Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER III
EXAMINATIONS

In this section

ALLOWANCES TO CANDIDATES FOR EXAMINATIONS

1. The Council shall have power:

  1. Candidature despite Ordinance.
    (a)to admit to candidature for an examination or for a University Studentship, Scholarship, Exhibition, Prize, or Medal, a person who is not qualified by Ordinance to be a candidate, and
  2. Leave to degrade.
    (b)to determine that for the purposes of candidature for an examination or competition one or more terms may be disregarded in reckoning the standing of a particular candidate.
Anomalous candidature.

2. No person who is not qualified by Ordinance, or under the foregoing regulation, or by special Grace, shall be admitted to an examination leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate, except with the approval of the Council who shall have power to determine the conditions of such admission and the fee, if any, to be paid for such admission. The name of a candidate admitted under this regulation to an Honours Examination shall, if he or she satisfies the Examiners, be published in a separate list under one of the following headings:

The following, who are not candidates for honours,

  1. have satisfied the Examiners, or
  2. have been granted an allowance towards the Ordinary B.A. Degree.1
Powers of the Council;

3. The Council, on satisfactory evidence supplied by a candidate's Tutor that the candidate has been hindered by illness or other grave cause in preparing for or taking any University examination, except one for which candidates are required to be Graduate Students or one leading to the M.B., B.Chir. Degrees, or the Vet.M.B. Degree, shall have power, when they think fit.

  1. (a)If the candidate has been absent from the whole examination
  2. to give leave to degrade,
    (i)to give the candidate leave to degrade, including leave, where required, to take the same examination;
  3. to make allowances,
    or(ii)to make the candidate whichever of the following allowances they may consider appropriate:
  4. allow the candidate the examination;
  5. allow the candidate one or, where that is consistent with the regulations for the Ordinary B.A. Degree, two Ordinary Examinations;
  6. declare the candidate to have attained the honours standard.
  7. (b)If the candidate has been absent from part of the examination
  8. to delegate decisions to Examiners,
    (i)to authorize the Examiners to declare the candidate to have deserved honours or to have deserved to have passed the examination, whichever is appropriate; provided that the Examiners shall not make that declaration unless they judge the candidate to have performed with credit in a substantial part of the examination and unless they either are unable to include the candidate in the list of successful candidates or would otherwise have to award the candidate a class that would in their opinion misrepresent his or her abilities;
  9. to make allowances.
    or(ii)to make the candidate whichever of the allowances specified in (a) they may consider appropriate.
  10. (c)If the candidate has attended the whole of the examination and has failed
  11. to make the candidate whichever of the allowances specified in (a) they may consider appropriate.
  12. (d)If the candidate has attended the whole or part of the examination and has obtained honours by the inclusion of his or her name in one of the classes
  13. (i)to remove the candidate's name from the class concerned and to declare the candidate to have deserved honours;
  14. or(ii)to authorize the Chairman of Examiners, or a deputy appointed by the Chairman from among the Examiners, to move the candidate's name to a higher class, provided that such an amendment shall not be made unless the Chairman of Examiners or deputy, after consulting at least two other Examiners, is satisfied that the candidate has performed at the standard of the higher class in all but a relatively small part of the examination.
  15. (e)If the candidate has attended part of the examination and has been declared to have deserved honours in accordance with (b)(i)

to authorize the Chairman of Examiners, or a deputy appointed by the Chairman from among the Examiners, to include the candidate's name in one of the classes, provided that such an amendment shall not be made unless the Chairman of Examiners or deputy, after consulting at least two other Examiners, is satisfied that the candidate has performed at the standard of the class concerned in all but a relatively small part of the examination.

Honours by allowance.

4. When the Council allow a candidate an examination which is an Honours Examination, such a candidate shall thereby have obtained honours therein.

Restriction of allowances.

5. The Council shall not make an allowance under Regulation 3 on more than one occasion to a candidate for the Ordinary B.A. Degree.

Publication of allowances.

6. The names of students to whom the Council make allowances under Regulation 3 (other than under sub-paragraph (b)(i)) shall not be appended to the lists of successful candidates for the examinations for which they were severally entered, but shall be published by the Registrary.

Deferment of essays, etc.

7. Where the regulations for an Honours Examination or for a Preliminary Examination provide for a candidate to submit by a specified date a dissertation, thesis, or essay, either in addition to the written papers or in substitution for one or more of them, the Council may on the application of the candidate's Tutor grant a brief extension to a specified date by which the work shall be submitted, provided that the reasons given in the application are deemed by them to be sufficient, and that the Chairman of the Examiners concurs in such extension. A dissertation, thesis, or essay submitted later than the date specified by the Council, or in the regulation concerned if no extension has been granted by the Council, shall not be accepted.

8. In the case of a candidate who has been declared to have deserved honours under Regulation 3(b)(i) or 3(d)(i), at the request of the candidate the following statement shall be appended to any certificate issued by the Registrary relating to that examination:

This candidate, who was absent from part of the examination for good cause, performed with credit in a substantial part of it. In accordance with the University's regulations the authorities concerned are of the opinion that it would be unfair to classify the candidate on the basis of the incomplete performance since they believe that this would not adequately represent the candidate's attainment. They have accordingly agreed to declare the candidate to have deserved honours in this examination.

Leave under Regulation 1 for Allowances to Candidates for Examinations: Notice

The Council have given notice (Reporter, 1972–73, p. 748) of the procedure required by them when dealing with applications under this regulation:

  1. (i)No application is considered unless it is submitted by the candidate's Tutor.
  2. (ii)An application must state under which section, (a) or (b) or exceptionally both, of the regulation it is made. The application should be made, and will be considered, under section (b) (that is, the section concerned with leave to degrade) unless no question of disregarding a term or terms is involved or unless it is for leave under both sections.
  3. (iii)Leave to degrade under Regulation 1(b) is normally granted in respect of the three terms of an academical year. Exceptionally it may be granted in respect of the terms of more than one academical year.
  4. (iv)An application under Regulation 1(b) made on medical grounds must be supported by a certificate, preferably given by a doctor practising in or near Cambridge or by a counsellor from the University Counselling Service.
  5. (v)An application under Regulation 1(b) not made on medical grounds, especially when it is in respect of the three terms of an academical year that have been kept by residence, must include a detailed statement of reasons and must be accompanied by copies of all supervision reports.
  6. (vi)An application under Regulation 1(a) for exemption from an academic condition for taking a particular examination is not normally approved unless the Faculty Board or similar body concerned have given their concurrence, and that concurrence is indispensable in the case of examinations forming part of the requirements for a professional qualification.

Note. Tutors are reminded that:

  1. (a)The Council are not empowered to give permission for a candidate to offer a combination of papers, either within one examination or from more than one examination, which is not provided for by Ordinance or by regulations made under Ordinance. Permission to offer a non-standard combination of papers can be given only by the General Board; such permission will not be granted unless the Faculty Board or other authority concerned are in agreement.
  2. (b)A candidate's absence for one or more terms does not always give rise to a need for him or her to degrade. Before an application under Regulation 1(b) is submitted, the regulations for the examination that the candidate wishes to take should be consulted for confirmation that an application is needed.

Footnotes

  1. 1. The second heading applies only to persons who are candidates for that degree.a