All assessed components (exams, written papers, dissertations, coursework etc) of the Computer Science Tripos and MPhil in Advanced Computer Science have associated deadlines. Missing these, for most components even by one minute, incurs a high penalty (see below for penalties for late submission of individual course components).This accords with practice in professional life when missing an important deadline could be very costly.
Nonetheless, in a university situation, some flexibility is appropriate for personal or medical reasons. Requests for mitigation must be made via the application form from the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee by your College Tutor. Note that Tutors are very experienced in dealing with delicate personal or medical issues with sensitivity and confidentiality. You may wish to talk to your Director of Studies or Course Advisor first as they will be more familiar with the various Computer Science Tripos deadlines.
However, in all circumstances requests for mitigation must be made in a timely manner, i.e.. before the deadline, and reflect a significant impediment. In a six-month project almost everyone is likely to have a short-term illness or hardware failure and must plan around this. Note that while some mitigation requests (e.g. coursework) can be resolved by deadline extension, others (such as missing an exam paper or late submission of a Part III or MPhil project) can only result in zero marks; there is a higher-level University Applications Committee whose role is to resolve these cases.
Note Any requests for Part II extensions must be made by the student's Tutor to the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee for approval by the Examiners. Individual lecturers cannot approve requests for deadline extensions (with the exception of tick extensions*).
Extensions for ticks should be applied for by completing the Extension Request Form and returning it to teaching-admin@cst.cam.ac.uk. *Tick extensions are approved by the individual lecturer or the Teaching Administration Manager rather than by the Examiners, but only after submission of this form.
Below is a summary of the published deadlines and penalties for the various Parts of the Computer Science Tripos and the MPhil in Advanced Computer Science.
Computer Science Tripos
- Part IA
- All ticks must be obtained by the dates specified in the Head of Department's Announcement. Penalty for late/missed tick is 10 marks (10% of a paper).
- Part IB
- ECAD, Further Graphics, C/++, and Group Project ticks: Assessed exercises must be submitted by the dates specified in the Head of Department's Announcement. Penalty for late/missed tick is 10 marks (10% of a paper).
- Part II
- Individual project: Project proposals must be approved and final projects submitted by the dates specified on the Part II Project important dates web page. Penalties are automatically applied for late submission of your project dissertation: a quarter of the marks are lost immediately after the noon deadline.
- All Unit of Assessment coursework must be submitted by the dates specified in the Head of Department’s Announcement. Penalties are automatically applied for late assignments: the mark awarded for the submission is reduced by a quarter of the total marks for that submission.
- Part III
- Taught modules: Deadlines and penalties match (specified here) those of the MPhil in Advanced Computer Science below.
- Individual project: Project proposals must be approved and final projects submitted as specified in the Head of Department's Announcement for Part III.
- Contact: College Tutors for Advanced Students are advised to email the Postgraduate Education Manager in the first instance with a request for an extension to their students' coursework of 7 days or less. Extension requests longer than this will require an application to the EAMC. Extensions to the submission of the final project report will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.
MPhil in Advanced Computer Science
- Taught modules: Assessed coursework, take-home exams and the like must be completed by the times and dates set by the Postgraduate Education Office. The guidance on ACS assessment spells out the penalties for late submission.
- Contact: College Tutors for Advanced Students are advised to email the Secretary of the Degree Committee in the first instance with a request for an extension to their students' coursework. The Examiners for the M.Phil in Advanced Computer Science will consider cases for up to 14 days for ill health or other grave cause.
- Individual project: Extensions to the submission of the final project report will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and will generally require an official change to the submission date recorded by the Student Registry's Records and Examinations Office. This will require a formal application via CamSIS.
- Failure to submit the project report by 11:00am on the required date, and without an approved extension, leads to it being awarded zero marks.
Note: Extension processes are likely to be updated in early 2023 (pending GBEC and Faculty Board approval) - December 2022
Updated to remove references to 'Computer Laboratory' 18 January 2023 (as approved by CST Faculty Board - 17/01/23)
Updated to include email contact for College Tutors for Advanced Students, 23 February 2023.
Updated for clarification regarding extensions' 30th March 2023
