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State school pupils taking GCSE Latin may be forced to drop the subject or even have to teach themselves after the government ends funding for a popular programme that has increased the numbers learning Latin across England.
School leaders, scholars and authors are urging the Department for Education to offer a reprieve to the Latin excellenceprogramme, to enable hundreds of students to complete their GCSE courses and allow schools time to find additional support.
The DfE announced shortly before Christmas that it would end funding in February for the programme, which supports Latin lessons for more than 8,000 pupils at 40 non-selective state schools, as part of the government’s cost-cutting drive to stabilise public finances.
The cuts mean the programme will no longer be able to fund Latin teachers in schools from the end of next month, leaving some without qualified staff.
Tom Holland, the award-winning author and host of The Rest Is History podcast, said he supported continued funding for the programme, launched in 2021, arguing that Latin should not be abandoned to “posh ghettos” within private schools.
“It is very difficult to get a handle on vast swathes of the humanities if you don’t have some knowledge of Latin. A lot of English literature is saturated with knowledge of Latin. It’s really important to understand the history of art, and the language of the church is written in Latin,” Holland said.
“It’s a privilege to have access to that, and that is why private schools have always specialised in it. It’s seen as precious because it is exclusive. And that’s why it’s important Latin isn’t kept in a posh ghetto.
“If it becomes ghettoised, it’s not just that the study of Latin or classics is being closed off to people who can’t afford to pay for it. It’s saying that the study of history and literature and art are for posh dilettantes. Is that really what the government wants to say?”
Holland noted that the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, “was raised not far from Jarrow, where Bede wrote the first history of England in Latin. She must be aware of the incredible value and heritage that Latin represents.”
Lawrence Foley, the chief executive of the Future Academies trust, which administered the programme under contract from the DfE, said he was most worried that the cuts would affect up to 1,000 students in years 10 and 11 whowere midway through GCSE Latin courses.
Foley said: “You have got this perfect storm of schools facing stretched budgets, with funding being pulled mid-year, which is a nightmare for school leaders who have to budget from August to August.
“We thought [the government] might pull funding for the programme because of the difficult fiscal situation they are in but we didn’t expect this.”
“For the kids who are in Y10, who are four months into their GCSE course, there’s the real risk that their school no longer has the funding for the subject and so decides to cut it and move them to another subject. Or worse than that: the school might have to use an unqualified teacher to sit in a room and supervise their study.”
He added: “What we have already seen is lots of schools that were part of the programme, and were intending to run it next year for pupils at GCSE, they are now saying they are not going to offer Latin. They are saying that they can’t take the risk of running the course without specialist support.”
A group of school leaders have written to Phillipson asking for funding until August, to avoid disrupting GCSE courses and allow schools to make new plans.
The DfE said it would work with the schools to minimise the impact on pupils. A spokesperson said: “This government is putting education back at the forefront of national life, with key priorities protected in the budget and an additional £2.3bn announced for schools. But the £22bn ‘black hole’ we inherited means tough decisions are needed across the public sector.
“While a decision has been made not to continue the Latin excellence programme beyond the end of its contract, our expert-led curriculum and assessment review will ensure every young person leaves school ready for work, life and the future.”
In a letter to the Guardian, professors and heads of departments from leading British universities have asked Phillipson to revive the programme, saying it has been “remarkable” in encouraging students in deprived areas to learn Latin.
Prof Llewelyn Morgan, one of the letter’s signatories and professor of classical languages and literature at the University of Oxford, said Latin should be encouraged as “the maths of the humanities”, inspiring imagination and enthusiasm among students.
But Morgan said he suspected the subject suffered from an image of elitism, and for being seen as a luxury: “People generally speaking won’t be up in arms about cancelling Latin.”
William Bearcroft, the head of Latin and classics at the Phoenix academy, a state secondary in west London with a high proportion of students from deprived backgrounds, said there was an “unapologetic social justice element” to teaching Latin through the programme.
“Latin is perceived as being prestigious and difficult. I don’t think it is difficult, and I don’t love the prestigious element either, but I think there is something powerful about students from our context getting a [grade] 7 or 9 in Latin, a subject that you could otherwise only expect from a student who probably attended a private school. I think that is really important and empowering,” Bearcroft said.
“We give them the chance to excel in a challenging qualification, and my hope is that they will stand out when they are applying for university.”
