Classics and English

Classics and English at Oxford is one of the most intellectually demanding and rewarding of degree combinations, placing you at the intersection of two of the oldest and richest literary traditions in the Western world. Classics gives you access to the Greek and Roman civilisations that have shaped so much of Western thought, literature, philosophy, and law, engaging with those cultures in their original languages. English opens the full range of literature in English, from the medieval period through to the contemporary, developing the close reading and critical analysis skills that literary study at the highest level demands.

Together the two disciplines invite you to trace ideas, forms, and genres across cultures and millennia.

All students on this three-year full-time programme at Oxford study either Latin or Greek or both, engaging with ancient literature in the original language. Course I is for students with A-level or equivalent in Latin or Greek; Course II includes a preliminary year for those who have not studied either language, extending the programme accordingly. You will study ancient texts in their original languages and in translation alongside English literature from multiple periods, developing the ability to think comparatively about how writers across cultures and centuries have approached similar problems and possibilities.

Oxford's tutorial system gives you intensive personal teaching and intellectual engagement with the material.

You will develop exceptional skills in close reading, literary analysis, language, translation, critical argument, and sustained academic writing across ancient and modern texts.

Graduates from classics and English programmes are among the most analytically and communicatively capable of any humanities graduates. Careers in law, the civil service, publishing, journalism, academia, the cultural sector, education, and a wide range of other fields are all accessible. Postgraduate study in classics, English, or a related humanities discipline is a common next step for those wishing to pursue research or specialist professional careers.