Civilisation.

CGP publishes revision guides.

It can be hard to find past papers for WJEC online. I also note that all past papers have been removed from the WJEC website. If you are studying this qualification then please ask on the exams list as past candidates often have papers from earlier years stored on their computers.

Roman Civilisation 

History books by Peter Connolly  are very useful for this.

Links and Resources

One parent's comments:

"I recommend the John Taylor book for the language section. We did every exercise (email the author for the answers) and my dd got an A*. We are doing Rom Civ but we are doing the other topic. We are just learning all the stuff that comes with the Cambridge books. We did the Cambridge course and it seems to require this plus your original thoughts surrounding the topics. We also searched for past papers and there are none. We also went to Fishbourne but it wasn't that helpful. My son however does have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Roman largely through playing the highly factual Rome II total war computer games. With the language paper he remarked that he knew the answer to the question without doing the translation as it was a historical fact he'd learned via the game. He did do the translation just to check. "

The Classics Library is aimed at Classics teachers, but would also be useful for home-ed families.  Includes discussion forums on each syllabus/exam board.

Lots of Latin studying links at pastpapersonline.

Memrise vocabulary course for WJEC Core Latin Language (Presented in the order of the Cambridge Latin Course): http://www.memrise.com/course/209524/wjec-certificate-in-latin-level-2/

Resources for all of the WJEC courses from Cambridge Latin: http://www.cambridgescp.com/Upage.php?p=pe^WJEC^level2

This is a new Yahoo group which will hopefully give parents of young people interested in Latin or Classical Civilisation a chance to share resources and support each other: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Latinhomeed/info Please feel welcome to join up if you might be interested.

Other Support

Many home-educated students study this subject successfully using just the textbook and free online resources, but some find a distance learning course suits their family better, or want to use a tutor occasionally for marking essays or past papers. Course providers can be found on the Distance Learning Providers page.

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