2 | Submission & Assessment guidance
- 2.1 | Presentation of your work
- 2.2 | Extensions
- 2.3 | Exam Entry
- 2.4 | Good academic practice and avoiding plagiarism
- 2.5 | Guide to submitting work
- 2.6 | Test assignment submission
- 2.7 | Submission and examination dates
- 2.8 | Examination conventions
- 2.9 | Progression rules and classification conventions
- 2.10 | Details of Examiners and rules on communicating with Examiners
- 2.11 | Release of Results
2.1 | Presentation of your Work
Your documents should have margins of at least 2.5cm in a font size of 12 point or larger and a line spacing set at 1.5 or equivalent, except that free-standing quotations and footnotes should be presented single-spaced. Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of each page.
The ability to conform meticulously to presentational guidelines is a professional skill, required, for example, from anyone submitting work for publication, and the examiners may lower your mark if you fail to observe the conventions specified.
Submitted essays should accord with the Faculty's conventions, and should include a bibliography of all the books and articles that you have either quoted or consulted.
Any source that you have encountered through another source, but you have not seen at first hand, should not appear in the bibliography; any footnote reference to a source not directly consulted by you must make it unambiguously clear from what secondary source that you have consulted your knowledge arises.
For further guidance on how to present your essay, including referencing styles see the document on 'Thesis Conventions for Graduates'.
Front Page
To safeguard the anonymity of the initial assessment, do not write your name, student number, college, supervisor’s name, or any other identifying information anywhere on your submitted work. The front page of your essay should contain the following information only:
- your candidate number on the top right-hand corner (note: this is different from your Student ID and University Card number; you find this number in your Student Self-Service record under the tab ‘Assessment Information’)
- the title of your essay
- the word count (excluding bibliography)
- the degree and term for which the work is submitted (e.g., ‘Master of Studies in Global and Imperial History’, Trinity Term 2023’)
Word Counts
All front matter and end matter except appendices is excluded from the word count for dissertations and other submitted assessed work.
Included in word count are:
- Dissertation text, including quotations from texts in foreign languages and translations of these where necessary
- Notes
- Appendices, including any edited text or original source material, in English or a foreign language, reproduced in extenso or in facsimile
- Figures, graphs, tables, and image captions included in the body of the dissertation or in appendices
Excluded from word count are:
- Title page
- Abstract
- Acknowledgements/dedications
- Table of contents
- List of illustrations, abbreviations and acronyms, graphs, or tables (if any). A list of illustrations, if required, should be included in front matter; full captions should be provided with the image either in the body of the text or in an appendix
- Glossary of technical terms or terms from languages other than English
- Bibliography
Please note that word counts will be checked, and penalties will be applied by the exam board for over-length work. See the Examination Conventions (2.8 below) for details.
Every thesis is different and may have requirements which are not covered by the list above. As a rule of thumb, if a section contains any form of analysis or comment which contributes to the argument of your thesis, it should be included in the word count.
Where substantial appendices, or quantitative data or material in a foreign language presented in the body of the text, are necessary for the presentation of material essential to the work, an extension to the word limit should be requested.
Where quotations from foreign-language sources are given in the original language, translations should be provided. These do count towards the word limit, but in cases where there are a significant number of these an extension to the word limit should be requested. Titles of foreign-language primary or secondary sources referred to in notes, the bibliography, or the body of the text do not need to be translated into English.
Applications for extension to the word limit can be granted by the DGS: you should complete a 'Word Count Exemption Request Form', ensuring you have your supervisor’s support, and submit this to the Graduate Office (graduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk) - please do not send your applications directly to the DGS.
2.2 | Extensions
Extensions to deadlines for the submission of assessed work can be requested if you have been affected by ill health, or by other factors that have hindered your ability to complete an assessment on time. Only the Proctors are able to grant extensions; the Faculty does not have the discretion to do so. Please note that you are responsible for the timely submission of your assessed work: submitting work, especially your thesis, after the original deadline may mean that your work will not be marked according to the usual timetable, and you must not make plans for graduation without first checking with the Graduate Office that your marks will have been ratified by the relevant Board of Examiners in time.
Guidance on extensions is available on OHH here. The online form for requesting an extension can be found here.
2.3 | Exam Entry
Examination entry is the process by which the papers that you will be assessed in are formally recorded in the University’s records. The deadline for this process is Thursday (11:59pm) of Week 8, Michaelmas Term, and Exam Schools will contact you in advance of this deadline to provide instructions for this process.
This process must be completed on time as Exam Schools charge a fee for late exam entry, as well as for any amendments to the papers that you are entered for after the Week 8 deadline has passed. This fee is imposed by the University, and the Faculty of History is unable to waive it.
2.4 | Good academic practice and avoiding plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition.
Please note that if you substantially reproduce your own written work submitted for examination (e.g., between your Methodology and Option essays and/or your dissertation), this can count as self-plagiarism. This would also be the case if you reproduce work (e.g., from an undergraduate dissertation) which has already been examined for a different degree.
Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence. For more information, see the Oxford Student’s guidance on plagiarism: www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism. The Faculty utilises plagiarism detection software when essays and dissertations are submitted, and will investigate when it has reason to believe that plagiarism may have occurred.
The University provides a number of online transferable skills courses for graduate students to study at their own pace. The set of courses includes a course on Good Practice in Citation and the Avoidance of Plagiarism and all graduate students should complete this course as part of their graduate skills training portfolio: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:skills:generic:avoidplag. If you are located outside the Oxford University computer network, you will need to set up access via the University's Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The first time you take one of the online courses, you will need to create yourself a user account following the instructions provided on the right-hand side of the page in the box titled 'Is this your first time here?'. Once you have set up a user account you can login to all the online courses by entering the username and password you have set up in the boxes provided in the 'Returning to this web site?' section.
At the end of each course, there is a quiz to test your knowledge; if successful you can save a certificate for your records.
The University has a set policy regarding the use of third-party proof-readers. The details of what is and isn’t permitted under this policy can be found here.
2.5 | Guide to submitting work
The Faculty of History uses the Inspera system for submitting formally assessed work. The University has produced a guide for submitting work via Inspera, which can be found at https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/Inspera%20-%20Student%20Guide%20v2.0.pdf.
If you have any queries regarding the submission of coursework, please contact the Graduate Office at graduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk.
2.6 | Test assignment submission
Students are given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with Inspera via a test assignment in Michaelmas Term, the deadline for which is given in section 2 of this handbook. The test involves submitting a cover sheet, and does not require any additional content – it is just to ensure that students are able to use the system prior to their first summative assessment.
If you have any questions or problems regarding the test submission, please email graduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk.
2.7 | Submission and examination dates
Please see the table in section 1.2 of your programme page.
For more detail on exam timetables, see: www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/exams/timetables.
2.8 | Examination conventions
The Examination Conventions are the formal record of the specific assessment standards for this programme. They set out how examined work will be marked and how the resulting marks will be used to arrive at a final result and classification of an award.
University scale for standardised expression of agreed final marks.
Agreed final marks for individual papers will be expressed using the following scale:
| 70 - 100 | Distinction |
| 65 - 69 | Merit |
| 50 - 64 | Pass |
| 0 - 49 | Fail |
For essays and dissertations markers will assess the submitted work according to the following criteria:
| Engagement |
|
|---|---|
| Analysis and Argument |
|
| Use of Evidence |
|
| Organisation and Presentation |
|
| Work of outstanding distinction quality: 80 and above |
Work which engages decisively, imaginatively and originally with the problem identified, displays strong analytical and conceptual power, sustains a coherent argument, deploys primary evidence skilfully and effectively. Such work will be clearly and engagingly written and presented in an impeccably lucid, correct and scholarly manner. The examiners should feel confident that a thesis at this level might be published with minimal revisions in a good, refereed scholarly journal. |
|---|---|
|
Work of a consistently high distinction quality: 75-79 |
Work which demonstrates all of the qualities stipulated above, but which contains some relative weakness in one of the areas of coverage, originality, deployment of evidence, presentation or style. |
| Excellent work that achieves distinction standard: 70-74 |
Work which demonstrates outstanding qualities of intellectual engagement with primary and secondary sources, coherence and control of argument, and impressive scope but may show relative weakness in some areas of coverage, originality, evidence, presentation or style. |
| Work of high standard: 65-69 |
The work will display some of the elements of ‘distinction quality’ work, but may be significantly flawed in either coverage or construction of argument or presentation. It will nonetheless engage well with the problem identified, display good analytical power, be well-argued and use evidence appropriately. Work at this level may entitle the candidate to a doctoral place. |
| Work of a solid, scholarly standard: 57-64 |
The work will clearly identify some relevant problem and engage well with its context, display analytical powers, and make appropriate use of evidence but will display inconsistencies and imbalances in treatment. Work at this level has the qualities of a decent pass. |
| Work of adequate scholarly standard at master’s level: 50-56 |
The work will display some analytical effectiveness and skill in constructing an argument, but this will be inconsistent, or marred by serious shortcomings in coverage, use of material, presentation or language. Work at this level is narrowly of pass quality. |
| Work which fails to reach the required standard: 49 and below |
In the upper 40s the work will display some knowledge of the issues, but with serious omissions and inaccuracies. The work may fail to define a problem adequately and/or the level of analysis and argument may be poor. The presentation and use of English may be inadequate and/or careless. A dissertation may rely too heavily on secondary literature or fail to contextualize the research material adequately. All of these issues will become progressively more evident in work achieving marks of 45 and lower. Examiners who award marks in this band must be prepared to indicate, through feedback forms or in a final report, the improvements necessary to bring the work to pass level. |
All submitted work is independently (double-blind) marked by either two members of the panel of examiners, or specialist assessors appointed in the subject area; neither of the dissertation markers can be either of the candidate’s individual supervisors.
The examiners aim at distributing the marking load in such a way that in the overall examination process at least three people are involved in marking an individual student’s submitted pieces and no individual examiner or assessor marks all three items of a given student’s work.
Where independent marks are less than 6 points apart, markers may elect to average their marks (rounded up to a full percentage point). If their independent marks are 6 or more points apart, markers are expected to reconcile their marks and submit a short explanation for their reconciliation for review by the board of examiners. Where markers are unable to agree a mark their reports and the submitted work are passed on to the external examiner for moderation.
The external examiner and the chair of the board of examiners are entitled to arrange an independent third marking if they think that would be desirable.
The external examiner shall mainly act as a moderator and shall have a deciding vote in marking decisions where the full board of examiners cannot arrive at a decision by majority vote. From time to time the external examiner may be asked to blind mark some essays or dissertations in her or his area of expertise. The external examiner has the right to inspect pieces of work submitted for examination if she or he wishes to do so.
It is not expected that circumstances would arise in which scaling would be appropriate.
There are no formal penalties for short-weight in essays or dissertations, and candidates are reminded that the word-limits are not a target, but a maximum. However, dissertations and essays which are significantly shorter than the maximum are likely to be inadequate in their coverage and content, and will be so marked. As a rough guideline, a 15,000-word dissertation would likely to be judged inadequate if it were shorter than 12,000 words.
Any penalties are imposed by the Board as a whole, not by markers; and consideration is given to their effect on a candidate’s overall classification.
The scale of penalties agreed by the board of examiners in relation to late submission of assessed items is set out below. Details of the circumstances in which such penalties might apply can be found in the Examination Regulations (Regulations for the Conduct of University Examinations, Part 14.)
| Late Submission | Penalty |
|---|---|
| After the deadline but submitted on the same day | -5 marks |
| Each additional calendar day | -1 mark |
| Max. deducted marks up to 14 days late | -18 marks |
| More than 14 calendar days after the notice of non- submission | Fail |
Failure to submit a required element of assessment will result in the failure of the assessment. The mark for any re-sit of the assessment will be capped at a pass.
The Board has agreed the following tariff of marks to be deducted for over-length work:
|
Percentage by which the maximum word count is exceeded: |
Cumulative mark penalty (up to a maximum of -10) |
|---|---|
|
Up to 5% over word limit |
-1 mark |
|
Up to 10% over |
-2 |
|
Up to 15% over |
-3 |
|
Each further 1%-5% over |
-1 further mark |
Penalties for exceeding the word limit are applied strictly, and there is no leeway for going slightly over the limit (e.g. a 5,000-word essay cannot be over 5,000 words, and a penalty will be applied if this occurs).
In the case of poor academic practice, and determined by the extent of poor academic practice, the board shall deduct between 1% and 10% of the marks available for cases of poor referencing where material is widely available factual information or a technical description that could not be paraphrased easily; where passage(s) draw on a variety of sources, either verbatim or derivative, in patchwork fashion (and examiners consider that this represents poor academic practice rather than an attempt to deceive); where some attempt has been made to provide references, however incomplete (e.g. footnotes but no quotation marks, Harvard-style references at the end of a paragraph, inclusion in bibliography); or where passage(s) are ‘grey literature’ i.e. a web source with no clear owner.
If a student has previously had marks deducted for poor academic practice or has been referred to the Proctors for suspected plagiarism the case will be referred to the Proctors. Also, where the deduction of marks results in failure of the assessment and of the programme the case will be referred to the Proctors.
In addition, any more serious cases of poor academic practice than described above will be referred to the Proctors.
2.9 | Progression rules and classification conventions
Qualitative descriptors of Distinction, Pass, Merit and Fail classifications
For qualitative descriptors please consult the mark banding descriptions in section 2.8 above.
Final outcome rules
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 20% for the Methodology Essay (core course)
- 30% for the Option essay(s)
- 50% for the dissertation
The research proposal and the annotated bibliography will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and a candidate who fails the proposal or annotated bibliography element of the assessment will be notified of such failure and also of a deadline for the submission of a revised proposal or annotated bibliography as quickly as possible.
An overall mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- A weighted average of 65 or more across all examination elements
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation
- A mark of 68 or more for at least one examination element (including the dissertation)
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- A weighted average of 70 or more across all examination elements
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation
- A mark of 68 or more for at least one examination element other than the dissertation
- No marks below 57
Consolidated marks below 50 on the dissertation and of 45 or lower in any of the other elements of the examination count as failure and cannot normally be compensated for by other marks.
Merit classifications were introduced for the 2018/19 academic year, and are intended to reflect strong performance throughout the year by candidates who have not met the requirements for a Distinction, and who have submitted at least one piece of summative work that is close to Distinction level.
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 10% for the Methodology Essay (core course)
- 15% for the first Option essay
- 15% for the Writing History Essay
- 15% for second Option essay
- 45% for the Dissertation
The research proposal and the annotated bibliography will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and a candidate who fails the proposal or annotated bibliography element of the assessment will be notified of such failure and also of a deadline for the submission of a revised proposal or annotated bibliography as quickly as possible.
An overall mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- A weighted average of 65 or more across all examination elements
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation
- Either a mark of 68 or more for at least two of the four examination elements other than the dissertation OR a mark of 68 or more for the dissertation
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- A weighted average of 70 or more across all examination elements
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation
- A mark of 70 or more for at least two of the four examination elements other than the dissertation.
- No marks below 57
Consolidated marks below 50 on the dissertation and of 45 or lower in any of the other elements of the examination count as failure and cannot normally be compensated for by other marks.
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 20% for the Concepts & Themes essay
- 30% for the Advanced Option essay
- 50% for the Dissertation
Marks of 50 or better in at least two elements, one of which will normally be the dissertation, are required for a Pass, provided that the average mark across all elements does not fall below 50, and that an agreed mark of 45 or lower in any of the elements of the examination counts as failure and cannot be compensated for by other marks.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 65 or more across the three components (Concepts & Themes essay, Advanced Option essay, and Dissertation)
- Marks of 65 or more for at least two of the components
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 70 or more across the three components (Concepts & Themes essay, Advanced Option essay, and Dissertation)
- Marks of 70 or more for at least two of the components, one of which will normally be the Dissertation
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 30% for each of the two advanced papers
- 40% for the dissertation
The qualifying courses will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and will not be included in the final weighting of the degree result.
As stated in the Regulations, all candidates must achieve a Pass in the qualifying courses. An average mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 65 or higher
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the advanced papers
- No marks below 52
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 70 or higher
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the advanced papers
- No marks below 57
Consolidated marks below 50 on the dissertation and of 47 or lower in any of the other elements of the examination count as failure and cannot normally be compensated for by other marks.
Merit classifications were introduced for the 2018/19 academic year, and are intended to reflect strong performance throughout the year by candidates who have not met the requirements for a Distinction.
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate, examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 15% for each of the four Advanced Papers
- 40% for the Dissertation
The qualifying courses will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and will not be included in the final weighting of the degree result
As stated in the Regulations, all candidates must achieve a Pass in the qualifying courses. An average mark of 50 or higher on the advanced papers and the dissertation is required for a Pass (provided that an agreed mark of 45 or lower in half or more of the advanced papers counts as a failure and cannot be compensated for by the other marks). A dissertation mark of 49 or lower cannot normally be compensated for by better marks in the advanced papers.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 65 or higher
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Advanced Papers
- No marks below 52
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 70 or higher
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Advanced Papers
- No marks below 57
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 30% for each of the two Option Papers
- 40% for the Dissertation
The qualifying course will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and will not be included in the final weighting of the degree result.
An average mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 65 or higher
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Option Papers
- No marks below 52
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 70 or higher
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Option Papers
- No marks below 57
Consolidated marks below 50 on the dissertation and of 47 or lower in any of the other elements of the examination count as failure and cannot normally be compensated for by other marks.
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
- 15% for each of the four Option Papers
- 40% for the Dissertation
The qualifying course will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis only, and will not be included in the final weighting of the degree result.
As stated in the Regulations, all candidates must achieve a Pass in the qualifying course. An average mark of 50 or higher on the Option Papers and the dissertation is required for a Pass (provided that an agreed mark of 45 or lower in half or more of the Option Papers counts as a failure and cannot be compensated for by the other marks). A dissertation mark of 49 or lower cannot normally be compensated for by better marks in the Option Papers.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 65 or higher
- A mark of 65 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Option Papers
- No marks below 52
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
- An average mark of 70 or higher
- A mark of 70 or more for the dissertation and for at least half of the Option Papers
- No marks below 57
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the Examiners give equal weight to each component of the examination – namely pair of core essays, timed papers, and Special Subject dissertation (if any) or the two essays substituted for it.
An overall mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass. An agreed mark of 45 or lower for any component of the examination counts as a failure and cannot be compensated for in any other the other components.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
EITHER:
- Two agreed marks of 65 or higher
- No marks below 52
OR
- One agreed mark of 65 or higher
- No marks below 63
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
EITHER:
- Two agreed marks of 70 or higher
- No marks below 57
OR
- One agreed mark of 70 or higher
- No marks below 68
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Final outcome rules
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance the examiners will weigh the assessment elements as follows:
In assessing a candidate’s overall performance, the Examiners give equal weight to the following components of the examination – each pair of core essays, each three-hour timed paper or combination of timed papers lasting three hours, each Special Subject dissertation (if any) or pair of essays substituted for it. The 30,000-word thesis is counted as equivalent to three of the above components of the examination.
An overall mark of 50 or higher is required for a Pass. Agreed marks below 50 on the thesis and of 45 or lower for any two other components of the examination count as a failure and cannot be compensated for in any other the other components.
For a Merit, the following criteria must be met:
EITHER:
- An agreed mark of 65 or higher for the thesis
- Marks of 65 or higher for two components of the examination other than the thesis
- No marks below 52
OR
- An agreed mark of 60 or higher for the thesis
- Marks of 65 or higher for all four non-thesis components of the examination
For a Distinction, the following criteria must be met:
EITHER:
- An agreed mark of 70 or higher for the thesis
- Marks of 70 or higher for two components of the examination other than the thesis
- No marks below 57
OR
- An agreed mark of 65 or higher for the thesis
- Marks of 70 or higher for all four non-thesis components of the examination
Review of marks and classification are not mechanical processes, and in their final meeting the panel of examiners shall be bound solely by their academic judgement. Candidates who have initially failed any element of the examination will not be eligible for the award of a Distinction or Merit. Where appropriate examiners will take account of external factors (such as a candidate’s illness) if notified by the candidate’s college through the proper channels of such circumstances.
Progression rules & Use of vivas
Not applicable
Resits
A candidate who fails the examination will be permitted to retake it on one further occasion only, not later than one year after the initial attempt. Marks for any element that has been successfully completed at the first attempt may be carried forward, and therefore it will only be necessary for students to re-sit the failed element(s).
Consideration of mitigating circumstances
A candidate’s final outcome will first be considered using the classification rules/final outcome rules as described above in section 4. The exam board will then consider any further information they have on individual circumstances, as well as on the whole cohort.
Candidates may make a submission under Part 13 of the Regulations for Conduct of University Examinations, that unforeseen circumstances may have had an impact on their performance in an examination. A subset of the board (the ‘Mitigating Circumstances Panel’) will meet to discuss the individual applications and band the seriousness of each application on a scale of 1-3 with 1 indicating minor impact, 2 indicating moderate impact, and 3 indicating very serious impact. The Panel will evaluate, on the basis of the information provided to it, the relevance of the circumstances to examinations and assessment, and the strength of the evidence provided in support. Examiners will also note whether all or a subset of papers were affected, being aware that it is possible for circumstances to have different levels of impact on different papers. The banding information will be used at the final board of examiners meeting to decide whether and how to adjust a candidate’s results.
2.10 | Details of Examiners and rules on communicating with Examiners
Candidates must not under any circumstances seek to make contact with individual internal or external examiners about matters concerning their examination. Any questions concerning their examination should be directed in the first instance to the History Faculty Graduate Office.
2.11 | Release of Results
Results are not released to candidates until after the end of the academic year, once the Board of Examiners has met to ratify marks and degree classifications. The Board of Examiners typically meets in July (September for MSc programmes), and the Faculty is unable to inform candidates of their results before this meeting has taken place.
