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How Hard is Classics GCSE?

ElWilson

14

Hope you can help!

Reply 1

FireDeuce

14

Well it starts off a piece of piss. You do Pliny then some Greek family life.
Then you do Ovid and you want to die.

But im not sure how its taught in your school. Classics lessons in mine are more like general knowledge lessons which you dont really have to turn up to.

Definately not one of the harder gcses

Reply 2

ElWilson

OP

14

FireDeuce

Well it starts off a piece of piss. You do Pliny then some Greek family life.
Then you do Ovid and you want to die.

But im not sure how its taught in your school. Classics lessons in mine are more like general knowledge lessons which you dont really have to turn up to.

Definately not one of the harder gcses

Right then, so what does it include in exams, mostly essays etc?

Reply 3

FireDeuce

14

You get a few (ie. I dont remeber how many) just 1 or 2 mark questions just saying like "Where did Pliny live?" etc. Then you get a choice of essay questions like "Do you agree that Pliny used his wife for his benefit?"

Actually, thinking about it, you get a choice of simple questions aswel.

Reply 4

lekha85

1

GCSE Class Civ is a fantastic grounding if you want to move on to further study in the Classics. I took it on the off chance because I didnt want to do Geog or History and was already doing Latin. I ended up loving it, doing it at A-level and am now completing a degree in Classical Studies.
The GCSE is easy as long as you put in the work. When I sat it, which is 5 years ago (eek!), as long as you knew the set texts and had learnt the whole syllabus off by heart it was dead easy. But it does help if you develop an understanding of the subject areas as well as just learning the texts...

Reply 5

slk999

15

Do it. It's easy, but if you're easily bored, then don't bother.

Reply 6

sophieliz

12

If helps if you have crazy teachers, and latin/classics teachers normally are. mwahhaaa!

Reply 7

Patrick7777

6

There's nothing boring about Classics if you understand it...well maybe Aristophanes' comedies can bore, but not much else.

Reply 8

PennyRoyalTea

10

I wouldn't say its hard as such, a lot of learning is required if you want to get a good grade, if you learn everything you need to know-its fine, I always found Classics like a cross between English literature and history..

Reply 9

slk999

15

FireDeuce

Well it starts off a piece of piss. You do Pliny then some Greek family life.
Then you do Ovid and you want to die.

But im not sure how its taught in your school. Classics lessons in mine are more like general knowledge lessons which you dont really have to turn up to.

Definately not one of the harder gcses

There are loads of topics, especially in the OCR syllabus- our paper was like an encyclopedia it was so fat, but your teacher will select ones which will be suited best for your class, but if you feel bored, then do the ones that you like more and study them by yourself, then in the exam do whichever one you feel like doing- not advised though- stick with the class ones. :wink:

Reply 10

vicky989

gcse classics is a really good course as it is so flexiable and you can do what ever you want so it never needs to be boring
its isnt difficult but depends on what optionsyou chose although at this level none of it is remotly difficult.

Reply 11

Jeneewenz

its not difficult providing that you understand it
the coursework (for AQA) anyway is relatively easy and could potentially be done in one day , although you probs wouldn't get a good grade. anyway what i'm trying to say is that , in comparison to geography or history, there is much less to learn and much less coursework to do. i find that its one of those subjects were you can cram the night before the exam. nevertheless i have my exam tomorrow and the cramming isn't going too well...

Reply 12

j_owen90

Hmm we did Women in Athens, Oedipus, Antigone, Odyssey and Greek Theatre - it was easy as far as I remember. I self taught in hospital and honestly thought I knew nothing but still came out of the exam with A* - It's not hard, but you have to be interested in it or you won't bother learning the stuff. But it's a fantastic gateway to Classics A Level which IS hard but I absolutely ADORE. I'm going on to study it at uni too.

Reply 13

j_owen90

Jeneewenz

its not difficult providing that you understand it
the coursework (for AQA) anyway is relatively easy and could potentially be done in one day , although you probs wouldn't get a good grade. anyway what i'm trying to say is that , in comparison to geography or history, there is much less to learn and much less coursework to do. i find that its one of those subjects were you can cram the night before the exam. nevertheless i have my exam tomorrow and the cramming isn't going too well...

Totally did my coursework in one day :wink:

Still remember the panic!

Reply 14

ZOMGMiki

I don't think it's specifically hard, and it is one of my favourite subjects personally - because I'm interested in it, etc. But I do seem to remember my teacher saying that the grade boundaries are quite high, which can make it harder.
If you're interested in it, and will learn the stuff willingly, then you should be fine, though ^_^
We did the Odyssey, the Aenead, Pompeii, pompeiian houses, Greek theatre, Roman theatre, and some more.. ^_^;;
:yes:

How Hard is Classics GCSE?

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