Oxbridge Admissions
Classics Admissions Tutoring & PreparationOxford & Cambridge — Latin, Greek & the ancient world
Classics no longer has an admissions test at Oxford, and Cambridge never had one — so your personal statement, submitted work and interview do the talking, with some colleges setting short language tasks on the day. Prepare with an Oxford classicist who can build your Latin and Greek and get you interview-ready.
Find a Classics tutorHow Classics is assessed
No admissions test — what counts now
Oxford has discontinued the Classics Admissions Test (CAT), and Cambridge has never set a written admissions test — so for 2027 entry there's no test to sit. Instead, Classics applications turn on your written work, your interview, and the short language tasks some colleges set on the day. Here's how each university assesses applicants.
Oxford: no admissions test
The Classics Admissions Test has been discontinued. For 2027 entry, Oxford sets no written test for Classics or its joint courses. You're assessed on your UCAS application and personal statement, submitted written work, and interview — where some colleges set a short translation or language task.
Cambridge: assessment at interview
Cambridge has no pre-registered test, but most colleges set a short assessment if you're shortlisted — typically translation, comprehension or commentary on an unseen passage. There's no advance registration; your college arranges it. The unseen is in Latin or Greek for the three-year route, or in English for the four-year beginners' route.
Written work — and beginners welcome
Both universities ask for submitted written work (Cambridge wants two recent humanities pieces, at least one in English) and lean heavily on interview — discussing your essays, wider reading and unseen passages. And you don't need Latin or Greek already: the four-year routes are built for complete beginners.
Applying for a joint course like Classics and English or Classics and Modern Languages? You'll be assessed in your other subject too — so check its requirements alongside these.
Requirements vary by university, course and college and can change between cycles. Always confirm the current requirements on the official Oxford and Cambridge course pages before you apply.
Your Tutors
Meet our Classics tutors
An Oxford classicist who can build your Latin and Greek from the ground up — and get you ready for written work and interview.
Luke
Oxford Classics
Hello! I'm Luke, a Classics (Literae Humaniores) undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford, about to begin my third year. I topped my college cohort in both my first and second years, achieving First Class Honours and being elected to the highest academic scholarship Christ Church awards to undergraduates. Over three years of tutoring I've come to believe the best tutors are set apart not just by academic ability, but by understanding how each student thinks — so every lesson I give is tailored to the individual, challenging and supporting each student according to their ambition and ability.
My sessions are interactive and question-led: I deliberately ask students to grapple with unfamiliar problems, focusing less on whether they reach the answer immediately than on how they reason through it — which builds resilience and mirrors the style of an Oxbridge interview. Having studied both Latin and Greek from a young age, I know a secure grasp of language and syntax is fundamental to Classics, while fostering analytical skills valuable well beyond it. Before Oxford I attended Westminster School, where I won three academic prizes — the General Humanities Prize (2024), the Greek Prize (2024) and the Latin Prize (2022 and 2024) — and received extensive interview preparation. I've mentored applicants through the StateElevate access programme, including one who received an Oxford offer, and tutored an A-Level History student through another tutoring agency from a predicted C up to an A with a year still to go. I sat the CAT in Latin and Greek before it was withdrawn. I'm keen to pass on both the knowledge and the strategies that helped me succeed, so students can approach Oxbridge admissions with confidence.
Joseph
Oxford Classics & French — The Queen's College
After achieving all grade 9s at GCSE, I obtained three As in Latin, Ancient Greek and French at A-level. I am currently studying Classics and French at The Queen's College, Oxford University. As a recent secondary school student myself, I believe that I am best placed to relate to my students — I understand the challenges and stresses of school life, and I aim for a teaching approach that is both personal and practical.
My success in public examinations was in large part due to strong study, revision and exam techniques, and I aim to teach these to my students — including all the tips and tricks that are commonly overlooked — enabling them to raise their grades not only in Latin, Greek or French but across the board. I am intensely passionate about my subjects and can only hope that this passion is infectious. My areas of interest lie in linguistics, more specifically the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European, about which I wrote an essay that was Highly Commended in the Fitzwilliam College Cambridge Ancient World and Classics Essay Competition 2024, and the development of late Latin into early French. I sat Oxford's Classics admissions test in both Latin and Greek before it was withdrawn, scoring 96% and 92%. During my time at school I mentored students applying for Classics or Modern Languages at Oxbridge, and helped one secure a Cambridge offer for French and Italian in 2025.
Alexandre
Oxford Classics
Hi, I'm Alexandre and I'm studying Classics at Oxford, with five A*s at A-Level and Academic Exhibitioner at Westminster School. I have a solid grounding in Latin and Greek grammar and literature — and recent familiarity with the OCR exam board — so I can help both with exam technique at GCSE and A-Level and with developing the wider understanding of classical languages and culture that strengthens an Oxbridge application.
I'm keen to teach Latin and Greek at all levels — for exams and for the wider appreciation of classical language and literature that enriches an application — and I also tutor verse composition. I'm a native French speaker too, so I'm happy to teach French and English at GCSE. Having helped younger students at school with their applications, I can support you with personal statements, super-curricular reading and interview practice, including the unseen-translation tasks some colleges set.
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