Postgraduate Exam Boards
Overview
Exam Boards are formal meetings of department staff to review student progress and award degrees. There are two PGT Exam Boards each year: an Interim Exam Board and a Final Exam Board. PGT Exam Boards are governed by Regulation 37.
Interim Exam Board
In June, when all your taught module coursework has been submitted, an Examination Board (consisting at this stage of internal members) will be held to review all marks and individual student progress. Provided you have achieved a pass mark (a mark of 50 or above) in 90 CATS鈥� worth of assessed work (including all core modules) and at least 40 in the remaining modules, you will normally be allowed to proceed to writing your dissertation. This is a just formal designation: work on your dissertation should be quite advanced by this stage! If you have not achieved this, you will have the opportunity to resubmit failed assessments worth up to 60 CATS in total.
The Interim Board will also recommend that students following the taught MA part-time should be allowed to proceed to their second year, provided that the assessed work submitted so far has reached the required level.
Final Exam Board
In November, after the marking of dissertations, a final Examination Board (this time including external examiners) will be held to review and confirm all marks. Final marks and degree classifications will be confirmed at this point. The Final Exam Board also awards prizes.
The pass mark is 50. Marks between 60 and 69 will be awarded to work of merit level, and marks of 70 and above to work of distinction standard. Where dissertations have not met the required standard, candidates may be asked by the November Exam Board to resubmit within a specified time limit.
Issues with progression
If you are experiencing any difficulties which are preventing you from studying and progressing as you would wish, please make the most of the support available.
You may be asked to complete reassessments before you can graduate or proceed to your dissertation. Please see our dedicated Reassessments page for more information about how reassessments work.
After Exam Boards
Exit Awards
鈥楨xit鈥� awards recognise the achievement of postgraduate students where it was not possible to award the highest qualification for which they were registered, this includes students
- who have not met progression requirements
- who withdraw due to personal or medical reasons
- who are restarting on another degree programme
Boards of Examiners will make a recommendation to allow a student to remedy failure (e.g. resit, resit without residence as appropriate), wherever possible, to allow students an opportunity to progress, and only recommend an exit qualification where these possibilities have been exhausted (or are not available).
A Postgraduate Diploma may be awarded to:
- Students who have completed all assessed work satisfactorily, but have failed to produce a satisfactory dissertation.
- Students unable to proceed to writing a dissertation following completion of coursework.
Further information on exit awards may be found here.
Prizes
The History Department awards prizes at the end of each year to students based on their academic performance.
Prizes are awarded at the discretion of the PGT Final Exam Board.
Sir John H. Elliott Prize for Best Overall Performance
The Sir John H. Elliott Prize for Best Overall Performance is for postgraduate taught students based in the History Department in recognition of outstanding academic achievement. It is usually awarded to the student with the highest overall average in a History postgraduate degree.
Dissertation Prize
The Dissertation Prize is for postgraduate taught students in the History Department. The prize is usually awarded to the student with the highest overall mark for their dissertation, in recognition of outstanding research and academic achievement.
Outstanding Student Contribution Awards
These awards recognise that as well as excelling academically, many of our students also contribute to our department community in a range of ways.
Transcripts
Postgraduate students do not receive a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). A departmental letter can be requested from the PG History Office via email. Alternatively, you can check your marks via Tabula.
When you finish your degree, you will receive a Degree Certificate alongside your transcript. Usually, this is presented at your Graduation Ceremony. If you are not able to attend graduation, or if you need a replacement copy, it can be posted to you.
Graduation
History PGT students normally graduate in the Winter Degree Congregation in January.
All information regarding the University's degree ceremonies can be found on the .
The History Department will normally host a reception to celebrate your achievements.
More information will be published here closer to the time.
Appeals
There are specific circumstances which allow postgraduate students to appeal against the award of a degree class or a decision that they be required to withdraw. Full details may be found on the University鈥檚 Appeal pages