Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER III
pp. 241–243
EXAMINATIONS

In this section

ALLOWANCES TO CANDIDATES FOR EXAMINATIONS

1. The Council shall have power:

  1. (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. (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.

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 the heading:

The following, who are not candidates for honours, have satisfied the Examiners.

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. (i)allow the candidate leave to have disregarded such terms as are necessary in order to put the candidate in standing to take the same examination on a future occasion, as specified by the Council;
  3. or(ii)to make the candidate whichever of the following allowances they may consider appropriate:
  4. allow the candidate the examination;
  5. declare the candidate to have attained the honours standard;
  6. or(iii)if the candidate is a candidate for Part II, Part IIa or Part IIb of a Tripos, to declare the candidate to have deserved the Ordinary B.A. Degree.
  7. or(iv)to put the candidate in standing to proceed as a candidate for another examination, where the candidate would not otherwise be of such standing.
  8. (b)If the candidate has been absent from part of the examination
  9. (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;
  10. or(ii)to make the candidate whichever of the allowances specified in (a) they may consider appropriate.
  11. (c)If the candidate has attended the whole of the examination and has failed
  12. to make the candidate whichever of the allowances specified in (a) they may consider appropriate.
  13. (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
  14. (i)to remove the candidate's name from the class concerned and to declare the candidate to have deserved honours;
  15. or(ii)to authorize the Chair of Examiners, or a deputy appointed by the Chair 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 Chair 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.
  16. (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 Chair of Examiners, or a deputy appointed by the Chair 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 Chair 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.

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

5. The Council shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, normally make an allowance to a candidate for the B.A. Degree of an examination under Regulation 3 on more than one occasion, save that, for the purpose of this regulation, an allowance under Regulation 3(a)(i) shall not be regarded as such an allowance.

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.

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 Chair of Examiners or the Senior Examiner may on the application of the candidate’s Tutor grant a brief extension to a specified date by which the work shall be submitted. A dissertation, thesis, or essay submitted later than the date specified by the Chair of Examiners or the Senior Examiner, or in the regulation concerned if no extension has been granted, 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), 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 for Allowances to Candidates for Examinations: Notice

The Council has given notice (Reporter, 2010–11, p. 903)1 of the procedure required by it when dealing with applications under these regulations:

  1. (i)No application is considered unless it is submitted by the candidate’s Tutor.
  2. (ii)An application must state under which regulation or regulations it is made.
  3. (iii)An allowance made under Regulation 1(b) or 3(a)(i) 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 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. The Council’s Standing Committee on Applications may determine which type of certificate it requires in relation to applications under particular regulations.
  5. (v)An application must include a detailed statement of reasons and be accompanied by copies of all supervision reports.
  6. (vi)An application 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.
  7. (vii)The Council is not empowered to give permission for a candidate to offer a combination of papers, whether 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.
  8. (viii)The Council shall authorize its Standing Committee on Applications to issue notes on the procedures adopted by that Committee in its consideration, on behalf of the Council, of applications for allowances under these regulations.

Footnotes

  1. 1. Amended by Notice (Reporter, 2012–13, p. 194).a