Faculty of Humanities

Classical Civilisation

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Guide to GCSE Classical Civilisation (OCR)

The syllabus followed for this subject is the new OCR 1904 which offers a wide range of topics to study, of which we cover five. The examination consists of two papers, each of 1hr 30 minutes, and two topics are answered on each paper. The fifth topic is completed as coursework.

As a background to the course, several lessons are spent looking at the geography, climate and general lifestyles of those who lived in the Mediterranean in ancient times. The two topics studied for Paper 1 are ‘Home and Family in Athens’ and ‘Roman Sport and Leisure’. The first topic involves looking at the role of the husband and the wife within the family, children, slaves and houses. The second topic concentrates on the well known activities of chariot racing and gladiator fighting, but also considers the role of a visit to the public baths. These two topics will take up the majority of Year 10.

Paper 2 is the literature element of the subject and for this we aim to study the works of two authors.
The possible texts are:

Homer: Odyssey (a Greek adventure story)
Ovid: Metamorphoses (a collection of Greek and Roman myths)

Coursework forms 20% of the final mark in this subject. A guide to coursework is handed out at the start of this work, usually the Summer Term of Year 10, which states what is involved and gives a list of topics which can be chosen. Popular ones in the past have been Roman Home Life and Pompeii. The topics pursued through coursework are ones not covered in class and students choose which topic they wish to do their research on. Deadlines for each piece of coursework are set at the start of the course. Time is given during lessons for research to be carried out and one homework per week is also allocated for this purpose.

The study of this course will test several areas:

the ability to recall and use information
the ability to make comparisons between the ancient world and modern times
the presentation of knowledge and opinions
use of original sources (particularly in coursework)

There will also be the opportunity to take part in school trips and students following the course will also be eligible to participate in the Classics trip abroad.

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