Course Handbook - Faculty of History

Training and Taught Courses, or, if these are not available, by the Director of Graduate
Studies. The officer attending in this capacity will be present at the viva only as an observer
and will not participate in the discussion. The viva will either confirm the fail or marginal fail
or generate an upward revision of the mark to a passing grade. In either case, a joint report will
be supplied by the two examiners.
Leave to continue to the PhD
An agreed dissertation mark of 67 will normally be required for a recommendation that the
student be allowed to proceed to the PhD or the MLitt degrees. Examiners should give detailed
reasons in their reports if they would wish to recommend that a candidate be allowed to
continue to the PhD to whom they have awarded a mark below 67.
Distinctions
‘Distinctions’ are not awarded by strict numerical average but, as in History Tripos
classification, by the number of marks of 75 or higher obtained. The qualifying mark for the
dissertation must be at least an agreed mark of 68 in order for the candidate to receive the
designation of ‘Distinction’ in the MPhil as a whole. Further, a candidate needs a majority of
marks to be of 75 or above, OR for him/her to have two marks of 75 or above and an overall
scaled average of 75+. For purposes of calculating this average, the marks are scaled as
follows: palaeography: at 60; bibliography and historiographical essay: at 80; subject essay: at
100; dissertation: at 300. Candidates should note that the scaling of palaeography does not
indicate that it is taken less seriously than the other components, but that the wide range of
marks attainable in this subject necessitates scaling at this level to prevent it having much
greater weight than any of the other elements.
Students will be provided with details of their marks through their supervisors, after both Part
I (including, if necessary, a ‘danger of fail’ warning) and Part II. After Part I the copies of
their bibliography will be returned to them with examiners’ corrections, so that such
corrections may be incorporated into the bibliography in the dissertation. Anonymised
examiners’ reports will be sent to candidates once the marks/results for each Part have been
confirmed by the relevant committees. Candidates will be notified by the Board of Graduate
Studies whether they have passed or not but notification of a distinction will come from the
Secretary of the MPhil Sub-Committee.
This document is supplied to supervisors, examiners and candidates.
August 2010
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