What type of person studies Latin in 2024? As a result of Labour’s decision to axe the £4 million Latin Excellence Programme (LEP), the stereotype of the average Latin student – that they are posh and privately educated – is likely to persist. As a state school student who studied Latin – a subject that helped me win a place at a top university – this saddens me greatly. The intellectual vandalism of Labour’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson is hard to forgive.
One in two children are taught Latin at private schools, compared to just 2.7 per cent at comprehensives
Out of the six of us who studied Latin GCSE at the bog standard state school I attended, I was the only white student. The others came from solidly working-class black and brown Muslim families. We all went on to attend Russell Group universities; two went to Cambridge. I have no doubt that having a Latin GCSE under our belts helped.
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