The existence of the A-Level is one of the only ways students from state schools have any chance of interacting with the Classical world in an academic environment, given the dismantling of state education in Latin and Greek. How rich that world is: the political and oratorical mastery of Cicero; the Greek dramas without which we would have no Shakespeare; the art and architecture which inspired buildings still framing our visual landscapes across the UK, from Liverpool's St George's Hall to London's Somerset House, and so many more.

Its eradication is desperately unfair. Not only will state school pupils be denied the chance to interact with the Classical world for its own interest and enjoyment, they will be left in the dark about its many echoes in the modern world. AQA's decision will further diminish the number of state school students opting to take university courses where they can further develop their interests and -- if they wish -- get a first opportunity to learn Latin and/or Greek.

Having taken A-Level Classical Civilisation at a state sixth form college in Merseyside, I can confirm it is academically rigorous, varied and challenging enough to provide a sound foundation for when I went on to study Classics at Oxford University.

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”

Thanks Aristotle -- let's get angry.