Oxford Classics Admissions Test: no longer used

The Classics Admissions Test, known as the CAT, was a set of computer-based translation papers that Oxford applicants for Classics and related joint schools sat at a Pearson VUE test centre before interview; the Faculty of Classics now states that candidates for Classics, Classics and English, Classics and Modern Languages, and Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies no longer need to take a written test as part of their application. In place of the CAT, the faculty assesses a candidate's linguistic ability and potential during interview, alongside the two pieces of written work that applicants already submit.

This change affects how Year 12 students preparing a Classics application should spend their time, since revision aimed at a timed translation paper is no longer the priority, and interview preparation now carries more of the linguistic assessment. The sections below set out what the Oxford Faculty of Classics currently publishes on assessment, course options for applicants with and without Latin or Greek, how to prepare, and how the position compares with Cambridge, whose colleges retain a post-shortlisting admissions assessment for both the three-year and four-year Classics courses.

What was the Classics Admissions Test, and is one still set?

Until it was retired, the Classics Admissions Test was a timed, computer-based test of up to three one-hour papers, which candidates sat under exam conditions at a Pearson VUE authorised test centre before shortlisting for interview; Oxford now sets no admissions test for Classics applicants. Which papers were set depended on the course applied for and on whether a candidate was studying Latin or Greek to A-level or equivalent, with two of the papers asking candidates to translate a short passage of prose and a short passage of verse from the classical language into English, without access to a dictionary, grammar book or notes.

According to the faculty's own preparation materials, the test was designed to be of a difficulty suitable to students already studying at A-level, requiring no separate tuition beyond normal coursework.

Classics Admissions Test scrapped: no test required

No, the Faculty of Classics confirms that the Classics Admissions Test has been discontinued, and Classics now requires no written admissions test. Its admissions page states that candidates do not need to sit a written test as part of an application for Classics, Classics and English, Classics and Modern Languages, or Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

The faculty directs applicants to its interview and offers guidance, since a candidate's linguistic ability and potential are now judged during interview, with no pre-interview written paper. Applicants preparing on the basis of older guidance, including third-party tutoring material referring to the Classics Admissions Test (CAT), should treat that material as describing a discontinued stage of the process.

How are Classics applicants now assessed?

Applicants are currently assessed through submitted written work and an interview that includes a language component, with no separate written admissions test. Candidates submit two pieces of written work in English, which assessors read for signs of good basic knowledge, powers of analysis, powers of expression, and the ability to construct a coherent argument, judged against the conditions under which the work was produced, whether prepared coursework or a timed piece done under exam conditions.

Interviews take place in early December and are conducted online, aimed primarily at assessing a candidate's analytical and reasoning ability, skill in communication, and aptitude for the tutorial method of teaching used at Oxford, without testing knowledge or verbal facility in isolation. Shortlisted candidates already studying Latin and/or Greek to A-level or equivalent have their ability and potential in that language tested as part of interview, being asked to translate written sentences into English and discuss grammar and syntax, with interviewers placing greater weight on linguistic potential than on the level already reached.

Candidates without A-level Latin or Greek instead face an interview assessing their aptitude for learning a classical language from scratch, in which they are asked to recognise nuances of meaning in English sentences and identify patterns within familiar English usage; no prior knowledge of another language or of grammatical terminology is expected.

What course options exist with and without Latin or Greek?

Oxford's Classics degree, known as Literae Humaniores, is open to applicants whether or not they have studied Latin or Greek before, with the faculty running different language streams within a single course and no separate entry routes. Candidates who have studied Latin or Greek, or both, to A-level or equivalent follow a dual-language stream with classes in both languages, whilst candidates without either language follow a single-language stream and choose to begin either Latin or Greek from scratch.

Beyond the core Classics course, the faculty lists further joint schools such as Classics and English, and Classics and Modern Languages, each offering a three-year route for candidates with an A-level or equivalent in Latin or Greek and a longer route including beginners' language instruction for those without. The faculty states that all courses with a language element have options both for those who already hold Latin or Greek at A-level or equivalent and for those learning the languages from scratch, so absence of either subject at school does not rule out an application.

The standard offer for Classics and joint schools is AAA at A-level or equivalent, and the faculty notes that predicted or awarded grades below this standard offer would, under normal circumstances, constitute grounds for not inviting a candidate to interview.

How should applicants prepare?

Preparation now centres on the two pieces of submitted written work and on the interview itself, since there is no separate written admissions test to revise for. For the written work, the faculty's assessment criteria reward clear analysis, expression and argument, so applicants are best served by choosing pieces, usually essays or translations produced during normal schoolwork, that show sustained independent thought, over pieces chosen only for subject relevance.

For interview, candidates with A-level Latin or Greek benefit from practising translation of unseen passages and from being able to discuss the grammar and syntax of what they translate, since interviewers are assessing linguistic potential over rote recall. Candidates without either classical language cannot prepare through language revision, since the aptitude assessment they face works from English sentences and familiar usage, so is better approached through general practice in noticing patterns and nuance in language than through learning classical grammar in advance.

How does this compare with Cambridge Classics admissions?

Cambridge has not removed its subject-specific admissions assessment, and its colleges continue to run one for all shortlisted Classics applicants after they have been invited to interview, for both the three-year and four-year versions of the course. Applicants to the three-year course, who typically hold Latin A-level or equivalent, sit a Latin skills assessment, or a Greek assessment if they hold Greek but not Latin, whilst four-year course applicants, who need no specific subject, sit a language aptitude assessment instead.

As at Oxford, Cambridge applicants submit two pieces of written work in advance of interview, and the university's own admissions pages describe this as required for both course lengths. The main structural difference is course length: Cambridge's three-year Classical Tripos requires Latin A-level or equivalent for direct entry, whilst its four-year course begins with a Prelims year of intensive Latin study for those without it, after which the two routes largely converge; Oxford, meanwhile, runs a single four-year Classics degree for all applicants, in which language stream varies according to prior study while course length stays fixed.

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