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Latin

A-Level Latin is a classical-language qualification, and in England OCR (Cambridge OCR) is the sole provider: specification H443, first assessed in 2018, accreditation number QN601/8254/4. It is not shaped like a modern-languages A-Level. There is no speaking test, no listening test, no contemporary-themes syllabus and no individual research project; every word a candidate writes in the examination is written in English, and the Latin flows in one direction only except in one optional section. What is assessed is the ability to read Latin written by Roman authors — accurately, at speed, and with a critical ear. Four components, all externally assessed, all taken in the same May/June series at the end of the course. Unseen Translation (H443/01) carries 100 marks and 33 per cent: an unseen narrative prose passage from Livy is translated into English in Section A for 50 marks, and an unseen verse passage from Ovid is translated in Section B for 50 marks, that section also requiring the candidate to scan two lines of verse. Prose Composition or Comprehension (H443/02) carries 50 marks and 17 per cent, and offers a genuine choice: Section A sets translation, comprehension and accidence-and-syntax questions on an unseen prose passage, while Section B sets a passage of at least 100 words of continuous English to be turned into Latin. A candidate answers one or the other, not both, and the two sections are worth the same 50 marks. Prose Literature (H443/03) and Verse Literature (H443/04) carry 75 marks and 25 per cent each: in each, Section A examines a set text from one prescribed group and Section B a set text from a second group, both by way of translation of the set text into English, comprehension questions and a 15-mark question analysing literary style, characterisation, argument and literary meaning, while Section C is an essay drawing on the second set text together with the linked material that the specification requires learners to read in English translation. The assessment objectives are three, not four: AO1, knowledge and understanding of the language, carries all 150 marks of the two language components; AO2, knowledge and understanding of literature, carries 70 marks; AO3, critical analysis, evaluation and response to literature, carries 80. The total is 300 marks and the total qualification time is 360 hours. Two features of the specification shape how the course must be planned. First, there is no defined vocabulary list at A-Level: learners are expected to build on the Defined Vocabulary List published for AS Level Latin (H043) and to extend it by wide reading, so vocabulary is acquired from texts rather than from a prescribed schedule. Second, the set texts rotate. OCR prescribes prose texts in Group 1 and Group 2 and verse texts in Group 3 and Group 4, each set text is examined for a maximum of three years, the lists are reviewed every three years, and centres are notified a year in advance if a text is to be replaced — so any candidate must confirm the prescription for their own examination year, and by the end of the course will have studied the work of at least four different authors. What does not rotate is the grammar: Appendix 5d of the specification lists the accidence and syntax required for Components 01 and 02, and that list — the full noun, adjective, pronoun and verb systems, the participle, the infinitive, the gerund and gerundive, and the whole range of subordinate clauses including extended oratio obliqua — is the spine of the qualification.

0/53 Texts10 Chapters~442 min total

Continue reading — Chapter I Table of contents

OCR H443 Appendix 5d Accidence - nouns of all standard types, together with bos, domus, Iuppiter and visOCR H443 Appendix 5d Syntax - standard patterns of case usageDfE GCE AS and A level subject content for ancient languagesOCR H443 Appendix 5d Accidence - adjectives of all standard types from all three declensions, including dives, pauper and vetusOCR H443 Appendix 5d Accidence - adverbs; comparison of adjectives and adverbs; pronouns and pronominal adjectives; cardinal numbers 1-1000 and ordinals 1st-10th; uses of prepositionsOCR H443 Appendix 5d Accidence - verbs of all standard types from all conjugations in all moods, voices and tenses, together with deponent, semi-deponent, defective, irregular and impersonal verbs including the impersonal passive of intransitive verbs+101 moreStandardAdvanced

Table of contents · 10 ChaptersT·10

Ch. IAccidence and syntax6 texts · 0 read

Ch. IIVocabulary and linguistic range5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IIIUnseen prose translation (Livy)5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IVUnseen verse translation and scansion (Ovid)6 texts · 0 read

Ch. VProse composition or comprehension6 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIProse literature: Group 1 set text5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIProse literature: Group 2 set text5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIIVerse literature: Group 3 set text5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IXVerse literature: Group 4 set text5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XRoman literary and cultural context5 texts · 0 read

Instrument · 01Recommended study order

Instrument · 02Exam structure

Component 01 - Unseen Translation (H443/01): 1 hour 45 minutes, 100 marks, 33% of the A-Level, externally assessed written paper. It tests AO1 alone: knowledge and understanding of the language. There are two sections and both are answered. Section A (50 marks) is the translation into English of an unseen passage of Latin narrative prose; the specification states that the prose passage will be taken from Livy. Section B (50 marks) is the translation into English of an unseen passage of Latin verse, taken from Ovid, and in this section the candidate is also required to scan two lines of verse. There is no defined vocabulary list for the component: candidates build their vocabulary through the wider reading they do across the course. Because Section A and Section B are equally weighted, verse cannot be treated as an afterthought - a candidate who never trains the ear for the hexameter is choosing to compete for half the marks of the largest paper in the qualification.
Component 02 - Prose Composition or Comprehension (H443/02): 1 hour 15 minutes, 50 marks, 17% of the A-Level, externally assessed written paper testing AO1 alone. There are two sections and the candidate answers either Section A or Section B - not both - and each is worth the full 50 marks. Section A sets translation, comprehension and questions on syntax and accidence on an unseen passage of Latin prose; the specification guarantees that there will be no overlap between the author of this unseen passage and the authors prescribed in Group 1 or Group 2 for examination in that year. Section B requires the translation of a passage of at least 100 words of English into Latin. The choice is made by the centre and the candidate well before the examination, because the two routes need very different preparation: composition demands the active production of correct Latin - agreement, case usage, sequence of tenses, indirect statement, idiomatic word order - while comprehension demands precise analytical description of Latin already written, in English, using the right grammatical terminology.
Components 03 and 04 - Prose Literature and Verse Literature: Two 2-hour written papers, 75 marks each, 25% of the A-Level each. Both test AO2 and AO3: 35 marks of AO2 and 40 marks of AO3 in each paper. Prose Literature (H443/03) examines one prose set text from Group 1 in Section A and one from Group 2 in Section B; Verse Literature (H443/04) examines one verse set text from Group 3 in Section A and one from Group 4 in Section B. In Sections A and B of both papers the candidate translates a passage of the set text into English, answers comprehension questions, and answers a 15-mark question analysing literary style, characterisation, argument and literary meaning. Section C of each paper is an essay drawing on the Group 2 (prose) or Group 4 (verse) set text together with the material the specification requires to be read in English translation. For verse, knowledge of metre is explicitly part of what must be demonstrated. Both papers print Latin with two editorial conventions the candidate should expect: consonantal u is printed as v, and accusative plural endings in -is are printed as -es. Set texts change every three years, each text remaining on the list for a maximum of three years, and centres are notified a year in advance of any replacement; the specification also requires learners to have studied the work of at least four different authors across the qualification. Every candidate must therefore confirm the prescription for their own examination series rather than assume any list is permanent.
Assessment objectives, weightings and administration: Three assessment objectives. AO1 - demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the language - is worth 150 of the 300 marks and is carried entirely by Components 01 (100) and 02 (50). AO2 - demonstrate knowledge and understanding of literature - is worth 70 marks, 35 in each literature paper. AO3 - critically analyse, evaluate and respond to literature - is worth 80 marks, 40 in each literature paper. Half the qualification is therefore linguistic competence and half is literary study, and within the literary half the analytical AO3 marks slightly outweigh the knowledge-based AO2 marks. All four components must be taken to be awarded the A-Level, all include synoptic assessment, and all are sat in a single May/June series at the end of the course; the qualification is linear and a retake means retaking every component. Total qualification time is 360 hours, all of it guided learning. The whole qualification is assessed in English and all candidate work must be in English (apart, of course, from the Latin written in the composition option). AS Level Latin (H043) is a separate qualification with its own, shorter papers and its own Defined Vocabulary List, which A-Level learners use as the floor of their vocabulary rather than its ceiling.

Instrument · 03Official sources