Assessment method

Assessment Thesis / Dissertation The MPhil dissertation (between 10,000 and 15,000 words) makes up 50 per cent of the total mark for the course, and is submitted in the last week of the third term (mid-June). Students are required to submit a dissertation title, with abstract, by the mid-point of the second term (February). Essays At the end of the first term of the course (December), students are required to submit a 5000-word Review of Scholarship essay, intended as a survey and assessment of scholarship on the topic of the projected MPhil dissertation. The mark for the Review of Scholarship essay constitutes 10 per cent of the overall MPhil grade. Over the course of four days in the first week of the third term (April), students write a 3000-word take-home essay, on a broad topic chosen from a selection, and drawing on at least three of the works of literature discussed during the course of the MPhil text-seminar, which runs throughout the first two terms of the course. The mark for the take-home essay makes up 10 per cent of the overall mark. Written examination Students are required to take two three-hour written examinations which assess knowledge and skills acquired during the first two terms of the academic year, in two courses chosen from among those taught in the Department. Courses on offer include Anglo-Saxon history, Scandinavian history, Brittonic and Gaelic history, Old English, Old Norse, Medieval Welsh, Medieval Irish, Insular Latin, and palaeography, most of which can be pursued at beginner, intermediate or advanced level; Germanic philology, Celtic philology, and textual criticism are further options for students with the appropriate prior knowledge. Each written examination is worth 15 per cent of the total MPhil mark, and is assessed independently by two examiners.