Cambridge Exams for Newcomers
Overview
The assessment of courses in Cambridge is primarily by examinations held towards the end of the academic year rather than by credit gained by continuous assessment throughout the year or by assessments at the end of each term. While some credit may be gained in certain subjects from the marking of compulsory practicals (lab) reports and similar work submitted during the year, the marks allotted tend to be a small percentage of the final course mark. You will be told just how much credit is given for such work at your departmental inductions at the start of the year. Hence the examinations are crucial in the Cambridge system.
The key to a good result in Cambridge is steady work throughout the year, with consolidation of courses and knowledge during the Christmas and Easter vacations, and not by cramming shortly before the examinations! As often is the case, it is necessary to understand something before trying to remember it, and this understanding should be worked at throughout the year.
The Tripos System
The assessment in Cambridge is primarily by the Tripos examinations, the majority (but not all) of which are held during a three-week period after the end of the lecture courses in the Easter Term, i.e. commencing in late May. The timetable is published annually each April as "Orders of Examinations" in a special number of the Reporter (www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter).
Note: third-year Engineers start examinations at the start of the Easter Term, i.e. late April.
The name Tripos is historical. According to the Oxford English Dictionary:
A bachelor of arts appointed to dispute, in a humorous or satirical style, with the candidates for degrees at 'Commencement' (corresponding to the TERRÆ FILIUS at Oxford): so called from the three-legged stool on which he sat.
Examination entries and changing exam entries during the academic year
You will be entered (registered) for the Tripos examinations by your College and you will be asked to verify your entry, possibly on several occasions, and it is essential that you do so in order to ensure that you are entered for the correct papers.
If you want to change courses or papers at any stage during the year, it is essential that you discuss this fully with your Director of Studies and then ensure that your College's Tutorial Office is informed (in writing via email).
Structure of papers
It is essential to ensure that you are familiar with the styles of all papers for which you are entered (and they may well differ even within the same department). Check the number of questions to be answered and also the expected length of time per question (which can vary for questions in different sections even on the same paper), as well as the time allowed for completion of the entire paper. Find out whether or not there is an additional short reading period (e.g. 10 minutes in some engineering examinations) at the start of the examination and prior to being allowed to start writing answers.
Use of past papers
This is regarded as essential preparation and awareness early in the academic year of the types of questions is very helpful. Papers from past years are available on-line from faculty websites, in libraries and, in some cases, as booklets from departments. Do check that the past papers are still applicable since courses can change over the years (and have done so recently in Engineering). In practice, it is seldom worthwhile going back more than about five or six years.
When familiar with a course, and in order to get a feel for what examinations here are like, try doing a past paper in a continuous stint, timed to be equivalent to that of the examination itself. It will seem quite different from doing an equivalent number of questions at separate times. Ask your supervisors to look at and give you feedback on how to improve your answers. It is not only important whether or not a question is correctly answered but also whether you used the time well and so presented your answer in an appropriate way to gain maximum credit
Planning your revision time
We all revise and prepare in different ways so what follows in this and the next section is merely to provide some ideas. What is non-controversial is that understanding of materials should be undertaken throughout the academic year and not left to a period just before the examinations. The terms are intense and most students need and use the vacations to review the topics presented in the preceding term and to ensure they understand the material covered. Attempting examination questions from early on in the academic year can help you gain experience not only of the subject matter but also the approaches needed to answer questions successfully in your own subjects.
The Easter vacation is used by students to prepare for the exams which follow in the Easter term. A break from work for a week or so during this period can be beneficial to get a rest from intense academic studies but do use a substantial part of the vacation for studying.
Revising
Do become fully familiar with and knowledgeable about the syllabus for the course, what actually was covered in the lectures, the structure of examination papers and the variety/distribution of questions on each paper. This will help you decide what topics are important to cover prior to the exams and so will help to structure and focus your revision plans. In the Humanities (and so relevant to HASS papers), the precise lecture content may be slightly less important than topics identified from the course syllabus, past questions and discussions with your supervisors; your past essays and notes may have a greater role to play in revision of such subjects.
In addition to practising timed questions and ensuring your supervisor provides feedback on these (see Use of Past Papers above), you can also practise by doing plans for answers since that allows you to attempt a greater range of questions. Such outlines should be brief – a quick plan that might take about three or four minutes so that it is equivalent to the time that you might spend in an examination preparing how you would answer a particular question.
Continued…
Planning answers may be an exercise you wish to include in supervisions, with the agreement of your supervision partners. Alternatively, you can do so informally over coffee. Either approach is beneficial in that you will see how others approach questions and plan answers. But do remember that it is not a competition to make either of you feel superior – use the time to work cooperatively together and learn from each other.
Preparation for the examinations
Find out, e.g. from your department's teaching office, just what can be taken into each examination, e.g. University approved calculators (rather than any model) which need to be purchased and approved well before the examination period starts. It also is sensible to use such a calculator as part of your overall revision so that you are thoroughly familiar and comfortable with its operation.
Check out too what is provided, e.g. data books/sheets. If the latter are provided, become thoroughly conversant with their contents well beforehand since it is very frustrating to end an examination only to find the information you desperately required to attempt an answer was actually contained in such a data book!
Ensure you know where and when each examination is to be held (the location may vary). Do not just look up the location on a map but actually go there to ensure you really do know where it is, how long it takes to get there, and also, where the relevant entrance is if it is a large building.
In the examination
Start by reading the exam paper all the way through, and thinking about which questions you might want to do. The examination may with a short period (10 minutes) for reading after which the invigilator tells you that you can commence writing (this is the case for engineering third-year modules but may not apply to other examinations).
If there is a question that looks as if something is incorrect (e.g. part of an equation is missing), particularly strange or if sufficient information does not appear to have been given, an examiner is present for the first half hour or so and also can be contacted subsequently by the invigilator. The examiner can be asked to confirm whether or not there has been a mistake; you are not penalised for asking but do not do so frivolously!
Once you have identified the questions that you wish to attempt, start planning and then writing answers. Decide the order you wish to attempt questions and the time you can spend on each answer – leaving some time uncommitted for checking your work just before the end of the exam and/or for unexpected contingencies. Stick to the allotted time for each answer.
You have unlimited spare paper, so use it for a few minutes per question to plan your answers or to jot down rough notes. Then start writing.
Think about the presentation of your answers so that it is clear how you are structuring them. Headings can help, as can bullet points in simply factual answers or if you are running out of time. [Check out the use of bullet points with your supervisors prior to the examinations since the acceptance of this approach can vary across different subjects.]
Write legibly! If an examiner cannot read what you have written, or struggles to do so, you are unlikely to receive the credit that might be given to you had your writing been clearer. You can cross out sentences or even sections without being penalised – just make it clear.
Results
The results for Cambridge students are posted on boards outside the Senate House on dates which are published in the Reporter (www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter) in the Easter Term and which also can be obtained from your College Tutorial Office. The date for a given subject is typically one to three weeks after the end of the examinations for that subject.
The classes or grades used are 1st (top grade), 2:1 (upper second), 2:2 (lower second) or 3rd. However, your results may not be included with those posted on boards outside the Senate House if you are not following a conventional, full course here (which is the case for many MIT students who also may be undertaking HASS requirements). Do not be concerned as your College will be provided with your marks on each paper in due course although this may take about a week longer (and, again, the dates are provided in advance to College Tutorial Offices). You will not be given the breakdown of marks for each question on a paper.
No attempt is being made to convert class or the marks obtained into MIT grades. The two educational and assessment approaches are sufficiently different to make such a conversion difficult and, in some instances, invidious. The amount of credit you will be given by MIT for the courses you are talking here should already be known to you; if not known, consult the MIT Faculty in which are intending to major or the CMI Offices. An appropriate transcript will be sent to MIT at the end of the academic year.
Stress and illness
The examination period, and the build up to it, can be very stressful and some Cambridge students may get quite worked up! Do not get yourself in such a state! Talk to friends and be aware of how to relax. There also are excellent guides, available on line, from the University Counselling Service on stress as well as a work-related series.
If you are really ill (rather than just not 100 % well) on the day of an examination, contact your College's Tutorial Office prior to the start of the examination who then will give you advice and also inform the relevant examination office. Regrettably there is no mechanism in Cambridge to take examinations at times other than those set. In some case of illness, it may be possible to delay the start of your examination by a few hours (occasionally even overnight) and, in such an instance, you would be kept in isolation in your College and then take the examination in a room in College.
CUSU provides confidential, free, non-judgemental support and information to individual students. Contact the CUSU Education Officer, Welfare Officer or Women's Officer by email, phone or by dropping into the office if you would like support or information on any topic.