As A level results land, why one industry – design and advertising – is shouting for more classics students

we’ll hear the usual conversations about the merits of different career choices and further education courses.

Study of the humanities might be out of fashion, but the advertising and design industry is keen to recruit those who have studied classics.

Andy Lipscombe director of brand strategy at FreshBritain explains why. He is available for interview to explain his thinking:

“Having people who have studied the Classics is vital to the future of the advertising industry. Advertising helps brands connect with consumers on a deeply emotional level to build long lasting relationships that drive commercial value. They do this by telling incredible stories.

“Storytelling triggers an emotional response. The “original stories” created by ancient cultures, from Aboriginal to Ancient Greece, to pagan Celtic, Norse and everything in between, have built the foundation for storytelling ever since. They cover the entire emotional spectrum of the human condition and shape humanity’s storytelling algorithm.

“Today’s brand stories and the content we consume, from Netflix dramas to Hollywood blockbusters and even the plots of video games, are all retellings of these fables. These are the core stories that lie deep in our DNA and connect us emotionally.

“Someone who studies Classics gets to know and understand these ancient stories better than anyone else. Working in advertising and design, they help brands tell their own versions of them, translating and re-interpreting them for today’s world. Consumers may not be familiar with these ancient stories, but we all recognise and are moved by them because they resonate with us on a deep cellular, evolutionary level.

“If you don’t have enough people coming into the creative industries who are familiar with and fluent in these ancient stories, then you lose the ability to create emotional connections that in turn create magnetic, addictive, powerful brands.

“For context, in just ten years, English has gone from being the most popular A level topic to falling out of the top ten today. The outlook is equally dire for modern languages, and as a study topic Classics is pretty much moribund. If you look at enrolment figures for different university courses, the humanities are losing out to STEM; Rishi Sunak banging the drum for maths probably didn’t help.”