COMPUTER SCIENCE TRIPOS

Amended by Grace 3 of 24 February 2010

General

1. The Computer Science Tripos shall consist of four Parts: Part Ia, Part Ib, Part II, and Part III.

2. No student may be a candidate for more than one Part, or for any Part and also for another Honours Examination, in the same term.

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

4. The Faculty Board of Computer Science and Technology shall have power to issue from time to time supplementary regulations defining or limiting all or any of the papers for examination. Due care shall be taken that sufficient notice is given of any alteration of such supplementary regulations.

5. For each Part of the Tripos the Faculty Board shall nominate such number of Examiners as they shall deem sufficient. They may also nominate for appointment one or more Assessors to the Examiners in such subjects as they consider desirable, and the Assessors so appointed shall, if required to do so, set papers or parts of papers and shall advise the Examiners on the performance of candidates in such subjects. The Assessors, when summoned by the Chairman, shall attend meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.

6. The questions proposed by each Examiner or Assessor shall be submitted to, and approved by, the Examiners collectively.

7. The names of the candidates who obtain honours in each Part shall be arranged 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.

8. The papers for Parts Ia, Ib, and II of the Computer Science Tripos shall be as follows:

Part Ia

9. A student may be a candidate for honours in Part Ia if he or she has kept one term, provided that three complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

10. A candidate for Part Ia shall submit a portfolio of assessed laboratory work as prescribed in Regulation 11, and shall offer:

1. either (a)(i)Papers 1 and 2 of the Computer Science Tripos; and
2.   (ii)Papers 1 and 2 from Part Ia of the Mathematical Tripos;
3. or (b)(i)Papers 1 and 2 of the Computer Science Tripos; and
4.   (ii)the examination requirements for the subject Mathematics, as set out in the regulations for Part Ia of the Natural Sciences Tripos; and
5.   (iii)either Society, interaction, and the individual (Paper 2 of Part I of the Politics, Psychology, and Sociology Tripos) or the examination requirements for one subject chosen from the list below and as set out in the regulations for Part Ia of the Natural Sciences Tripos:

11. A candidate for Part Ia shall submit to the Head of the Department a portfolio of assessed laboratory work. The Head of the Department shall announce not later than the division of the Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination the nature of the laboratory work to be undertaken and the dates by which, and the manner in which, the results of such work are to be presented. The Examiners shall be provided by the Head of the Department with assessments of the work submitted by each candidate, and shall take these assessments into account when assigning marks for the examination.

Part Ib

12. A student who has obtained honours in Part Ia of the Computer Science Tripos or in another Honours Examination may be a candidate for honours in Part Ib in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that nine complete terms have not passed after her or his first term of residence.33

13. A candidate for Part Ib shall offer Papers 3, 4, 5, and 6, and shall submit a portfolio of assessed laboratory work as prescribed in Regulation 14.

14. A candidate for Part Ib shall submit to the Head of the Department a portfolio of assessed laboratory work. The Head of the Department shall announce not later than the division of the Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination the nature of the laboratory work to be undertaken and the dates by which, and the manner in which, the results of such work are to be presented. The Examiners shall be provided by the Head of the Department with assessments of the work submitted by each candidate, and shall take these assessments into account when assigning marks for the examination.

Part II

15. A student who has obtained honours in Part Ib of the Computer Science Tripos may be a candidate for honours in Part II in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept seven terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after her or his first term of residence.33

16. A candidate for Part II shall offer Papers 7, 8, and 9, and shall submit a dissertation as prescribed in Regulation 17.

17. A candidate for Part II shall submit the proposed title of her or his dissertation to the Head of the Department by the end of the first quarter of the Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination, and shall obtain the approval of the Head of the Department for the title by the division of the Michaelmas Term. Two copies of the dissertation, which shall be computer-printed and shall not exceed 12,000 words in length, excluding appendices, footnotes, and bibliography, shall be submitted by the candidate to the Head of the Department so as to arrive not later than noon on the third Friday before the first day of the examination. Each candidate will be required to sign a declaration that the dissertation is his or her own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose; if two or more candidates have undertaken a dissertation in collaboration, they will each be required to indicate the extent of their contribution. The Examiners shall have power to examine any candidate viva voce on the subject of her or his dissertation and on the general field of knowledge within which it falls.

Part III

18. A student who has obtained honours in Part II of the Computer Science Tripos may be a candidate for honours in Part III in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she:

1. (a)has kept ten terms and that fifteen complete terms have not passed after her or his first term of residence;33
2. (b)has attained a satisfactory standard, as defined by the Faculty Board, in previous honours examinations;
3. (c)has not proceeded to the B.A. Degree.

19. A candidate for Part III shall offer a combination of written papers, project dissertations, essays, and demonstrations of research training as duly specified by the notice of the Head of the Department not later than the division of the Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination.

Other than for written papers, each candidate will be required to sign a declaration that each unit of assessment is her or his own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose; if two or more candidates have undertaken a dissertation in collaboration, they will each be required to indicate the extent of their contribution. The Examiners shall have power to examine any candidate viva voce on the subject of such work and on the general field of knowledge within which it falls.