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General Regulations for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework

§ 1. Degree of Master of Science by Coursework

  • 1. Any person who has been admitted to the status of student for the degree of Master of Science by Coursework, who has satisfied the conditions prescribed by this section, and has satisfied the examiners as required, may supplicate for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework.

  • 2. The Education Committee shall have power to make and vary such regulations as may be necessary for carrying out the duties laid upon it and upon the Registrar by this section.

  • 3. For the purposes of this section, the words ‘board’, ‘faculty board’, or ‘board of the faculty’ shall include any committee authorised to admit candidates for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework.

  • 4. A Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework who is not a graduate of the University may wear the same gown as that worn by Students for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

§ 2. Admission of Candidates for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework

  • 1. A candidate seeking admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall apply to the board under whose aegis the proposed course of study falls. Candidates for admission shall be required to provide such information as the board may determine from time to time by regulation. Applicants shall in addition be required to undertake such other tests and meet such conditions as, subject to the approval of the Education Committee, a board may determine by regulation.

  • 2. Applications shall be made through the Registrar, and it shall be the duty of the Registrar to submit each application to the board concerned and to inform the candidate of the outcome, as soon as may be.

  • 3. No person shall be admitted as a Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework under these provisions unless he or she is also a member of a college, and unless the application for admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework has the approval of that college. The Registrar shall forward the application to the candidate's college or to the college to which the candidate wishes to apply for membership, as appropriate; and admission by the faculty board shall be conditional upon admission by an approved society.

  • 4. A student registered for any other higher degree or diploma in the University may apply for transfer to the status of Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework.1 The board concerned shall have power to make such transfer, provided that it is satisfied that the student is well qualified and well fitted to undertake the course of study for which application is made, and that the application has the support of the candidate's society. A candidate who transfers status in this way shall be reckoned as having held the status of Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework from the time of admission to his or her previous status, unless the board shall determine otherwise.

  • 5. A student holding the status of Probationer Research Student may, with the approval of the board which admitted him or her, be admitted as a candidate for an examination for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework. Time spent as a student holding the status of Probationer Research Student shall count as time spent working for the Degree of Master of Science.

§ 3. Supervision of Students for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework

  • 1. Every candidate on admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall be placed by the board concerned under the supervision of a member of the University or other competent person selected by the board, and the board shall have power for sufficient reason to change the supervisor of any student or to arrange for joint supervision by more than one supervisor, if it deems it necessary.

  • 2. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of a student entered upon a course of study to direct and superintend the work of the student, to meet the student regularly, and to undertake such duties as shall from time to time be set out in the relevant Policy and Guidance issued by the Education Committee.

  • 3. The supervisor shall submit a report on the progress of a student to the board three times a year, and at any other time when the board so requests or the supervisor deems it expedient. The supervisor shall communicate the contents of the report to the student on each occasion that a report is made, so that the student is aware of the supervisor's assessment of his or her work during the period in question. In addition, the supervisor shall inform the board at once if he or she is of the opinion the student is unlikely to reach the standard required for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework.

  • 4. It shall be the duty of every Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework to undertake such guided work and to attend such seminars and lectures as his or her supervisor requests; to attend such meetings with his or her supervisor as the supervisor reasonably arranges; and to fulfil any other requirements of the Education Committee as set out in relevant Policy and Guidance issued by the Education Committee.

§ 4. Residence and other Requirements for Students for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework

  • 1. No full-time Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall be granted leave to supplicate unless, after admission, he or she has kept statutory residence and pursued his or her course of study at Oxford for at least three terms.

  • 2. No full-time Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall retain that status for more than six terms in all, except that any candidate for the Examination in Education may retain that status for nine terms in all.

  • 3. Part-time students for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall in each case be required to pursue their course of study for twice the number of terms required of an equivalent full-time student. Part-time students shall not be required to keep statutory residence but must attend for such instruction and undertake such supervised fieldwork as the faculty concerned shall require. The Director of Graduate Studies of the board concerned, or director of the department concerned, as the case may be, shall keep a register of attendance of part-time students. No student shall be granted leave to supplicate unless the register shows satisfactory attendance by him or her.

  • 4. Part-time students may hold the status of Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework for up to twice the number of terms for which equivalent full-time students may hold that status except where an extension of time is permitted by special regulation.

  • 5. A Student for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall cease to hold that status if:

    • (i) he or she shall have been refused permission to supplicate for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework;

    • (ii) the board concerned shall, in accordance with provisions set down by regulation by the Education Committee, and after consultation with the student's society and supervisor, have deprived the student of such status;

    • (iii) he or she shall have been transferred under the relevant provisions to another status;

    • (iv) he or she shall not have entered for the relevant examination within the time specified under this subsection.

§ 5. Examination of Students

  • 1. The examinations for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework shall be under the supervision of the boards authorised to admit candidates for the Degree of Master of Science by Coursework. The examinations for the degree and the bodies responsible for the supervision of each examination are listed below.

    [See Table 26]

  • 2. No candidate shall be permitted to take an examination under the preceding clause unless he or she has been admitted as a candidate for the examination in question by the body responsible for the course and has satisfied any other conditions prescribed in the regulations for that course.

  • 3. Final examination marks shall be released to candidates at the conclusion of the examination. Exceptions to this may be made where assessment takes place throughout the course. In such cases, examination boards must meet formally, with all members present, at interim points in the year in order to agree final marks for specified assessment components. Marks released as final marks may not subsequently be amended without permission of the Proctors.

  • 4. A candidate who has failed to satisfy the examiners in the examination may enter again for the examination on one, but not more than one, subsequent occasion. Unless the special regulations for the examination specify otherwise, this resit attempt shall normally be taken at the next opportunity, but may be deferred once, i.e. it must be taken at one of the next two opportunities. No candidate who has satisfied the examiners in the examination may enter again for the same examination.
  • 5. The examiners may award a merit for work of particularly high quality in the whole examination or a distinction for excellence in the whole examination. Candidates who have initially failed any element of assessment shall not normally be eligible for the award of merit or distinction.

 

Table 26

Examination

Board

African Studies

Social Sciences

Applied Landscape Archaeology

Continuing Education

Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition

Social Sciences

Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching

Social Sciences

Applied Statistics

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Archaeological Science

Social Sciences

Biodiversity, Conservation, and Management

Social Sciences

Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience

Medical Sciences

Clinical Embryology

Medical Sciences

Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology

Social Sciences

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Continuing Education

Comparative Social Policy

Social Sciences

Computer Science

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Contemporary Chinese Studies

Social Sciences

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Law

Economic and Social History

History

Economics for Development

Social Sciences

Education

Social Sciences

Educational Assessment

Social Sciences

Endovascular Neurosurgery (Interventional Neuroradiology)

Medical Sciences

English Local History

Continuing Education

Environmental Change and Management

Social Sciences

Evidence-Based Health Care

Medical Sciences/Continuing Education

Evidence-Based Social Intervention

Social Sciences

Experimental and Translational Therapeutics

Medical Sciences/Continuing Education 

Financial Economics

Social Sciences

Global Governance and Diplomacy

Social Sciences

Global Health Science

Medical Sciences

History of Science, Medicine, and Technology

History

Integrated Immunology

Medical Sciences

International Health and Tropical Medicine

Medical Sciences

Japanese Studies

Social Sciences

Latin American Studies

School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies

Law and Finance

Social Sciences

Learning and Teaching

Social Sciences

Major Programme Management

Social Sciences

Management Research

Social Sciences

Mathematical and Computational Finance

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Mathematical and Theoretical Physics

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Mathematical Finance

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computation

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Medical Anthropology

Social Sciences

Microelectronics, Optoelectronics and Communications

Continuing Education/Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Migration Studies

Social Sciences

Modern Chinese Studies

Social Sciences

Modern South Asian Studies

Social Sciences

Musculoskeletal Sciences

Medical Sciences

Nanotechnology for Medicine and Health Care

Continuing Education/Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance

Social Sciences

Neuroscience

Medical Sciences

Paediatric Infectious Diseases

Medical Sciences/Continuing Education

Pharmacology

Medical Sciences

Political Theory Research

Social Sciences

Politics Research

Social Sciences

Psychological Research

Medical Sciences

Radiation Biology

Medical Sciences

Refugee and Forced Migration Studies

Social Sciences

Russian and East European Studies

Social Sciences

Sleep Medicine

Medical Sciences

Social Anthropology

Social Sciences

Social Data Science

Social Sciences

Social Science of the Internet (full-time)

Social Sciences

Social Science of the Internet (part-time)

Social Sciences

Sociology

Social Sciences

Software and Systems Security

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Software Engineering

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Software Engineering Programme

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Surgical Science and Practice

Medical Sciences/Continuing Education

Sustainable Urban Development

Continuing Education

Taxation (part-time)

Social Sciences

Teacher Education (part-time)

Social Sciences

Theoretical and Computational Chemistry

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology

Social Sciences

Water Science Policy and Management

Social Sciences