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Honour School of Mathematics and Philosophy

A

  • 1. All candidates shall be examined in Mathematics and in Philosophy.

  • 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this School unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

  • 3.

    • (a) The examination in Mathematics and Philosophy shall consist of three parts:

    • Part A, Part B and Part C.

    • (b) Parts A, B and C shall be taken at times not less than three, six, and nine terms, respectively, after passing or being exempted from the First Public Examination.

    • (c) Part A shall be taken on one occasion only. No candidate shall enter for Part B until he or she has completed Part A of the examination.

  • 4.

    • (a) In order to proceed to Part C, a candidate must achieve upper second class Honours or higher in Parts A and B together.

    • (b) A candidate who obtains only a pass or fails to satisfy the Examiners in Parts A and B together may retake Part B on at most one subsequent occasion; a candidate who fails to satisfy the Examiners in Part C may retake Part C on at most one subsequent occasion. Candidates who retake Part B are not allowed to go on to Part C.

    • (c) A candidate who has obtained Honours in Parts A and B together or has satisfied the examiners but has not obtained Honours in Parts A and B together is permitted to supplicate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Philosophy. A candidate who has achieved upper second class Honours or higher in Parts A and B together and who takes the examination in Part C and fails to obtain Honours in Part C, is permitted to supplicate for the Honours degree of Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Philosophy with the classification obtained in Parts A and B together; provided that no such candidate may later enter or re-enter the Part C year or supplicate for the degree of Master of Mathematics and Philosophy; and provided in each case that the candidate has fulfilled all the conditions for admission to a degree of the University.

    • (d) A candidate who has achieved upper second class Honours or higher in Parts A and B together, and achieves Honours in Part C may supplicate for the degree of Master of Mathematics and Philosophy provided that the candidate has fulfilled all the conditions for admission to a degree of the University.

  • 5. The Examiners shall classify and publish the combined results of the examinations in Part A and Part B, and in respect of candidates taking the four-year course shall separately classify and publish results in Part C.  

  • 6. The examinations in this school shall be under the joint supervision of the Divisional Board of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and the Board of the Faculty of Philosophy, which shall appoint a standing joint committee to make regulations concerning it, subject in all cases to clauses 1-4 above.

  • 7.

    • (a) The Public Examiners for Mathematics in this school shall be such of the Public Examiners in the Honour School of Mathematics as may be required, not being less than three; those for Philosophy shall be appointed by a committee whose three elected members shall be appointed by the Board of the Faculty of Philosophy.

    • (b) It shall be the duty of the chairs of the Public Examiners in Parts A, B and C of the Honour School of Mathematics to designate such of their number as may be required for Mathematics in the Honour School of Mathematics and Philosophy, and when this has been done and the examiners for Philosophy have been nominated, the number of the examiners in Mathematics and Philosophy shall be deemed to be complete. No examiners for Philosophy will be required in Part A of the examination.

  • 8. The highest honours can be obtained by excellence either in Mathematics or in Philosophy provided that adequate knowledge is shown in the other subject of the examination.

  • 9. The use of calculators is generally not permitted for written papers. However, their use may be permitted for certain exceptional examinations. The specification of calculators permitted for these exceptional examinations will be announced by the Examiners in the Hilary Term preceding the examination.

Part A

In Part A, each candidate shall be required to offer, from the Mathematics Part A Schedule (see below), papers A0, A2, and two papers from papers A3, A4, A5, A8 and ASO.

A candidate may, with the support of his or her Mathematics tutor, apply to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy for approval of one or more other options from the list of Mathematics Department units for Part A which can be found on the Mathematical Institute website. Applications for special approval must be made through the candidate's college and sent to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy, c/o Academic Administrator, Mathematical Institute, to arrive by Friday of Week 2 of Hilary Term in the academic year of the examination for Part A.

Schedule of Papers in Part A

  • A0 Linear Algebra

  • A2 Metric Spaces and Complex Analysis

  • A3 Rings and Modules

  • A4 Integration

  • A5 Topology

  • A8 Probability

  • ASO Short Options

Syllabus details will be published on the Mathematical Institute website by the beginning of the Michaelmas Full Term in the academic year of the examination for Part A, after consultation with the Mathematics Teaching Committee.

Part B

The examination for Part B shall consist of units in Mathematics and subjects in Philosophy. The schedule of units and double units in Mathematics, along with synopses and other details, will be approved by the Mathematics Teaching Committee and published on the Mathematical Institute website page 'Registration for Part B Mathematics and Philosophy Courses' by the beginning of the Michaelmas Full Term in the academic year of the examination concerned. The schedule shall be in two parts: Schedule 1 (standard units) and Schedule 2 (additional units). A candidate may, with the support of his or her Mathematics tutor, apply to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy for approval of one or more other options not in these Schedules, but from the list of Mathematics Courses for Part B, including Statistics and Computer Science options. These can be found on the Mathematical Institute website page 'Registration Part B Mathematics Courses'. Applications for special approval must be made through the candidate's college and sent to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy, c/o Academic Administrator, Mathematical Institute, to arrive by Friday of Week 4 of Michaelmas Term in the academic year of the examination for Part B. In Philosophy the subjects shall be subjects   from the list given in Special Regulations for All Honour Schools Including Philosophy. Each candidate shall offer:

  • (i) Four units of Mathematics from Schedule 1, two of which shall be B1.1 Logic and B.1.2 Set Theory.

  • (ii) Three subjects in Philosophy from 101-116, 120, 122, 124, 125, 127-129, 137-139 and 198 of which two must be 122 and either 101 or 102, and

  • (iii) Either two further units in Mathematics drawn from Schedule 1 and 2 combined or one further subject in Philosophy from subjects 101-116, 120, 124, 125, 127-129, 137-139, 198, and 199: Thesis.

Part C

In Part C each candidate shall offer one of the following:

  • (i) A minimum of eight units and a maximum of ten units in Mathematics;

    (ii) A minimum of six units and a maximum of seven units in Mathematics and one unit in Philosophy;

from the lists for Mathematics and for Philosophy.

  • (iii) A minimum of three units and a maximum of four units in Mathematics and two units in Philosophy;

  • (iv) Three units in Philosophy;

from the lists for Mathematics and for Philosophy.

The schedule of units and double units in Mathematics, along with synopses and other details, will be approved by the Mathematics Teaching Committee and published on the Mathematical Institute website page 'Registration for Part C Mathematics and Philosophy Courses' by the beginning of Michaelmas Full Term in the academic year of the examination concerned. The list of units for Part C shall include units in Mathematical Logic as specified by the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy.

A candidate may, with the support of his or her Mathematics tutor, apply to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy for approval of one or more other options not in these Schedules, but from the list of Mathematics Courses for Part C, including Statistics, Computer Science and Other Options. These can be found on the Mathematical Institute website page 'Registration Part C Mathematics Courses'. Applications for special approval must be made through the candidate's college and sent to the Chair of the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy, c/o Academic Administrator, Mathematical Institute, to arrive by Friday of Week 4 of Michaelmas Term in the academic year of the examination for Part C.

No unit in Mathematics, and no subject in Philosophy, may be offered in both Part B and Part C, except in the case of subject 199 (Philosophy Thesis). A unit in Philosophy consists of one of the following:

  • (a) One of the subjects 101-116, 120, 124, 125, 127-129, and 137-139 as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy. For Part C, these subjects shall be examined by a three hour written paper together with a Part C Philosophy Essay of at most 5,000 words, as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy.

  • (b) A Special Subject 198, as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy.

  • (c) A Part C Philosophy Thesis, as specified below.

  • (d) A Special Subject in Philosophy as approved by the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy by regulations published in the University Gazette and communicated to college tutors by the end of the fifth week of Trinity Term in the year before the Part C examination in which it will be examined.

  • No candidate may offer more than one Special Subject in Philosophy in Part C. In approving a Special Subject in Philosophy for Part C, the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy may specify that candidates will not be permitted to offer certain Special Subjects in combination with certain other subjects, or will be permitted to do so only on condition that in the papers on the other subjects they will not be permitted to answer certain questions. Subject to these qualifications, any candidate may offer any approved Special Subject.

Philosophy Thesis

The regulations for a Part C thesis are exactly the same as for 199: Thesis, as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy, except that the word limit is 20,000 words.

Schedule of Units in Mathematics for Part C

The list of units and double units along with synopses and other details, will be approved by the Mathematics Teaching Committee and published on the Mathematical Institute website by the beginning of Michaelmas Full Term in the academic year of the examination concerned.

The list of units for Part C shall include units in Mathematical Logic as specified by the Joint Committee for Mathematics and Philosophy.