Steven Hunt

Here’s the third in a series of brief round-ups for the end of 2025 for Classics Education in the UK #3: Jobs for Classics teachers in the UK in 2024-5 I collated the information for these statistics from the publicly available advertisements in the Times Educational Supplement and the Classics Library. Please cite me if you use any of the information in this blog. Any errors are my own. How many jobs? Fig. 1. Classics Education jobs advertised from 2018-9 to 2024-5 (c) Steve

Here’s the second in a series of brief round-ups for the end of 2025 for Classics Education in the UK #2: State-maintained school entries for GCSE examination in England in 2025 First, some headline numbers. I compiled these statistics from those publicly available from the Department for Education. Any errors are my own. If you use any of the information in this blog, please credit me. The total number of entries for each subject is given in Figure 1 below. Fig. 1. Total num

Here’s the first in a series of brief round-ups for the end of 2025 for Classics Education in the UK #1: Examination entries in England and Scotland 2025 Examination entries in 2025: England England has a number of different examination boards which offer examinations in Classics Education. For Latin, both WJEC / Eduqas and Cambridge OCR offer examinations up to GCSE. Cambridge OCR offers examinations for Classical Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History at GCSE, AS

I’m always up for a bit of technology and Classics. In this case, a friend pointed out this immersive exhibition at London’s Excel exhibition hall in Docklands. There was a YouTube video  as well. It looked – kind of okay. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We went along. It was Sunday, about 1pm. It took some time to find the place as it was located in an exhibition space under the main Excel centre rather than in it: access was literally on the dockside. Inside, it lo

After another delve into the ART archives, I found this article in Latin teaching XXXVI No. 3 (1983) by Ken Dowden, then of University College, Cardiff. He is now Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Birmingham. Teachers may know his book Religion and the Romans , published by Bristol Classical Press in 1992. My PGCE Latin with Classics students at the Cast Gallery, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge (October 2025). In 1983 Ken makes a number of impor

This blog is an extract and commentary on a review of the first edition of the Latin course book Ecce Romani. It was first published in the ARLT’s journal Latin Teaching XXXIII, 6, p 224 in 1971. The reviewer WSW (I have been unable to ascertain their name) refers to two books in their review. Front Cover of the 1st edition of Ecce Romani Like the one I have blogged about before from this same journal, I think WSW's review sheds some light on pedagogical thinking of the time

I’ve been reading some of the articles in the journal Latin Teaching , which was published by the Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching, whose archives I have begun to explore. I came across this interesting little description of a weekend refresher course the ARLT ran in 1971 in London. I reproduce it here, with some comments below, as it brings to the fore, I think, the way in which teachers were beginning to understand how the Cambridge Latin Course actually worked

The Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report  was issued on 5 th  November 2025. On page 87 there’s this table: Study of a foreign language, either modern or ancient, is compulsory at Key Stage 2. Study of a Modern Foreign Language (MFL) is compulsory at Key Stage 3. At Key Stage 4, there is an entitlement to study an MFL GCSE. Take-up in any MFL GCSE was 43% in 2009/10 and 44% in 2024/25. •        GCSE French take-up was 25% in 2009/10 and 18% in 2024/25. •        GCSE

I’ve always wanted to visit the Fitzrovia Chapel but it’s never been open when I’ve been nearby. So when I was at a loose end in Tottenham Court Road waiting for my lunch date I checked out the visiting times and was delighted to see it was open and only about ten minutes’ walk away.  Entranceway The Fitzrovia Chapel is a little marvel. Once it served as the chapel for the Middlesex Hospital that stood on this site and hid it completely from view. It’s like a Byzantine jewel