Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER IV
pp. 351–353
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS AND TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

The provisions contained in this Chapter are Regulations of the General Board

In this section

TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

HISTORY AND POLITICS TRIPOS1

Amended by Notice (Reporter, 2016–17, p. 781)

General

Three Parts.

1. The History and Politics Tripos shall consist of three Parts: Part Ia, Part Ib, and Part II. A separate class-list shall be published for each Part.

2. The Faculty Board of History shall be responsible for the Tripos and shall be advised by a Committee of Management for the Tripos which shall comprise such representatives of the Faculties of History and of Human, Social, and Political Science and which will have such responsibilities as the two Faculty Boards shall determine, and which shall report to both Faculty Boards.

Examiners and Assessors.

3. On the recommendation of the Committee of Management, the Faculty Board of History shall nominate a Chair of Examiners and such number of Examiners and Assessors for each Part of the Tripos, as they shall deem sufficient, provided that the Chair, Examiners, and Assessors may be appointed to examine in more than one Part of the Tripos. If required to do so, Assessors shall set papers in the subject or subjects assigned to them, shall mark the answers of the candidates in these papers, shall assess dissertations, and shall present written reports to the Examiners. Assessors may be summoned to meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.

Supplementary regulations.

4. The Faculty Board may from time to time make supplementary regulations defining all or any of the subjects and specified texts of examination, and may modify, alter, or withdraw such supplementary regulations as they see fit, as advised by the Committee of Management, due care being taken that sufficient notice is given of any changes.

Notice of variable subjects.

5. Before the end of the Easter Term each year the Faculty Board shall give notice of the variable subjects for the examinations to be held in the academical year next following; provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and if they are satisfied that no student’s preparation for the examination is adversely affected. The Board shall have power when they give notice of variable subjects to announce any restriction on the combination of papers that a candidate may offer.

6. The questions proposed by each Examiner and Assessor shall be submitted for approval to the whole body of Examiners for the Part of the Tripos concerned.

Class-lists.

7. Separate meetings shall be held of all the Examiners for each Part, at which the respective class-lists shall be drawn up. In each class-list the names of candidates who deserve honours shall be placed in three classes, of which the second shall be divided into two divisions. The names in the first and third classes, and in each division of the second class, shall be arranged in alphabetical order. Those candidates placed in the first class whose work is of special merit shall be awarded a mark of distinction.

8. No student shall be a candidate for more than one Part, or any Part and also for another Honours examination in the same term.

9. No student who has been a candidate for any Part shall again be a candidate for the same Part.

10. A candidate shall not offer in any Part of the Tripos a paper that he or she has previously offered in another University examination.

Part Ia

Standing of candidates.

11. The following may present themselves as candidates for honours in Part Ia:

  1. (a)a student who has not obtained honours in another Honours examination, provided that he or she has kept one term and that three complete terms have not passed after the student’s first term of residence;
  2. (b)a student who has obtained honours in another Honours examination, in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept seven terms and that nine complete terms have not passed after the student’s first term of residence.
Scheme of examination for Part Ia.

12. The scheme of examination for Part Ia shall be:

Section A

  1. (i)Evidence and argument (Paper HP1);
  1. (ii)The modern state and its alternatives (Paper POL1 of Part I of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos);
  1. (iii)International conflict, order, and justice (Paper POL2 of Part I of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos).

Section B

Papers from Sections B and D from Part I of the Historical Tripos as follows:

  1. (i)British political history, 1688–1886 (Paper 5);
  1. (ii)British political history, since 1880 (Paper 6);
  1. (iii)European history, 1715–1890 (Paper 17);
  1. (iv)European history, since 1890 (Paper 18).

A candidate for Part Ia shall be required to offer the three papers listed in Section A and one further paper from Section B.

Each paper shall be of three hours’ duration except HP1. The examination for HP1 shall consist of a written paper of one and a half hours’ duration and the submission of an essay of not more than 4,000 words. The Faculty Board of History shall publish prescribed titles or subjects for the essay by the division of Lent Term. The essay shall be submitted, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, no later than the third Thursday of Full Easter Term.

Part Ib

Standing of candidates.

13. The following may present themselves as candidates for honours in Part Ib:

a student who has obtained honours in Part Ia of the Tripos in the next year after so obtaining honours.

Scheme of examination for Part Ib.

14. The scheme of examination for Part Ib shall be as follows:

Section A

  1. (i)The history of political thought to c. 1700 (Paper 19 of Part I of the Historical Tripos);
  1. (ii)The history of political thought from c. 1700 to c. 1890 (Paper 20 of Part I of the Historical Tripos).

Section B

  1. (i)International organization (Paper POL3 of Part II of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos);
  1. (ii)Comparative politics (Paper POL4 of Part II of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos).

Section C

Papers from Sections C, F, and G from Part I of the Historical Tripos as follows:

  1. (i)British economic and social history, 1700–1880 (Paper 10);
  1. (ii)British economic and social history, since c. 1880 (Paper 11);
  1. (iii)World history since 1914 (Paper 23);
  1. (iv)The history of the United States from 1865 (Paper 24).

Section D

  1. (i)Conceptual issues in politics and international relations (Paper POL5 of Part II of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos);
  1. (ii)Statistics and economic methods (Paper HP2);
  1. (iii)Historical project (Paper HP3).

A candidate for Part Ib shall be required to offer one paper from each section.

Each paper shall be of three hours’ duration except POL5 and HP3. The examination for POL5 shall consist of the submission of two essays each of not more than 5,000 words. The examination for HP3 shall consist of the submission of two essays of no fewer than 3,000 and not more than 5,000 words each. The Faculty Board of History shall publish prescribed titles or subjects for essays by the beginning of the Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination concerned. The two essays shall be typewritten and submitted, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, not later than the first Thursday of Full Lent Term and Full Easter Term respectively.

Part II

Standing of candidates.

15. The following may present themselves as candidates for Part II:

  1. (a)a student who has obtained honours in Part Ib of the Tripos in the year next after so obtaining honours, provided that the student has kept seven terms and twelve complete terms have not passed since her or his first term of residence;
  2. (b)a student who has obtained honours in Part I of the Historical Tripos in the next year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has taken either Paper 19 or Paper 20 in Part I of that Tripos;
  3. (c)a student who has obtained honours in Part IIa of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos, provided that he or she has taken either Paper POL7 or Paper POL8 in that Tripos.
Scheme of examination for Part II.

16. A candidate for Part II shall be required to offer Paper HP4 and either three papers from Sections B–C or two papers from Sections B–C and a dissertation.

Section A

  1. (i)General themes and issues (Paper HP4).

Section B

  1. (i)The history of political thought from c. 1700 to c. 1890 (Paper 4 of Part II of the Historical Tripos);
  1. (ii)Political philosophy and the history of political thought since c. 1890 (Paper 5 of Part II of the Historical Tripos);
  1. (iii)States between states: the history of international political thought from the Roman empire to the early nineteenth century (Paper 6 of Part II of the Historical Tripos).

Section C

  1. (i)Variable papers, approved by the Committee of Management, on subjects in politics and international relations specified by the Faculty Board of Human, Social, and Political Science for Parts IIa and IIb of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos and on topics or comparative themes in history specified by the Faculty Board of History for Part II of the Historical Tripos.
  1. Dissertations.
    (a)A candidate for Part II who wishes to offer a dissertation under this regulation shall submit an application, including the title of the proposed dissertation and a statement of the scheme of papers to be offered in examination. Applications, signed by the candidate’s Director of Studies, shall be submitted to the Faculty of History so as to arrive not later than the division of the Easter Term next preceding the examination. Applications submitted after that date will be considered by the Faculty Board only in the most exceptional circumstances.
  1. (b)Each candidate shall obtain the approval of the proposed title by the Faculty Board not later than the last day of August preceding the examination. When the Faculty Board have approved a title, no change shall be made to it without the further approval of the Board. A candidate may submit a revised title no later than the division of the Lent Term; titles submitted after that date will be considered by the Board only in the most exceptional circumstances.
  2. (c)A dissertation shall be not less than 10,000 words and not more than 15,000 words in length, shall show knowledge of primary sources if on a historical subject, and shall give full reference to all sources used. Each dissertation shall be typewritten, with proper attention to style and presentation in accordance with detailed guidelines issued by the Faculty Board. Candidates will be required to provide a brief synopsis of the contents of the dissertation, and to declare that the dissertation is their own original work and that it does not contain material already used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose.
  3. (d)A dissertation shall be submitted in accordance with arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, so as to arrive not later than the first Thursday of the Full Easter Term in which the examination is to be held.
  4. (e)A candidate may be called for viva voce examination on her or his dissertation and on the general field of knowledge within which it falls.

Footnotes

  1. 1. The examination for Part Ia only will be held for the first time in 2018.a