University teaching
Your Faculty or Department is responsible for arranging lectures, seminars, and practicals (where relevant).
You will be provided with a handbook by your Faculty or Department providing information on the facilities and services offered locally, in addition to expectations of you during your course of study.
Among other things, the course handbook should contain information about:
- course structure, including a timetable for induction and training
- the teaching approach, for example, the role of lectures, seminars, supervision
- the University's rules on plagiarism and the conventions specific to the subject for the acknowledgement of the work of others
- the methods of assessment, including:
- the timing and status of any informal assessment of academic progress and skills training, including any local requirements for feasibility or progress reports
- timing and status of formal assessment of progress and registration for the degree
- word limits and stylistic requirements for dissertations
- reference to the University's procedures for reviewing the results of examinations for postgraduate qualifications.
- academic support services and facilities available to students
- other types of support available to students, including advice on who to contact in case of need
- arrangements for student representation and feedback
- advice on how to resolve problems or make a complaint.
Lecture list
The online lecture list provides information on all lectures that are held at the University, including venue and time of each lecture. As a matriculated student, you are entitled to attend any lectures (but not classes or practicals) of any degree course. Students wishing to attend lectures for a subject for which they are not registered will be permitted to do so only if there is room for them in the lecture theatre. Please check the details published by the Faculty or Department concerned before attending such lectures as you may be required to sign up in advance.
College teaching
College teaching, in the form of supervision, may be given on University or College premises, but wherever it is given is the responsibility of your College.
Director of Studies
A key academic relationship while at Cambridge will be with your Director of Studies. Throughout your undergraduate course your Director of Studies will advise you on course choice options and arrange supervisions, which are the small-group teaching sessions provided by Colleges that characterise a Cambridge undergraduate education. He or she will also monitor and support your academic progress.
Your Director of Studies’ commitment to you |
During your time as an undergraduate, you may generally expect your Director of Studies to do the following.
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Your commitment to your Director of Studies |
In return for the efforts of your Director of Studies, you are normally expected to:
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Supervisor
Supervisions are at the core of the educational provision of the Cambridge Colleges, as a medium through which students learn to work autonomously, to argue and to present arguments, to handle problems, to learn with and from others, to question their own assumptions, and to meet deadlines. They rely on mutual respect between supervisors and students.
Your Supervisor’s commitment to you |
If you engage with the spirit of supervisions set out above, you may generally expect the following from your supervisors:
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Your commitment to your Supervisor |
For supervision teaching to work effectively as a key part of the Cambridge experience, you are normally expected to:
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If you experience problems with College teaching which cannot readily be resolved directly between you and your supervisor, you should seek help from your Tutor (or other College adviser), or if you prefer, your Director of Studies. If you are unable to resolve any problem through this route, you may wish to lodge a formal complaint. Information on your College’s complaints procedure will be available from your College.
Your Tutor or Director of Studies will also be able to advise you if you are experiencing problems with teaching in your Faculty or Department.
Closing the loop on feedback
Colleges have a varying range of mechanisms for collecting information, and closing the loop on, student feedback on College Teaching. However, Senior Tutors have agreed the following points of best practice:
- All Colleges should work to encourage student feedback.
- There should be transparent mechanisms in each College for collection of, and closing the loop on, feedback, which are clearly articulated to students, supervisors, and Directors of Studies.
- Senior Tutors and Directors of Studies will normally see feedback on supervisors.
- Feedback and comments thereon should be relayed to supervisors; and outcomes communicated to student bodies.
Supervision Norms
Faculties and Departments, in consultation with Directors of Studies groups, provide 'supervision norms' which are intended to guide Directors of Studies on the number of supervisions a standard student might expect to receive for each year of study. The actual number of supervisions a given student receives may well vary according to paper choices and, in particular, to their individual academic needs. The norms are updated annually and available from your College Director of Studies or Tutorial Office.
Terms of admission
If you require a copy of your terms of admission and the conditions under which you were matriculated, please contact your College’s Tutorial Office.
Working while you study
Students are not expected to undertake paid work during term-time. Cambridge seeks to keep student living costs manageable, and accordingly the vast majority of students do not work during term-time, concentrating instead on their academic studies and co-curricular/social activities. Cambridge terms are short so many students work during the vacations, especially, for undergraduate students, in the long vacation in the summer. Students should consult their Faculty or Department for further details regarding official vacation periods during their studies and note that, depending on the course, studies may continue into the summer.
Students are reminded of the financial support that is available through the Colleges and the University.
Any students who undertake work should first consider the impact this may have on their studies and discuss the matter with their Tutor. Students should always take into account personal constraining factors, including visa and financial sponsorship restrictions. Pressure created by paid working will not normally be accepted as extenuating circumstances for examination mitigation, in cases where results are disappointing.