work experience (classics or similar)

1

Hi! I’m in year 12 and I’m currently looking for work experience. I’m hoping to study Classics at university so it would be great if anyone could recommend anything along those lines, but obviously it’s quite a difficult sector to find work experience in so I’m very open to suggestions that aren’t Classics-related. I’m also quite interested in things like politics, modern foreign languages, philosophy, law, etc —so if anyone could recommend any sort of work experience along these lines then I’d be so incredibly grateful!!

Reply 1

jasmineva3128

17

Hi. I'm interested in studying English and History at uni, so I was in a similar situation.

The main thing I've done was volunteering at my local museum. It was amazing and I learnt a lot of random (but interesting) things from my town's history.

There's also SpringPod, which offers free virtual work experience. Whilst I've not completed it myself yet, I've seen one in there by Historic England on Heritage. They've also got plenty on politics (which can be linked back/compared to Classical politics) .

This might be harder to secure, but if there's a university nearby then you could get in touch with a Classics/Ancient History professor and ask to shadow them.

And, whilst it's not work experience, King's College London have an amazing selection of resources for A-Level Classical Civilisation that I've enjoyed going through. There's videos, worksheets, and more. Here's the link: King's College London Classical Civilisation Resources

When it comes to applying to uni, work experience isn't necessary at all for Classics, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses telling you that. However, having done the volunteering myself, I 100% plan to mention it in my personal statement and I feel that it was the perfect opportunity for me to see if history was really for me. I definitely recommend it in some form, but you shouldn't worry if you can't find any related work experience.

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. 😊

Reply 2

crazykitten195

7

Original post

by lvfayette

Hi! I’m in year 12 and I’m currently looking for work experience. I’m hoping to study Classics at university so it would be great if anyone could recommend anything along those lines, but obviously it’s quite a difficult sector to find work experience in so I’m very open to suggestions that aren’t Classics-related. I’m also quite interested in things like politics, modern foreign languages, philosophy, law, etc —so if anyone could recommend any sort of work experience along these lines then I’d be so incredibly grateful!!

Hey I’m at university now and I study Classics!! Some good work experience that I included on my personal statement was a week shadowing at a law firm and I also did tutoring online for Latin!

Reply 3

Parent27

5

My daughter did hers in a local museum. It was modern rather than ancient history but she learned about object handling, archiving and interpreting an object as well as placing it in historical context

Reply 4

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

22

I have a CertHe in Classical Civilisation from the University of Leeds, which I transferred credits from over to a degree in Classical Studies at the OU, and I'm now doing a master's degree in Ancient Worlds at the University of Edinburgh.

Honestly I didn't have any related work experience previously. I had done A Level Classical Civilisation but that's it. I've never worked in a museum or heritage or anything like that. You don't absolutely have to have had relevant work experience in order to study Classics.
However if you did want to, then volunteering at a museum is a possibility.

Reply 5

ejhhh

11

Original post

by lvfayette

Hi! I’m in year 12 and I’m currently looking for work experience. I’m hoping to study Classics at university so it would be great if anyone could recommend anything along those lines, but obviously it’s quite a difficult sector to find work experience in so I’m very open to suggestions that aren’t Classics-related. I’m also quite interested in things like politics, modern foreign languages, philosophy, law, etc —so if anyone could recommend any sort of work experience along these lines then I’d be so incredibly grateful!!

I’m a y13 applying to Classics starting in September 2026, and last year for my work experience I went to a library, they can be a good place to get a feel for the academic world and if you enjoy being around books/ people who like books then it can be great! Alternatively you could look at museums like some others have suggested!

Reply 6

Kingston Sarah

Official Rep

14

Original post

by lvfayette

Hi! I’m in year 12 and I’m currently looking for work experience. I’m hoping to study Classics at university so it would be great if anyone could recommend anything along those lines, but obviously it’s quite a difficult sector to find work experience in so I’m very open to suggestions that aren’t Classics-related. I’m also quite interested in things like politics, modern foreign languages, philosophy, law, etc —so if anyone could recommend any sort of work experience along these lines then I’d be so incredibly grateful!!

Hello,

It would probably be beneficial if you try and get volunteering experience at museums or libraries. For politics, modern foreign language and philosophy, you can look into shadowing at law firms, language schools or charities. The process will be easier if you contact those locations locally, since it's unlikely they receive a high number of volunteers.
All the best🤗

-Sarah (Kingston Rep)

Reply 7

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by lvfayette

Hi! I’m in year 12 and I’m currently looking for work experience. I’m hoping to study Classics at university so it would be great if anyone could recommend anything along those lines, but obviously it’s quite a difficult sector to find work experience in so I’m very open to suggestions that aren’t Classics-related. I’m also quite interested in things like politics, modern foreign languages, philosophy, law, etc —so if anyone could recommend any sort of work experience along these lines then I’d be so incredibly grateful!!

Classics is an academic field; professional classicists are academics in universities generally. There's not really such a thing as classics work experience as a result (the "work experience" would basically be engaging in academic work which you already will be doing via wider reading and other academic type activities).

Also work experience is not required in any way regardless.

Perhaps you could come in contact with some relevant material through work experience in a museum or something, but you'd likely be doing basically gallery attendant type stuff or just watching curators do things, which are probably not enormously valuable experiences and also not really that related to what classicists themselves do (curation is an entirely different affair).

Honestly I'd suggest you do something practically useful for your short term CV with your work experience - work in a shop or a restaurant or an office or something, so you have some concrete experiences to draw from when applying to similar jobs for part time/casual work when at uni.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 8

xyz1234567

11

You do not need work experience to get a place on a Classics degree. They are interested in your academic engagement with the subject. Focus on reading widely and reflecting on what you have read. Go to lectures and talks if you can, visit museums, listen to podcasts. Supercurriculars like that will be useful.

Getting work experience as a life skill and to earn money is a great idea - it won’t help you get into uni but it may help you get a part time job while
you are there. But there is no need for it to be related to Classics.

work experience (classics or similar)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated