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This article is about the Cambridge Tripos system. For the computer operating system, see TRIPOS.
The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos, a word which has an obscure etymology, but which may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations. A common (but untrue) myth says that students used to receive one leg of a stool in each of their three years of exams, receiving the whole stool at graduation. An undergraduate studying mathematics is thus said to be reading the Mathematical Tripos, whilst a student of English is reading the English Tripos. (In most traditional British universities a student is expected to study one subject exclusively rather than having 'majors' or 'minors' as in American style universities).

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Tripos est in partes duas divisum

A Tripos is divided into two parts: Part I, which is broadly based, and Part II, which allows specialisation within the student's chosen field. Since a bachelor's degree usually takes three years to complete, either Part I or Part II is two years, and the other one year. The details of this can vary from subject to subject. There is also an optional Part III offered in some subjects, such as the Mathematical Tripos; these are not required to complete a bachelor's degree. Some Part III courses allow the student to graduate with both a master's degree and a Bachelor degree: for example, scientific Part III courses allow the student to graduate with an M.Sci. degree in addition to the B.A. degree which all Cambridge graduates receive.

Students are examined formally at the end of each part, and are awarded a degree classification for each part. The Part II classification is usually considered to be the classification for the degree. Most subjects are examined in all three years; for example, the Natural Sciences Tripos has examinations for Part IA (read: "Part one A"), Part IB ("Part one B") and Part II ("Part two").

Degree regulations state that, to be awarded a degree, you must have passed both a Part I and a Part II examination. This makes it easy for an undergraduate to switch out of a subject, but only into a complementary Tripos. So a one-year Part I (or Part IA) must be followed by a two-year Part II, and usually vice versa. More exotic combinations are possible, with the permission of the student's college and prospective department, but some combinations create a four-year bachelor's degree. A few subjects (e.g. Linguistics, Management Studies) exist only as Part II, and can be preceded by any manner of Part I subject.

Students who already possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent, whether from Cambridge or elsewhere, are generally permitted to skip Part I, and thus can complete a Cambridge bachelor's degree in two years or less.

List of Triposes

Below is the list of Triposes offered by the University (numerals in brackets indicate the Parts available):

See also

External link

 

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