Dictionary Definition
tripos n : final honors degree examinations at
Cambridge University
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
tripos (plual triposes)- Any of the final examinations for a BA honours degree at Cambridge University.
Extensive Definition
- This article is about the Cambridge Tripos system. For the computer operating system, see TRIPOS.
The University
of Cambridge, England, divides
the different kinds of honours bachelor's
degree by Tripos, a word which has an obscure etymology, but which may be
traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on
when taking oral examinations. A common (but untrue) myth says that
students used to receive one leg of a stool in each of their three
years of exams, receiving the whole stool at graduation. An
undergraduate studying mathematics is thus said to be reading for
the Mathematical Tripos, whilst a student of English is reading for
the English Tripos. (In most traditional English universities a
student is expected to register study one field exclusively rather
than having 'majors' or 'minors' as in
American universities. In practice however, English degree
fields may be fairly interdisciplinary in nature, depending on the
subject. The multi-part Tripos system at Cambridge also allows
substantial changes in field between parts, and the Natural
Sciences Tripos is especially designed to allow a highly flexible
curriculum across the sciences).
Tripos est in partes duas divisum
A Tripos is divided into two parts: Part I, which
is broadly based, and Part II, which allows specialization within
the student's chosen field. Since a bachelor's
degree usually takes three years to complete, either Part I or
Part II is two years, and the other one year. The details of this
can vary from subject to subject. There is also an optional Part
III offered in some subjects, such as the
Mathematical Tripos; these are not required to complete a
bachelor's degree. Some Part III courses allow the student to
graduate with both a master's
degree and a Bachelor degree: for example, scientific Part III
courses allow the student to graduate with an M.Sci. degree in
addition to the B.A. degree which all Cambridge graduates receive.
The Engineering Tripos on the other hand is divided into Parts IA,
IB, IIA, and IIB, each corresponding to one academic year, and
leads to the simultaneous awarding of the B.A. and M.Eng.
degrees.
Students are examined formally at the end
of each part, and are awarded a degree classification for each
part. The Part II classification is usually considered to be the
classification for the degree. Most subjects are examined in all
three years; for example, the
Natural Sciences Tripos has examinations for Part IA (read:
"Part one A"), Part IB ("Part one B") and Part II ("Part
two").
Degree regulations state that, to be awarded a
degree, you must have passed both a Part I and a Part II
examination. This makes it easy for an undergraduate to switch out
of a subject, but only into a complementary Tripos. So a one-year
Part I (or Part IA) must be followed by a two-year Part II, and
usually vice versa. More exotic combinations are possible, with the
permission of the student's college and prospective department, but
some combinations create a four-year bachelor's degree. A few
subjects (e.g. Linguistics, Management Studies) exist only as Part
II, and can be preceded by any manner of Part I subject.
Students who already possess a bachelor's degree
or equivalent from another university are generally permitted to
skip Part I, and thus can complete a Cambridge bachelor's degree in
two years or less. Students already holding a BA degree from either
Oxford or Cambridge are not permitted to collect a second BA from
Cambridge.
List of Triposes
Below is the list of Triposes offered by the
University (numerals in brackets indicate the Parts available):
- Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Tripos (I, II)
- Archaeology and Anthropology Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)
- Architecture Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Chemical Engineering Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)
- Classical Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Computer Science Tripos (IA, IB, II, II(General))
- Economics Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)
- Education Studies Tripos (I, II)
- Engineering Tripos (IA, IB, IIA, IIB)
- English Tripos (I, II)
- Geography Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- History Tripos (I, II)
- History of Art Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)
- Land Economy Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Law Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Linguistics Tripos (One Part only)
- Management Studies Tripos (One Part only)
- Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (I, II)
- Mathematical Tripos (IA, IB, II, III)
- Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (IA, IB)
- Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Music Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Natural Sciences Tripos (IA, IB, II, III)
- Oriental Studies Tripos (I, II)
- Philosophy Tripos (IA, IB, II)
- Social and Political Sciences Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)
- Theological and Religious Studies Tripos (I, IIA, IIB)