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Guidance and procedures

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College policies and procedures

University policies and procedures

Postgraduate Supervisions

Supervision reports for postgraduate students are submitted via the Cambridge Postgraduate Feedback and Reporting System (PFRS). Reports are open to the student and also available to the College as well as the Course Director, Degree Committee and Student Registry.

Each research student is assigned to a Principal Supervisor who is responsible for guiding the student and writing a termly progress report. All research students and their supervisors should also be supported by a supervisory team which will include an Advisor and may include a second supervisor.

Guidance for supervising postgraduate students can be found on this Moodle page.

Further detailed guidance is set out in the Code of Practice issued by the General Board.

Changing Colleges

Achieving a place at the University of Cambridge and one of its Colleges is highly competitive.

  • At undergraduate level, all places are filled at set stages through the UCAS admissions process (January and August for commencement in October).
  • At postgraduate level, many College places are often filled early on during the admissions cycle.

    • It is therefore not possible for a student to request to transfer from one College to another. Where you have been made, or accepted, an offer from a Cambridge College, you should assume that this will be your academic home for the duration of the course.

    In very exceptional cases, Colleges may discuss and agree between them the transfer of a student or applicant between the two Colleges, but this will only take place if there are compelling reasons for doing so, and the receiving College has the appropriate resources and capacity to admit the student. In such cases, the Senior Tutor will raise this in discussion with you as a potential option if this is considered by them to be an appropriate consideration in your specific circumstances, but please note that this does not guarantee such a transfer would be possible. In any one year, the total number of such transfers across the whole University (at both undergraduate and postgraduate level) is likely to be fewer than ten.

    The above points do not necessarily apply to postgraduate applicants in receipt of specific financial support packages from a College: it is relatively routine for a student to transfer from their undergraduate College to another College should they obtain a College-specific scholarship or bursary.

    Changing courses

    In order to ensure that Departments and Faculties are made aware of students transferring into or out of their Tripos, and in other cases where students’ course details change, Colleges are asked to complete this Student Course Change form.

    Please note that the form should be completed as soon as a student’s request to change subject has been approved internally within the College, including any progress requirements that the College may have set. Only then should it be sent to the relevant University bodies.

    Circumstances in which the form should be completed:

    • The College has agreed to a student changing Tripos.
    • A student changes Tripos as a natural result of course choices: for example moving into Chemical Engineering after completing Part IA Engineering, or moving into Part IB Natural Sciences after completing Part IA Mathematics with Physics.
    • A student is given permission by the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee to intermit or to repeat all or part of a year.
    • An appeal launched by a student (either in the College or in the University) results in a change in the student’s study plan; for instance the student is permitted to continue into Part III after having first been denied permission.
    • Any other student circumstance that might affect a Department.

    Once complete, the form should be sent to relevant administrative staff in both the new and previous Departments. In the case of the Natural Sciences Tripos, the form should be emailed to the Coordinator for the Natural Sciences Tripos (natsci@admin.cam.ac.uk). Copies should also be sent to the relevant Directors of Studies, Tutor and Tutorial Office.

    Confidentiality

    This document is good practice guidance for Colleges to use as they wish, on student confidentiality arrangements in a welfare context.

    Death of a student

    This document is a template for a student death response plan that Colleges can adopt or adapt as needed. Given the wide variety of factors that might surround a student’s death, the College’s management and response to each instance will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

    Serious Incident Case Review

    This guidance on responding to a serious incident is available to Colleges to adopt or adapt as needed. Given the wide variety of factors that might surround a serious incident, the College’s management and response to each instance will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

    Admissions

    Undergraduate admissions guidance for College staff can be found in the CAO's Undergraduate Admissions Handbook (Raven-protected).

    For postgraduate admissions guidance for College staff please go to the PAO's Moodle site.

    Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE) survey

    The Student Registry contacts graduands 6 months after completion of their course to undertake a survey of the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DHLE) on behalf of the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA). Colleges receive request for personal contact details of postgraduate students completing their study during that term, undergraduates annually (usually in May) and one Year postgraduate students (for example Diplomas and Certificates) by 31 July of that year.

    Coded information from the survey is sent to HESA and used in anonymised form primarily for statistical analysis. The University also uses such information to prepare statistical analyses about postgraduate destinations. Data is published on the CamDATA: course information and statistics website and is also available on the Careers Service website.

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