Assessment
Each of the core and option courses taken in the Autumn and Spring semesters is assessed via an essay of 4,000 words. The obligatory Research Skills Course, taken in the first semester (week 1), is assessed by the submission of a research bibliography. In semester 2 the Research Problems and Methods course is assessed via the submission of a research plan, topic, title and working bibliography for an independent research paper. These exercises are not graded, but assessed only on a pass/fail basis.
Assessment for the MSc Programme is based on two elements: i) grades for the four 4,000-word essays (‘coursework') written by students during the taught element of the course (i.e. two essays for the core course, and one for each of the two chosen options); ii) the Dissertation. A pass is also required in each of the Research Methods courses.
The four coursework essay assessments are weighted at 25% each. Students must gain an overall coursework pass of 50% or above in order to proceed to the dissertation. The MSc degree is awarded on the basis of the mark gained for the dissertation (but note the information given below on the award of Distinctions). Students with coursework marks between 40% and 49% may at this stage be awarded the lesser degree of Postgraduate Diploma and will not then proceed with the Dissertation.
In the second semester, students will work with their dissertation supervisors towards a research scheme, in conjunction with a subject-specific course of lecture/seminars. At the end of the fifth week of Semester 2, students submit an outline of the dissertation they propose to write, a proposed scheme of work, and an annotated bibliography (approx. 4000 words). This will be assessed by your dissertation supervisor on a pass/fail basis for the Research Themes and Methods component of the course.Dissertation This is a piece of independent research, no more than 15,000 words long (including footnotes, excluding bibliography), researched and written over the spring/summer by every student. During the Spring semester, the Course Organiser allocates each student a dissertation supervisor: not necessarily an expert in the field of the Dissertation (depending on the topic chosen), but an adviser to assist with planning, ideas and structure as your work progresses. Regular consultation with this supervisor continues until late May, by which time a plan of work for the dissertation should have been designed and discussed, and some written work should have been submitted.
Diploma
Students achieving between 40% and 49% in the taught component of the course will not proceed to the dissertation element of the degree, but will be awarded the Diploma.
Masters candidates failing to achieve an adequate standard in the Dissertation (i.e. 50% or above) will be awarded the Diploma (if marked at 40-49%).
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