You are viewing: 2019/20 version

Master of Studies in History (Full-Time)

The regulations of the Board of the Faculty of History are as follows:

1.  Candidates for this degree must follow for at least three terms a course of instruction and directed research and must, upon entering the examination, produce from their society a certificate to that effect.

2.  Candidates must attend such lectures, seminars and classes as their lead supervisor shall determine. In addition to the formally examined programme elements described below, each candidate will be expected to attend and complete in-course requirements for a series of skills options based on a schedule to be published from year to year by the Faculty's Graduate Studies Committee. The candidate's individual programme, agreed with their supervisor, will be subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the programme convenor, by Friday of Week One of Michaelmas Term; subsequent changes must be agreed by the Director of Graduate Studies not later than Friday of Week Three of Hilary Term. Class teachers will report to the Chair of Examiners on the candidate's attendance and participation, and, where appropriate, test results, not later than Monday of Week Nine of Hilary Term, except in the case of three-term language classes where the respective reporting deadline will be Monday of Week Nine of Trinity Term.

3. Candidates must apply for and follow a particular named strand of the programme, chosen from a list published by the Faculty by 1 September of the year before entry.  They may only change to a different strand with the written agreement of their supervisors, the Convener of the MSt in History and the Director of Graduate Studies.

4. The final examination for candidates in History shall comprise (i) one extended essay based on the programme’s core component, (ii) one extended essay based on an Option, and (iii) a dissertation of not more than 15,000 words.

  • I.  During Michaelmas Term each candidate shall attend a core programme, comprising introductory lectures, strand-specific classes on sources and historiography, and mixed classes on historical theory and methodological approaches. The core course will be assessed by an extended essay of between 3,000 and 5,000 words. The essay must be uploaded to the Assignments section of the MSt in History Weblearn site by 12 noon on Monday of Week One of Hilary Term. The submission will require the candidate to make a declaration indicating that it is their own work.

  • II. In Hilary Term candidates must choose one Option course, normally from the Options for the Master of Studies in History. The choice of Option must be discussed with the candidate’s supervisors and will depend on the candidate's training objectives or dissertation project. Details of available Options are published in course handbooks. Candidates wishing to take an Option paper from another programme offered by the History Faculty, and exceptionally, by other Faculties, may do so with the permission of the Programme Convenor, the person responsible for the delivery of the requested option/advanced paper, their supervisor, and the Director of Graduate Studies.  Such candidates will be assessed according to the regulations with respect to the form of assessment and deadlines governing that option (ie the regulations of the programme under which the Advanced paper is offered), but the modes of assessment and deadlines for the other course elements of the programme for which the candidate is registered will remain in force. This part of the programme will be assessed either by one extended essay of between 8,000 and 10,000 words or by two extended essays of 4-5,000 words each, depending on the Option taken. The essay should be uploaded to the Assignments section of the MSt in History Weblearn site by 12 noon on Friday of Week Nine of Hilary Term. The submission of the essay will require the candidate to make a declaration indicating that it is their own work. This essay should reflect skills and understanding the candidate has developed by following the choice of Option paper. This essay may complement but must not share significant content with the essay submitted under I. above. Teaching may not be available for all the Advanced Options each year.

  • III. Each candidate must prepare a dissertation of not more than 15,000 words on a topic in his or her chosen subject area. The dissertation must include a short abstract which concisely summarises in about 300 words its scope and principal arguments. The dissertation must be uploaded to the Assignments section of the MSt in History Weblearn site by 12 noon of Monday of Week Nine of Trinity Term and should be accompanied by a declaration that it is the candidate’s own work. Material submitted under I and II may be summarised or substantially further developed in the dissertation, but no significant part of the dissertation should reproduce or paraphrase other work submitted for examination.

5.    A candidate who fails the examination will be permitted to retake it on one further occasion only, not later than one year after the initial attempt.