The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos, a word which has an obscure etymology, but which may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations. A common (but untrue) myth says that students used to receive one leg of a stool in each of their three years of exams, receiving the whole stool at graduation. An undergraduate studying mathematics is thus said to be reading the Mathematical Tripos, whilst a student of English is reading the English Tripos. (In most traditional British universities a student is expected to study one subject exclusively rather than having 'majors' or 'minors' as in American style universities). The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... A bachelors degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three or four years. ... Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctor) in a variety of subjects. ...

A Tripos is divided into two parts: Part I, which is broadly based, and Part II, which allows specialisation within the student's chosen field. Since a bachelor's degree usually takes three years to complete, either Part I or Part II is two years, and the other one year. The details of this can vary from subject to subject. There is also an optional Part III offered in some subjects, such as Mathematics; these are not required to complete a Bachelor degree. Some Part III courses allow the student to graduate with both a Masters degree and a Bachelor degree: for example, scientific Part III courses allow the student to graduate with an M.Sci. degree in addition to the B.A. degree which all Cambridge graduates receive. A bachelors degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three or four years. ...

Students are examined formally at the end of each part, and are awarded a degree classification for each part. The Part II classification is usually considered to be the classification for the degree. Many subjects are examined in all three years, with examinations for Part IA (read: "Part one A"), Part IB ("Part one B") and Part II ("Part two"). To examine somebody or something is to inspect it closely, hence an examination is a detailed inspection or analysis of an object or person. ...

Degree regulations state that, to be awarded a degree, you must have passed both a Part I and a Part II examination. This makes it easy for an undergraduate to switch out of a subject, but only into a complementary Tripos. So a one-year Part I (or Part IA) must be followed by a two-year Part II, and usually vice versa. More exotic combinations are possible, with the permission of the student's college and prospective department, but some combinations create a four-year bachelor's degree. A few subjects (eg Management Studies) exist only as Part II, and can be preceded by any manner of Part I subject.

Students who already possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent, whether from Cambridge or elsewhere, are generally permitted to skip Part I, and thus can complete a Cambridge bachelor's degree in two years or less.

See also

• Senior Wrangler

At the University of Cambridge in England, a wrangler is a student who has completed the third year (called Part II) of the mathematical tripos with first-class honours. ...

References

• Cambridge University prospectus