UNIVERSITY OF LONDON M.A. Courses in: Ancient History Classical Art & Archaeology Classics Late Antique & Byzantine Studies Published on behalf of: The Institute of Classical Studies King's College London, Classics Department Royal Holloway, Classics Department University College London, Greek and Latin Department University College London, History Department

Examinations & Assessment

Dates of examination

Marking criteria

Awarding of degrees

Most taught courses are examined by two to four essays of approximately 12,000 words in total, or by equivalent coursework, during the course. The other taught courses, including all language-learning courses, are examined by one three-hour written paper. The details for each course are specified in the list. Some courses are assessed by a combination of coursework and written tests.

The dissertation must normally be of 10,000 to 12,000 words (including footnotes, but excluding bibliography and lists of illustrations).

Dates of examination

Taught courses: written examinations are sat in May; coursework is to be submitted by 1st June.

Dissertation: To be submitted by 15 September (or, if this is a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday) for the M.A. in Ancient History, the MA in Classical Art and Archaeology and the M.A. in Classics (title to be submitted for approval by 31 January); and by 31 August (or, if this is a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday) for the M.A. in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies.

Part-time candidates may not take more than two taught courses in their first year, and may not submit the dissertation until their second year.

A candidate with good cause may be permitted by their School to defer entry to one taught course and/or the dissertation to the following year.

Marking criteria

All taught courses and the dissertation are marked out of 100. The minimum pass mark is 50; a mark of 49 or below is a fail. A mark of 70 and above qualifies as a distinction. For examinations, coursework and the dissertation marks are awarded according to the following criteria (where relevant):

70+ The candidate displays originality of thought and/or independent critical evaluation of primary source material and also satisfies the examiners with reference to the following criteria: ability to sustain a relevant and focused argument, clarity of presentation, understanding of issues and methods, skills of analysis and synthesis, and technical competence.
Marks of 75+ are given to candidates outstanding with regard to the first two criteria as well as all, or almost all, of the others.

60-69 The candidate handles ideas or source material competently and critically, writes and argues clearly and with technical competence, and is aware of the issues.

50-59 The candidate shows a good knowledge of relevant primary and secondary material, displays an awareness of issues, some measure of technical competence and some capacity to produce a coherent and focused argument.

40-49 The candidate either shows insufficient knowledge or fails to grasp issues or fails to produce a coherent and focused discussion.

0-39 The candidate is unable to attempt adequate answers.

Awarding of degrees

Successful candidates are awarded the M.A. with the grade of Pass or Distinction.

A Pass is awarded to candidates with pass-marks (50 or above) in all four elements of the degree, or with pass-marks in three elements including the dissertation and a narrow fail in one taught course (normally a mark not below 48) which is compensated for by good performance (normally a mark of at least 60) elsewhere.

A Distinction is awarded to candidates with marks of 70 or over in any three elements of the degree and a mark of 60 or more in the fourth, or with marks of 75 or over in two elements including the dissertation and marks of 60 or over in the other two elements.

Candidates who fail one or more elements in the degree may retake the failed element(s) in a subsequent year.