SIR – As the schools liaison and access officer at Merton College, Oxford, I applaud Baroness Kennedy’s eagerness to increase access to Oxford (report, December 16). However, as the former Classics outreach officer at Oxford, I feel her remarks imply a calculated narrowness of mind to the Classics’ appeal.
In fact, Classics is flourishing at both school and university level, although it remains under pressure and needs support not condemnation. Contrary to Lady Kennedy’s assertion that Classics is an “easy” route into university, it frequently involves beginners’ language courses in which candidates reach post-A-level standard in under a year, often with little or no prior language experience.
Classics at Oxford may statistically have fewer applicants per place than at other universities, but this does not mean the quality of applicants is not exceptionally high, or that the course is somehow less good than elsewhere. Simply increasing competition by encouraging more, and potentially weaker, applicants to apply will only increase disappointment.
Lady Kennedy is welcome to promote her own interests and college, but when this is to the detriment of a subject which is fighting hard to increase its accessibility, with excellent results, albeit much room for progress, it seems destructive and unfair.
Dr Cressida Ryan
Merton College, Oxford
