Annual Report of the Board of Graduate Studies for 2008–09

The Board of Graduate Studies beg leave to report to the Council as follows:

This report covers:

(A)the business of the Board of Graduate Studies (BGS) conducted during the academical year 2008–09 in response to external bodies, recommendations concerning policy matters and changes to the portfolio of graduate courses;

(B)Graduate admissions and continuation data for entry in the academic year 2008–09;

(C)Census data taken in May 2009 concerning graduate students on the register;

(D)Studentships and Funding data for the academic year 2008–09;

(E)Graduate examination data for the academic year 2008–09.

The references Mxxxx are to minutes of Board of Graduate Studies meetings (see http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/committee/gradstud/minutes/).

A Business transacted at Board of Graduate Studies meetings

A1 External Developments

Points Based Immigration System for Cambridge graduate students

Tier 4 of the Points Based Immigration System commenced on 31 March 2009. All students requiring a new or extended visa are now officially sponsored by the University. The Board noted the new requirements, and agreed that for visa purposes the course length of the Ph.D. should be set at 48 months, and for the M.Phil. it should be 12 months (24 months for two-year M.Phils.). M3361

The Board agreed to advise overseas students that if they applied later than four months before the start date of the course there could be no guarantee that their visa applications would be processed in time for them to attend the start of the course. Applications received after this date may be refused. M3383

The Board approved proposals for compliance with statutory monitoring and reporting requirements and agreed that the mechanism for monitoring attendance during the summer vacation should be determined in consultation with the Colleges. They advised Degree Committees that every effort should be made to ensure that examinations were held prior to the expiration of students’ entry clearance to the UK. M3302

A2 Academic developments

(a) Graduate supervision

The Board were made aware of concerns regarding the quality of graduate supervision from various sources, notably the University Counselling Service in a report, the ESRC and QAA following visits, and student opinion as revealed by the 2007 Postgraduate Experience Survey. A working group set up to examine the issues recommended that the Code of Practice be shortened to focus on supervision, examinations, and complaints, and that Departments be required formally to adopt relevant sections of the Code. M3302, M3339

(b) Plagiarism

The Board asked Degree Committees to incorporate the University’s statement on plagiarism, including any local requirements, into course handbooks; and recommended that it be introduced as part of student induction programmes. M3302

(c) Use of undergraduate Master’s-level courses in taught postgraduate qualifications

The attention of the Board was drawn to the large variety of taught courses at Master’s level, including both graduate courses (M.Phil., M.Res., M.St.) and advanced undergraduate courses (e.g. M.Sci., M.Math.). In the light of increasing pressure to provide Master’s level courses as part of a ‘1 + 3’ Integrated Doctoral Programme, the Board were asked to approve the sharing of any Master’s-level courses or papers, including those designated as advanced undergraduate, as part of any taught Master’s programme. Some issues would need to be addressed, for example differential marking schemes and supervision arrangements. The Board for their part agreed that the recommendation was acceptable in principle. M3383

(d) Other academic developments

The Board approved the proposed constitution of the Degree Committee for Politics, Psychology, Sociology, and International Studies. M3339.

The Board approved a change to the constitution of the Degree Committee of the Faculty of Biology to permit a member of the Degree Committee to be appointed by the Faculties of Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. M3373

The Board approved new diplomas and certificates to be awarded by the Institute of Continuing Education. M3373, M3383

(e) Reports received

Religion and Belief Equality Policy and Guidance for Students M3326

Student Admissions Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

A3 Degrees

(a) Higher degrees

During the year, the Board awarded eight Sc.D. Degrees, six Litt.D. Degrees, one Vet.M.D. Degree, and one D.D. Degree.

(b) Research degrees

Code of Practice

The Board proposed a shortened Code of Practice for Research Degrees and put it out for consultation with Departments. The Code was revised in the light of comments received and made mandatory from October 2009. A change in regulations to require termly reporting on Ph.D. students was proposed. M3326, M3383

Non-University Institutions

Thirteen institutions of varying size have ‘NUI’ status, i.e. they can admit students officially registered for a research degree of the University of Cambridge. This year the Board renewed NUI status for the following institutions:

MRC Centre for Human Nutrition Research M3291

MRC Biostatistics Unit M3302

EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute M3314

British Antarctic Survey M33314

Part-time research degrees

Data showing the extent of the scheme are presented in the table below:

	Part-time students admitted	Total no of Departments registered	Total no of Colleges registered
2003–04	19	32	21
2004–05	26	38	26
2005–06	42	43	28
2006–07	31	45	29
2007–08	25	45	29
2008–09	23	47	29

Graduate working restrictions

Following on concern from Colleges that Tutors were not being consulted prior to paid work being undertaken, the Board agreed that the current limit of a maximum of ten hours of work in total (including preparation) during Full Term remained appropriate. They agreed that permission from the supervisor and Tutor should be obtained if a student wished to exceed this limit; and that these requirements should be incorporated within the Regulations for Admission as a Graduate Student. M3349

After further consultation with College Graduate Tutors a revised text was agreed. M3373

The Board agreed that since CASE (Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering) students are in receipt of a stipend and do not undertake paid work it was not necessary to include them in the statement on graduate working restrictions. M3383

(c) Master’s degrees

Copying and dissemination of coursework

The Board had become aware that some departmental copying of M.Phil. student coursework was undertaken without adequate guidelines. Since any proposals to regulate this would apply equally to undergraduate coursework, the matter was referred to the Education Committee. The Board endorsed the Education Committee’s view that students may be permitted to see hard copies of past students’ coursework in departmental libraries, provided that the written consent of the student authors had been obtained and that departmental rules had been established to ensure that coursework could not be removed from the library or copied. M3314, M3349, M3373

Introduction of M.Res.

The Board approved the revised wording for the General Regulations for Admission as a Graduate Student in the light of the introduction of the M.Res. Degree. M3314

The degree was approved by Her Majesty in Council in February 2009. M3337

(d) Changes to courses (date from which effective in brackets)

New courses introduced, or approved:

Certificate of Postgraduate Study in Computer Science (October 2009) M3327 (changed to October 2008 M3373)

M.Phil. in African Studies (October 2010) M3349

M.Phil. in Archaeology (October 2009) M3302, M3314

M.Phil. in Assyriology (October 2009) M3302, M3314

M.Phil. in Biological Science (Option B) (October 2008) M3349

M.Phil. in Conservation Leadership (October 2010) M3383

M.Phil. in Egyptology (October 2009) M3302, M3314

M.Phil. in Multidisciplinary Gender Studies (October 2009) M3291

M.Phil. in Scientific Computing (October 2010) M3383

M.Phil. in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (October 2009) M3349

M.Res. in Photonic Systems Development (October 2009) M3383

Courses rescinded, or approved for withdrawal:

M.Phil. in Architectural Heritage and Museums (October 2009) M3302, M3314

M.Phil. in Archaeological Science (October 2009) M3302, M3314

M.Phil. in Computer Speech, Text, and Internet Technology (October 2010) M3314

M.Phil. in World Archaeology (October 2009) M3302, M3314

Courses for which changes to the Special Regulations were approved:

Certificate of Postgraduate Study in Natural Science (Materials Science and Metallurgy) (October 2010) M3373

M.Phil. in Architecture and History of Art (October 2009) M3383

M.Phil. in Development Studies (October 2009) M3383

M.Phil. in Economics (October 2010) M3339

M.Phil. in History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science, Technology, and Medicine (October 2009) M3326

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Cardiovascular Research (October 2009) M3361

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Developmental Biology (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Research in Ageing (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Stem Cell Biology (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Infection and Immunity (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Medical Sciences Option B: Obesity and Related Metabolic Diseases (October 2009) M3373

M.Phil. in Politics (October 2008) M3291

M.Phil. in Technology Policy (October 2009) M3314

(e) Examining

Deposit and copying of dissertations

In line with UK copyright legislation, and on the advice of the Legal Services Office, the Board approved changes to the declaration form used for the deposit and copying of dissertations and Regulation 17 of the General Regulations for the Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, and Master of Letters. M3302

Guidelines for examiners

To address concerns from the Review Committee, the Board recommended that examiners be advised to submit to the relevant Degree Committee any material that they felt should be kept in addition to their reports. M3291

Approval of M.Phil. Degrees

The Board agreed that in the interests of students wishing to continue to a Ph.D. the M.Phil. approval process should be completed by 30 September each year. Degree Committees were encouraged to act as expeditiously as possible; Board members agreed to approve candidates for the degree on an ad hoc basis throughout August, September, and the first two weeks of October. M3314, M3383

Corrections to M.Phil. dissertations

The Review Committee had recommended that the Board consider revising the regulations to permit minor corrections to all dissertations submitted for the M.Phil. Degree (currently the Board’s Guidelines for Examiners permitted minor corrections to be made to dissertations submitted for the M.Phil. by thesis and oral only). The Board set up a sub-committee to discuss the recommendation. M3361

Common marking scheme for the M.Phil. Degree

The Board agreed that a common marking scheme for all M.Phil. Degrees should be adopted by October 2010. However they further agreed that Degree Committees may establish their own threshold marks required for continuation to the Ph.D.; and that each Degree Committee should adopt a marking classification, for example to incorporate the definition of a distinction. M3373, M3383

Ph.D. viva voce examination held by video conference

Based on the recommendations of a report from the Faculty of Computer Science and Technology the Board drew up guidelines for Departments wishing to conduct a Ph.D. viva voce examination via video conferencing. M3291

Electronic submission of Ph.D. thesis

The Board received a proposal from the University Librarian that consultation should begin with a view to introducing mandatory deposit of Ph.D. theses in electronic form with the University Library (UL) for dissemination within the Library and online. It was suggested that students be required to submit one hard bound copy of the thesis to the Board, and one digital version to the UL. The Board approved the proposal in principle but had some concerns about third party copyright, which would apply to the digital (but not the hard copy) version.

The Librarian brought forward proposals which addressed these concerns and the Board subsequently agreed to consult Degree Committees before implementing pilot schemes. M3314, M3349, M3361

Ph.D. completion rates

In his discussions with Schools the Chair reinforced the need to monitor and where necessary improve Ph.D. completion rates. M3325

The Board agreed to amend the guidelines for examiners to make it clear that minor corrections (Option 2) should be such that they could be completed within 2 to 3 days; further, to ensure as far as possible that examiners provided coherent reports which would help students to make their corrections in a timely fashion. M3349

Independent Chairs for Ph.D. examinations

The Board drew up guidelines for Independent Chairs of Ph.D. examinations, to cover various situations, notably where there was no internal examiner, or where the internal examiner in the view of the Degree Committee was inexperienced. M3327, M3339, M3383

(f) Review of the results of examination for postgraduate qualifications

During 2008–09, four new cases arose. Two were referred to the Review Committee, which upheld the complaints. In one case the Board agreed the candidate should submit a revised dissertation the other appeal was dismissed. One case was carried over from the previous year: the Review Committee upheld the complaint.

Amendment to regulations

The Board approved a revision to the regulations whereby review deadlines were shortened to three months, in line with the student complaints procedure. The Board were given additional powers to resolve appeals locally. In the light of concerns raised by the Review of Graduate Education the Board decided to consult further with the Review Committee to consider whether a widening of the remit of the regulations for the review of examinations for postgraduate qualifications was desirable. The Steering Committee for the Review of Graduate Education shared these concerns and agreed to discuss the matter. M3327, M3373

(g) Student complaints procedure, Stage 2

The Board received twelve complaints under the new procedure. In eight cases no grounds to uphold the complaint were found. The Board supported one appeal against the marking of an examination and another against an admissions decision. In a complaint about supervision, the Board agreed to await the outcome of an investigation by the Human Resources Division, and in another, also about supervision, it agreed that the case should be considered formally under Stage 3 of the complaints procedure.

A4 Graduate admissions processes and policies

(a) Devolution of admissions processes: Graduate School of Life Sciences

It was agreed that the Graduate School of Life Sciences should adopt a partial devolution model from October 2009. Under the model, institutions within the School would handle applications up to the offer stage. All applications would be electronic. Only the papers of those to whom offers were recommended would be returned to the Board. Formal offer making and confirmations would continue to be done by the Board. M3302, M3361

(b) Application charge

The Board already made a charge for online applications, but not paper applications. To encourage online application, the Board agreed to introduce a £35 charge for applying, both on paper and online, from 2009–10 (for 2010 admission). It was agreed that efforts should be made to enable online applications to become fully electronic (by the upload of supporting documents), and to allow greater flexibility in payment method. There will be a formal review of the use of the application charge in September 2010. M3314

(c) The continuation process for graduate students

Historically there had been two distinct application routes for graduate courses administered by the Board. Current Cambridge undergraduates and those who had never been Cambridge students were treated as ‘new admissions’. Those who were current or previous Cambridge graduate students and who had also made a prior application through the Board were treated as ‘continuers’. Different teams handled the two categories of applicant, with different internal procedures, which was confusing for applicants, Departments, and Colleges. The Board agreed in principle that the processing of continuation applications should mirror that for new applicants. M3327

(d) Deferral and resubmission of graduate applications

Each year several hundred graduate applicants apply to defer or to resubmit their applications. Administration of the resubmission process took much longer per applicant than that of the deferral process. The Board agreed that it was appropriate to modify resubmission more closely to resemble the deferral process. M3339

(e) Charges for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) language courses

The Board approved proposed charges for initial assessments and in-sessional support and agreed that it was acceptable for the cost of the initial assessment to be passed on to the applicant. They further agreed that in-sessional courses should be paid for by the student, unless the Department agreed to meet the charge, or had requested the student’s attendance on the course, in which case the Department should pay. M3349

(f) Late arrival of students in 2009 due to circumstances beyond their control

The Board anticipated that a significant number of new overseas graduate students would arrive late in Michaelmas 2009 owing to circumstances beyond their control such as visa delays in their home country, visa rejections under the UK Points Based Immigration Scheme, and swine flu. They issued guidance to course directors regarding discretion over start date deadlines; strategies to mitigate the effects of late arrival; and the option to defer for a year. M3383

A5 Graduate Student fees and finances

(a) Fee structures

Fee for the course

The Board noted that fee liability for stand-alone four-year Ph.D. programmes and entitlement to use of facilities in Year five would need to be established in conjunction with the Degree Committee concerned. They agreed that fee for the course should apply only to the incoming cohort for the entry year concerned. M3327

It was agreed that implementation of the fee for the course be deferred to October 2010 to enable detailed negotiation of procedures with Colleges to take place. M3339

The Board agreed that fee exemptions would be executed automatically at the end of the ninth term for all existing Ph.D. students with the exception of four-year programmes for which funding was ear-marked for twelve terms. M3373

Fee levels: Humanities and Social Sciences

The Board agreed fee increases for selected M.Phils. within the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences from October 2010. It recommended that in future fees should be set in accordance with an agreed scale of fee levels, and that deadlines to apply for differential fees should be established. M3339

(b) Living costs

For 2010–11 the Board agreed to increase the annual minimum maintenance requirement by 3% on the 2009–10 rate, i.e. from £9,847 to £10,142. M3231

(c) Studentships and awards

AHRC Studentships 2008

The University received 33% fewer awards in 2008 than under the 2007 competition (157 down to 104). 2008 was the last year of individual awards: block funding was introduced for 2009. The allocation was lower than may have been expected as a result of the AHRC reducing its funding nationally. They noted that formal adoption of the Code of Practice would address most the AHRC’s requirements in time for the next Block Grant application. M3291, M3339, M3349

The Board received a report on the administration of the block grant. M3373

ESRC studentships

The University’s quota of 23 full studentships in 2008 was filled and a further six awards were gained through the Open Competition and the ESRC Case competition. M3291

It was noted that the ESRC intended to adopt a Doctoral Research Grant arrangement in the future. This would entail more work for the Board and the Schools. M3327, M3383

The Board received the report on the ESRC Postgraduate Training Framework. M3349

Domestic Research Studentships

In the light of the reduction in AHRC funding the Board were pleased to note that an increased contribution from the Newton Trust and the University had allowed 25 additional students in AHRC subjects to be funded through the DRS scheme. A high proportion of Colleges also made contributions to the scheme. M3291

The Board received a report on the 2009 competition and approved the proposed change in name to the Cambridge Home EU Scholarships Scheme (CHESS). M3349

Funding for Overseas and EU students

HEFCE withdrew funding for the Overseas Research Studentship (ORS) awards scheme in August 2008. As a response, and in collaboration with the Cambridge Overseas and Commonwealth Trusts, the University introduced the Cambridge International Scholarships Scheme (CISS) to offer fully funded packages to the very best overseas students. Up to 80 awards would be made from October 2009. M3291, M3325

The Board received a paper addressing the funding for EU students. M3349

Future resourcing of postgraduate study in the UK

The Board received a report on a conference with this title hosted by the UK Council for Graduate Education. M3349

A6 Changes to Membership of the Board

Chair

Professor Rallison became Chair in October 2008. M3290

Class (b): members of the Regent House appointed by the Council

Professor Ford (French) from October 2008. M3290

Dr Babinsky (Engineering) from January 2009. M3313

Class (c): members of the Regent House appointed by the General Board

Professor Cardwell (Engineering) agreed to serve until December 2009.

Professor Cooper provided sabbatical cover for Professor Heal (Philosophy) from October 2008. M3290

Professor Hewett from January 2009.

Dr Sargan (Veterinary Medicine) from January 2009. M3313

Class (e): members of the Regent House co-opted by the Board

Professor Bennett (Geography) from October 2008. M3301

Dr Padman (Physics) from October 2008.

Class (f): graduate student member of the General Board

Mr Bortrick until May 2009; Mr Xia from June 2009

Graduate Union President (observer status)

Mr Mtimbiri until June 2009; Ms Harcourt from July 2009.

B Graduate Admissions and continuation data for entry in the academic year 2008–09

B1 Applications for first-time admission as a postgraduate or graduate student

The annual analysis of applications received and of their outcomes, with comparative data from 2004–05 onwards is provided (Figures 1–4, pp. 12–15). Data prior to the 2004–05 academic year are not included as, before this point, figures were analysed and presented by calendar year, rather than academic year. The data presented relate to applications, conditional offers, and confirmations of admissions for the Michaelmas, Lent, and Easter Terms in each academic year.

(a) Definitions and descriptions of the data

For each academic year the data are presented by course type (M.Phil., Research, and Other taught postgraduate courses) and are broken down by fee status.

A fee status is assigned to an applicant when a conditional offer is made. The decision on fee status assignation can take account of a number of different factors, including country of permanent residence and nationality. For the purposes of the analysis in this Report, it is desirable to assign a fee status to all applicants (i.e. including those not made an offer), to enable monitoring of trends in Home, EU, and Overseas applications. The only feasible way to do this retrospectively, is to use information from CamSIS to assign a ‘fee status’ based on citizenship. It is important to note, therefore, that there is a difference in the way applicants have been classified at the ‘application’ and the ‘offer’ stage – however, this is very unlikely to lead to any significant errors, as the majority of fee status decisions are straightforward, and align with information on citizenship.

With regard to ‘course type’, data on M.Phils. include all taught and research M.Phils. Data on ‘research’ courses include applications for Ph.Ds., M.Litts., M.Scs., C.P.G.Ss., and N.T.B.Rs. (that is, visiting students who are ‘Not to be registered’ for any qualification). ‘Other postgraduate’ courses include the Certificate in Advanced Studies of Mathematics (C.A.S.M.), the Master of Law (LL.M.), and the Diplomas in Economics, Computer Science, International Law, Legal Studies, and Theology and Religious Studies.

No figures are shown for confirmations of admission for 2004–05 (Fig 4), as data broken down by fee status are not available for the Michaelmas Term of that year.

In line with the University’s Equality and Diversity policy, data are also shown for applications, offers and confirmations by disability and by ethnicity (Tables 1–2, p. 17). These data have only recently begun to be recorded for all applicants as previously blank responses or responses of ‘no disability’ were not recorded, and no ethnicity data were captured at the point of application. In addition, 2007–08 was the first year in which it was compulsory for applicants to provide some information on disability and ethnicity (even if the information consisted of ‘information refused’), but not every applicant completed these sections of the graduate application form and so the data must be treated with caution.

(b) Summary of admissions statistics

Applications for admission

The University received a total of 10,149 applications for entry in the academic year 2008–09, falling by 0.5% as compared to 2007–08 (Figure 1). Whilst applications for M.Phils. in 2008–09 rose 0.7% from 2007–08, there has been a fall in applications since 2005–06 (Figure 1). Applications for Ph.Ds. and other taught courses fell by 3% in 2008–09 and 2007–08.

Figure 2 provides data for the numbers of applications received from 2004–05 to 2008–09 by fee status (Home, EU or Overseas). The data are disaggregated by applications for research degrees, M.Phil. courses and other taught postgraduate for which the Board is the admitting authority. Overall, there was a slight rise in total applications across the Home and EU fee status categories, as compared to an overall decrease of 5% in Overseas applications. With the exception of applications for the Ph.D., Home and EU applications have risen steadily since 2004–05.

Applications to the Ph.D. from Home fee status applicants rose by 10% in 2008–09 from 2007–08, however as compared to 2004–05 the number of applications has fallen by 34%.

Offers of admission

Figure 3 provides data for the numbers of conditional offers made from 2004–05 to 2008–09 entry by fee status. The data are disaggregated by applications for research degrees, M.Phil. courses, and other taught postgraduate courses for which the Board is the admitting authority.

The University made a total of 4,280 unconditional offers for entry in the academic year 2008–09, a 6% increase on the previous year. This represents a success rate of 42% (i.e. the percentage of applications which resulted in a conditional offer being made), compared to 39% in 2007–08. The number of Ph.D. offers increased by 5% on the 2007–08 values, whilst offers for M.Phil. and other taught postgraduate courses increased by 6% in the same period.

There was an overall rise of 14% in Home category offers in 2008–09 from 2007–08. The highest increase was for Home Ph.D. applicants (26% higher than the previous year). Approximately 56% of Home Ph.D. applications were successful in 2008–09 (49% in 2007–08 and 59% in 2006–07), with 36% of successful Ph.D. applications overall.

Applications confirmed (conditions met or unconditional offer)

Figure 4 provides data for the numbers of confirmations made from 2005–06 to 2008–09 entry by fee status (Home, EU or Overseas). The data are disaggregated by applications for research degrees, M.Phil. courses and other taught courses for which the Board is the admitting authority.

The University made a total of 2,620 unconditional offers for entry in the academic year 2008–09, an 8% increase on the previous year. Confirmations for M.Phils. rose slightly (1%), Ph.D. programmes by 5%, and other postgraduate courses by 33%. Whilst Home and EU confirmations rose by 20% and 14% respectively from 2007–08, Overseas confirmations for all courses fell by 1% (11% and 6% for Ph.D. and M.Phil., with a rise of 48% for other courses), however there has been a 5% increase since 2006–07.

Despite the fall in total applications from 2006–07, 2008–09 saw the highest number of confirmed applications (2,620 compared to 2,412 and 2,427 in 2007–08 and 2006–07 respectively). In total, 61% of conditional offers were confirmed in 2008–09, which was almost identical to the values for 2007–08 and 2006–07.

Applications, offers, and confirmations by disability

Table 1 provides data for the numbers of applications, conditional offers made, and confirmations made for 2008–09 entry, as defined by applicant disability (where disclosed).

In total 95% of applicants completed the personal declaration regarding disability as compared to 45% of applicants for entry in 2007–08.

275 applicants in 2008–09 declared a disability (3% of all applicants), 46% were successful, with 68% going on to be confirmed for admission.

Applications, offers, and confirmations by ethnicity

Table 2 provides data for the numbers of applications, conditional offers made, and confirmations made for 2008–09 entry as defined by applicant ethnicity, where declared.

Only 58% of applicants disclosed ethnicity and so the data is incomplete. The largest cohorts were white (50%), Chinese (21%), and Asian (18%). In total, 53% of applications from non-white applicants were successful with 53% of these offers being confirmed for admission.

B2 Applications for continuation to a second postgraduate or graduate degree

Students described in this section of the Report are those that were currently, or had previously been registered as graduate students at Cambridge on a Ph.D., M.Phil., M.St., LL.M., Graduate Diploma or a Certificate in Advanced Study in Mathematics (Part III Mathematics) and had been admitted previously by the Board of Graduate Studies. These applicants are classified as applying for leave to continue to a further graduate course.

The data presented relate to applications received, conditional offers, and confirmation of continuation for entry in the academic year 2008–09. The data are provided by course type (Ph.D., M.Phil., and other taught postgraduate) and are further disaggregated by fee status (Table 3, p. 17).

As shown in Table 3, a total of 953 applications were received for entry in 2008–09, as compared to a total of 764 applications for the previous year. The majority of applications were for the Ph.D. (90%) as compared to M.Phil. programmes (9%) and other postgraduate courses (1%).

This Report focuses on applications for entry in 2008–09 to the Ph.D. programme. In total, 862 applications to continue to the Ph.D. were received, of which approximately 27% were from Home applicants, 29% from EU applicants, and 44% from Overseas applicants. In total, 75% of applicants received a conditional offer and 42% of applicants were confirmed for entry. Success rate varied with fee status in that 30% of EU applicants were confirmed as compared to 40% and 57% of Overseas and Home applicants respectively.

As shown in Table 4 (p. 17), 26 applications were received from students who disclosed a disability, i.e. 3% of the total number of applications, of whom 58% were confirmed for entry. Those declaring an unseen disability and specific learning difficulty comprised the greatest proportion of applicants.

As in 2007–08, the largest cohort of applicants for 2008–09 entry were those of white ethnicity (303 declared) followed by those of Chinese (88) and Asian (35) background (Table 5, p. 18).

C Census data for the academic year 2008–09

The data provided were taken with a census date of 1 May 2009 and relate to those students registered on an M.Phil. or research programme (Ph.D., M.Sc., M.Litt.) at that time.

The total number of graduate students on the register was 6,544 of whom 1,362 (21%) were enrolled on an M.Phil. programme and 5,182 (79%) were enrolled on a research programme. These values are comparable with those for the census data of May 2008 and May 2007. The overall gender balance was 1.3 male:female for all graduate students in 2009 and 2008 as compared to 1.4 for the previous year. There was a ratio of 1.4 male:female for research programmes and 1.1 male:female for M.Phil. programmes and these values were not significantly different from the previous academic year.

Table 6 (p. 18) provides data for current graduate students by fee status and College. Whereas in the previous year, Home students constituted the largest cohort, Overseas students were in the majority in May 2009 (40%), followed by Home students (39%) and EU students (21%). As in the previous year, 82% of students were aged 24 or above on 1 May 2009 (76% of Home students, 87% of EU students, and 84% of Overseas students).

Table 7 (p. 19) shows the status of graduate student records at 1 May 2009, by School and Degree Committee. Whilst the data illustrates record status, the data may be largely considered per capita with the caveat that the statuses of ‘Working Away’ or ‘Intermitting’ may coincide with that of ‘Under Exam’ or ‘Graduate Writing Up’. The data are significant as they are submitted as part of the University’s HESA return. As in May 2008, the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences accounted for the largest number of graduate students representing 26% of all graduate student records followed by the Schools of the Physical Sciences (19%), Technology (18%), the Biological Sciences (15%), Arts and Humanities (14%), and Clinical Medicine (8%).

Table 8 (p. 20) provides data for current students who had disclosed a disability on 1 May 2009. In total, 281 graduate students had disclosed a disability which represents 4% of the population. The data does not account for those students who have chosen not to disclose a disability and therefore must be treated with caution. The most common disclosed disability was an unseen disability (e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, asthma).

D Studentships and Funding for the Academic Year 2008–09

D1 Source of fee

Figure 5 shows the recorded source of fee for all graduate students who were liable for the University Composition Fee at 1 May 2009. The data show only the source of funding which is most likely to pay the fee. For example, all UK Research Council awards are classified as the source of fee irrespective of any additional funding such as a Gates Award. The data are also subject to some error as it can be difficult to interpret accurately funding from diverse sources. The UK Research Council studentships (also including students funded through research grants) accounted for the largest source of fee across all graduate students (30%), followed by self-financing students which accounted for 25% of the cohort. Comparable values for 2008 were 28% and 27% for Research Council studentships and self-financing students respectively.

Clear patterns emerge when the data are further disaggregated by fee status and programme of study (Tables 9 and 10, p. 20). Amongst all Home students, 55% were funded through the Research Councils. Although this figure is healthy, it should be noted that Research Council funding is heavily biased towards Ph.D. students and that 60% of Home M.Phil. students were self-financing (Table 10). The UK Research Councils and self-funding also represented the greatest sources of fees for EU students (31% for each funding category), whilst College and University awards made up 20% of the cohort and UK Charities (largely the Cambridge European Trust) funded 9% of the students. In contrast, the majority of Overseas students were funded through a UK charity (30%) largely the Cambridge Gates, Overseas, and Commonwealth Trusts. Solely self-financing students comprised 25% of the Overseas student cohort. The diversity of different funding source for Overseas students is highlighted by the relatively high figure of 17% funded from other sources (Table 9).

Table 10 further disaggregates source of fee data to demonstrate the differences between M.Phil. and Ph.D. students by course. The majority of Home and EU M.Phil. students are self-financing (60% and 75% respectively) whereas the majority of Overseas M.Phil. students are supported through a UK Charity and only 34% of the cohort are self-financing. In contrast, the majority of Home and EU Ph.D. students have Research Council funding (62% and 36% respectively) or University/College awards. The majority of funding for Overseas students is more evenly distributed between the Cambridge Trusts (25%), ORS awards (20%), and self-funding (22%).

Given (i) the decreased availability of Research Council awards for Master’s courses and (ii) the high success rate of students who apply to continue to the Ph.D. from the M.Phil., it is imperative that the University ensures that funding is available for M.Phil. programmes.

D2 Funding for new Overseas students administered through the Board of Graduate Studies 2008–09

(a) Cambridge International Scholarship Scheme, 2009 Competition

The Cambridge International Scholarships Scheme (CISS) was introduced in 2009 following the withdrawal of the ORSAS competition funded by HEFCE. It provides full cost Scholarships to new Overseas students embarking on a Ph.D. The awards are funded by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Cambridge Overseas Trust, external partner organizations identified by the Cambridge Trusts, and Departments/Colleges who agreed to offer a portion of the costs. The competition was administered jointly by the Board of Graduate Studies and the Cambridge Trusts.

Departments were asked to nominate and rank their very best candidates for a CISS award. A representative from each of the six Schools was selected from the Board of Graduate Studies to review the student applications. Committee members did not review applications from their own Departments and each application was scored by two of the representatives by considering: academic ability and research potential, examination results, and the recommendations submitted in their favour.

In total, 276 nominations were received from 63 different Departments, 78 awards were made, of which 15 were declined by the recipient (one declined for personal reasons, three did not meet their academic condition, three chose an American institution, two declined for academic reasons, and six did not supply a reason for withdrawing). Twelve students were offered and accepted a Gates award and three students were appointed to other studentships administered by the Board of the Graduate Studies, including the Grace and Thomas Chan Studentship.

The breakdown of nominations/awards by School was as follows:

	Total Nominations	Awards made	% awards/ nominations
School of the Humanities and Social Sciences	58	13	22%
School of Arts and Humanities	37	10	27%
School of Technology	42	12	29%
School of the Physical Sciences	63	21	33%
School of the Biological Sciences	64	18	28%
School of Clinical Medicine	15	4	27%
Total	279	78	28%

Departments and Colleges were asked to contribute funding to the CISS awards where possible, and together with external collaborators, the Scholarships were funded as follows:

Of the £1,293,425 total cost of the 51 CISS scholarships in 2009–10:

£461,614 (35%) was raised by contributing partners

£831,811 (65%) was covered by the CCT/COT funds.

The CISS awards were offered to applicants from 26 different countries as follows:

Country/Region	Number of awards offered	Number accepting Gates	Number of with­drawals
USA	21	1	6
China	8	2	0
Australia	7	4	1
Canada	9	2	2
India	4	0	2
Malaysia	1	0	0
Eastern and Non EU Europe	12	1	0
Other south East Asia	9	2	3
Middle East	0	0	0
South America	4	0	0
New Zealand	2	0	0
Africa	1	0	1

(b) Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards

The University was offered four Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards (one of which was withdrawn following the re-negotiations between EPSRC and the industrial partner) which although much lower than previous years was still the highest number offered to a single university.

(c) Overseas student loans 2008–09

The Board of Graduate Studies administered 141 US loan applications for 2008–09 with an annual value of over $4m. US government loans form the bulk of loans activity but the Board also administered Canadian loan documents, Canadian tax forms, Veteran Affairs forms, Career Development loan forms (UK students), and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation forms.

In 2008–09 eleven Colleges were set up on a foreign exchange service arranged by the University to reduce the delay in converting US loan payments to £stg for students. Over $1.2m student loan cheques were processed in this way, improving the service for those involved, including College and University staff. It is a condition of accepting US government loans that a specific audit is carried out annually. The 2007–08 compliance audit report (released in 2008–09) showed a significant improvement in compliance with US government regulations than in previous years, when loan activity was dispersed among Colleges rather than collected at the Board of Graduate Studies. The Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics was approved by the US Department of Education for federal loans.

D3 Funding for new Home/EU students administered through the Board of Graduate Studies

Domestic Research Studentships (DRS) 2009 Competition

The Board of Graduate Studies administers the DRS competition providing funding for Home/EU students who have not received Research Council funding, on similar terms to Research Council awards (i.e. full funding for UK students; fees only awards for EU students). The majority of awards are made in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, which have less Research Council funding. A small number of fees-only M.Phil. awards are also made from Trust funds.

The DRS Committee reviewed the level of funding for each award and confirmed its commitment to maintaining Ph.D. maintenance rates at £500 below Research Council level, maintaining M.Phil. awards at a ‘fees only’ level and maintaining the requirement for M.Phil. applicants to ‘demonstrate intention to continue to the Ph.D.’.

Applications received are shown below. As in previous years, most applications were received from the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences:

School	Applications Ph.D.	Applications M.Phil.
Arts and Humanities	42	76
Biological Sciences	4	1
Clinical Medicine	1	0
Humanities and Social Sciences	60	37
Physical Sciences	8	2
Technology	10	1
Grand Total	125	117

Applicants were nominated by their Department/Faculty with a Statement of support. Each application was double-blind marked; Committee members did not review applications from their own Departments. Awards were allocated to those students with the highest composite score.

In the 2009 competition, funding for the Ph.D. competition increased from three sources: the University, the Newton Trust, and the Pigott Endowment fund. The annual income was £1.1m, of which approximately 65% was required for renewals and 35% was available to make new awards. For the second year, Colleges were invited to contribute to the cost of Ph.D. (not M.Phil.) awards to their members. The Committee provided each College with a list of ‘fundable’ students and their relative position. In total, Colleges committed £57,000 to new Ph.D. awards (or £171,000 over the lifetime of these awards). This amount is less than the contribution raised in 2008 to replace ‘lost’ AHRC funding, nevertheless it represents an increase on years prior to 2008.

It was the first year of operation of the University’s AHRC Block Grant. Earlier decisions were available to students (by the end of April 2009) and consequently fewer students entered the DRS competition. The Committee gave special attention to those AHRC subject areas that did not have Block Grant awards and were therefore ineligible for Research Council funding. As AHRC had reduced funding for M.Phil. students across the board, the Committee decided to use one of the BGS Trust funds to supply an additional six M.Phil. (fees only) awards per year for AHRC subject areas. Three additional awards were offered to three M.Phil. AHRC nominees who were deemed ineligible by the AHRC because of a change in eligibility rules.

Together with College contributions, 35 new Ph.D. students were funded compared to an average of approximately 22 awards in recent years.

A breakdown of awards by Department/Faculty and College is provided below:

New Ph.D. awards

Department/Faculty	Fee Status	Full/fees award	College	College contribution
AMES	EU	Full	Clare Hall	No
AMES	Home	Full	Trinity	No
Archaeology	Home	Full	Jesus	Yes
Biological Anthropology	EU	Fees only	Emmanuel	No
Biological Anthropology	EU	Fees	Lucy Cavendish	Yes
Centre for International Studies	EU	Fees	Trinity Hall	No
Chemical Engineering	Home	Full	King’s	No
Chemistry	Home	Full	Newnham	No
Chemistry	Home	Full	Pembroke	Yes
Classics	Home	Full	Queens’	No
Classics	Home	full	Wolfson	Yes
Criminology	Home	Fees	Churchill	No
Divinity	Home	Full	Selwyn	Yes
Education	Home	Full	Fitzwilliam	No
English	Home	Full	King’s	No
History	Home	full	King’s	No
History	Home	Full	Wolfson	Yes
History of Art	EU	Fees	King’s	No
History of Art	EU	Fees	St John’s	No
Law	EU	Fees	New Hall	Yes
Middle Eastern Studies	Home	Full	Pembroke	Yes
MML	Home	Full	Clare	Yes
MML	Home	Full	Darwin	No
MML	Home	Full	King’s	No
MML	Home	Full	King’s	No
MML	EU	Full	Lucy Cavendish	No
MML	Home	Full	Trinity Hall	No
Music	EU	Fees	Clare	No
Music	EU	Fees	St Edmund’s	No
Music	Home	Full	Trinity	Yes
Philosophy	Home	Full	Christ’s	Yes
Philosophy	Home	Full	King’s	No
Plant Sciences	Home	Full	Girton	Yes
Politics	Home	Full	King’s	No
Social Anthropology	Home	Full	Darwin	No

New M.Phil. awards (fees only)

Department/Faculty	Fee Status	College	College Contribution
Archaeology	EU	Corpus Christi	No
Archaeology	EU	St Catharine’s	No
Classics	Home	Pembroke	No
Classics	Home	Trinity Hall	No
Divinity	Home	Fitzwilliam	No
Divinity	Home	Fitzwilliam	No
Divinity	Home	Trinity Hall	No
English	Home	Clare	No
English	Home	Corpus Christi	No
English	Home	Pembroke	No
History of Art	Home	Trinity Hall	No
MML	EU	Hughes Hall	No
MML	Overseas	New Hall	No
MML	Home	St John’s	No
MML	EU	St John’s	No
Music	Home	Emmanuel	No
Music	Home	Wolfson	No
Philosophy	Home	Newnham	No
Philosophy	Home	St John’s	No

D4 Hardship Awards

The Board of Graduate Studies administers a scheme of Hardship Awards (comprising Lundgren Research Awards, for Overseas science students, and the Hardship Awards of the Board of Graduate Studies) for students experiencing hardship as a result of unforeseen changes in their financial circumstances. In the academic year 2008–09 104 hardship awards were made (70 to Overseas students, 15 to Home students, and 19 to EU students) with a total value of £85,000.

E Submission for the Ph.D. Degree, approval, and non-approval of degrees

The percentage of Ph.D. students who had submitted their dissertation for examination by the end of their fourth year during the academic year 2008–09 are shown in Table 11 (p. 21). The data are corrected for students who had been given permission to intermit. Those students who are reported to have not submitted their thesis by the end of the fourth year include students who have submitted during the fifth year or later, those who have yet to submit or those who have withdrawn from their course at any stage. The overall proportion averaged 69%, the same value as the previous academic year. The proportions vary between Schools, and between Degree Committees within Schools. The Schools of the Humanities and Social Sciences and Technology realized an increase on the previous year of 3% and 4% respectively. The Schools of Arts and Humanities and Clinical Medicine saw no difference in submission rates, whilst the Schools of the Physical Sciences and the Biological Sciences showed decreases of 9% and 1% respectively.

For the first time, a report is made of the percentage of Ph.D. students who successfully completed their degree within four, five, six, and over six years, i.e. the cohort who commenced their study during the 2001–02 academic year (Table 12, p. 22). The date of approval is defined as the day on which a candidate is approved for the degree by the Board of Graduate Studies and is therefore distinct from the date of submission. The data accounts for students who have been given permission to intermit. Those students who are reported to have not completed by their sixth year include students who have completed or not completed during their seventh year or more or, who have withdrawn (including students who have failed) from their course at any stage.

The overall proportion of students completing the examination of their dissertation by the end of their fourth year averaged 36%, marking a decrease of 2% on the previous academical year. The proportions vary between Schools, and between Degree Committees within Schools. All the Schools showed a decrease on the previous academical year in the proportion of students who completed within four years with the exception of the School of the Physical Sciences.

The number of candidates approved for qualifications managed by the Board during the academic year 2008–09 is shown in Table 13 (p. 23). The total number of candidates was 2,499, a decrease of 14 on the previous academic year.

The Board approved 15 candidates for Higher Doctorates and six candidates for the Ph.D. under Special Regulations. In total, 18 candidates were not approved for the qualification (0.7% of the total cohort) they sought during the academic year 2008–09, which was not a significant change from the previous academic year. The Board granted 13 examination allowances (11 for M.Phil. candidates and two for M.St. candidates), a 22% increase on the previous year. Nineteen graduate students applied for, and were granted special arrangements for examinations during the academic year 2008–09. This represented a decrease on the previous year where 23 applications were requested and granted.

J. Rallison	Simon Goldhill	Rachael Padman
Robert Bennett	Jane Heal	Barbara Sahakian
David Cardwell	Barry Kingston	David Sargan
Geoff Cook	Paul Hewett	Yang Xia
Philip Ford	Robert Miller	Mike Younger
Loraine Gelsthorpe

Tables and figures

Figure 1. Total Graduate Applications for entry in the academic year shown

Figure 2. Graduate Applications by Programme and Fee Status

Figure 3. Conditional Offers by Programme and Fee Status

Figure 4. Confirmations by Programme and Fee Status

Figure 5. Source of Fee: All students

Table 1. Admissions summary data by disability (where disclosed)

Table 2. Admissions summary data by ethnicity (where declared)

Table 3. Continuation summary data for entry in the academic years 2007–08 and 2008–09

Table 4.Continuation summary data by disability (where disclosed)

Table 5. Continuation summary data by ethnicity (where disclosed)

Table 6. Current graduate students by College and fee status

Table 7. Status of current graduate student record by School and Degree Committee

Under Exam, Writing up and In Residence are mutually exclusive. However a student can be either Working Away or Intermitting while Under Exam or Writing up

Table 8. Current students who disclosed a disability

Table 9. Source of fees by fee status

Table 10. Source of fees by degree programme and fee status

Table 11. Ph.D. submission rates by School and Degree Committee

Table 12. Ph.D. completions for the 2001–02 cohort within 5–6 and over 6 years by School and Degree Committee

Table 13. Breakdown of qualifications approved by the Board of Graduate Studies in the academic year 2008–09 by School and Degree Committee