Upper 6th Form CurriculumSyllabus Followed: OCR (7817)
Aside from further study of the Latin language, these will depend to a large extent on the literature specified each year by the examination board. Currently, having studied an historical author (Tacitus) and a verse author (Ovid) for the AS examinations, the focus for the A2 literature units will be a study of Latin epic (Virgil, Aeneid Book 12) and a prose author (Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino). Another change at A2 is the fact that there are prescribed authors for the Unprepared Translation examination. This encourages general reading of these authors to become accustomed to their style and subject matter in preparation for the passages chosen in the examination. The prescribed authors at present are Caesar (for the prose passage) and Ovid (for the verse passage).
As with the AS course, assessment at A2 level is entirely by written examination. The candidate’s performance in the three AS units will account for 50% of the final A Level grade. Details of the three A2 examinations are as follows:
Like all arts subjects, Latin is not a vocational subject, but rather a discipline which uses the language and subject matter to develop a range of personal skills which are useful for other AS courses and valued by higher education institutions, which recognise the breadth of the subject. A successful Latin candidate will not only have a well-developed linguistic ability and understanding through analysis of a logical language and its influence on modern languages; he or she will also have a developed imagination and wide-ranging experience of many issues raised by the literature and culture of Rome, as well as an ability to formulate a considered response to them.
