Campaign
CELEBRATING CLASSICS
We are proud to be #CelebratingClassics as we showcase why Classics is important to so many people, celebrate the brilliant work being done across the sector to increase access to the study of the ancient world, and commemorate the sixtieth anniversary (in 2025) of Classical Civilisation as a qualification subject in England.
Classics in the Twenty First Century
Classics is thriving in popular culture – from viral memes to sellout exhibitions, VR experiences and new releases by Pat Barker, Jennifer Saint and Stephen Fry to West End musicals like Hadestown, Netflix series like Kaos and sequel huge hitters like Gladiator II. There is a still long way to go, however, to get Classics embedded at all key stages in schools and for the valuable and enriching courses that are offered in the tertiary sector to be protected for future generations.
Research indicates that Classics boosts social mobility, fosters cultural capital and supports literacy especially amongst disadvantaged students, but access to subjects like Classical Civilisation across the UK still relies on ‘wealth or luck’ – our campaign supports our mission to give everyone the chance to study the past, to highlight interesting and important stories within our community, and thereby make Classics more accessible to everyone.
A Celebration of Classics
Classical Association member, Margaret Thorpe, formerly Principal Examiner for Latin at WJEC, has shared why Classics is important to her, as part of our #CelebratingClassics Campaign. Now retired, Margaret enjoys…
Anika’s Classical Journey
How I got into Classics (and why you should too!) This post, recently posted on her Coffee & Classics blog, explores Anika Murali’s journey to discover the ancient world, as…
From Aristotle’s ‘seminar room’ to Hollywood
Our Honorary President for 2024-25, Professor Stephen Halliwell, shares his thoughts on why Classics is important and reveals his own journey to discover the ancient world, as part of our…
Ancient philosophy in prison
As well as learning life skills from Aristotle, prisoners in this new scheme are given the opportunity to study and perform in a Greek tragedy to learn how to discuss emotions: in this case, Sophocles’s Philoctetes (409BC), which – perhaps aptly – explores the corrosive effect of isolation.
Prize Draw
As part of our Celebrating Classics Campaign, we offered a free-to-enter prize draw of classical goodies, thanks to some incredible classical supporters. The Draw was made in February – good…
Resource Bank
As part of our Celebrating Classics Campaign, we commissioned and collated a range of interesting resources to support your exploration of the ancient world and to help you enter our…
The Language Crisis HEPI Report
In August 2025, the Higher Education Policy Institute published a report; The Language Crisis: Arresting decline, authored by classicist Megan Bowler. You can read the HEPI report in full here This…
Our Campaign
Earlier this year, we ran our 2025 Competition where people of all ages were encouraged to write, design and speak about their love for Classics. Supported by a new resource bank, podcasts and short films, a free prize draw with amazing prizes, an upcoming celebration event, and information for policymakers, we aim to make Classics in the twenty-first century visible, appealing and reflective of its inherent diversity. Young people were given the chance to present in front of key stakeholders and we hope to represent teachers via our Qualifications Review.
We recently hosted a policy roundtable in collaboration with Dr Peter Swallow MP to discuss and shape proposals for classical subjects in the Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review. Following the release of the interim report, we have written a letter to Prof. Becky Francis to share with her the outcomes of the roundtable, and our response to the report. We would like to thank the teachers, representatives from allied organisations in Classics, English and Languages, Fellows of The British Academy, academic researchers and policy officials who attended and contributed to this roundtable.
As the Secretariat of the newly-founded All Party Parliamentary Group for Classics, we are proud to be supporting a forum for the discussion of issues of strategic national importance affecting the teaching and learning of Classics in schools, universities, museums and communities. To propose a topic for discussion, please contact appg@classicalassociation.org.
How You Can Get Involved
- Follow our Instagram feed and share/repost our posts as we showcase some famous faces!
- Share your Classics story on socials – please tag us (X, Facebook, IG) and use the hashtag #CelebratingClassics
About Us
The CA is the Subject Association for Classics in the UK, organiser of the UK’s largest annual Classics Conference, and a grant-giving body which offers significant support to educational and outreach projects. Our journals place us at the forefront of academia, our education work at the forefront of Classics pedagogy and we have a wide and international membership. Through our local branches, we build classics communities and seek to address regional inequalities in access to studying the ancient past and through our partnerships we’re working towards a sustainable future for the subjects we love.