how does changing courses work at cambridge

on the website for economics it says that you will have the ability to change to another degree such as law after a couple years of economics, does that mean that you will have to start again from 1st year law or just continue from the year you are in

Reply 1

Paralove

It depends. With Law, you have to take particular compulsory papers for it to be a qualifying degree, so I'd imagine either you switch after first year Econ and probably do three years of law, or switch after second year and do the law course for two years taking the compulsory papers to qualify.

However I would email the law department and check what happens for switching students as they will have the answers! Mine are an educated assumption, knowing how the system usually tends to work.

Reply 2

R T

Original post by DarkIndian

Typically students do not need to complete either part I or part II independently across different subjects. This is the main concept of the tripos system - that tripos parts can be completed separately.

From the people I knew who switched subjects, most did not have to go down a year. However, I think each individual case will have to be closely examined. How well the student is doing - both in week-to-week supervision work as well as end of year tripos exams will affect the decision. (The better your grades are, the easier it will be to switch).

It is also very important how much the subject you're switching to draws on cumulative knowledge. For example - 2nd year Physics will heavily draw on 1st year physics. It's not really possible to study it without having done the work, so you will likely either be asked to complete all the 1st year module's theory over the summer break (and a lot of people I knew who switched subjects sacrificed their summer doing exactly something like this) - or you will be expected to repeat 1st year, doing physics instead.

And then, as @Paralove rightly mentions, some degrees might have additional complicatings factors (such as mandatory exams or mandatory hours of practical work). This may easily go beyond what you can teach yourself (for example, it might mean in a Science that you must do extra practical hours each week to slowly start catching up on the mandatory quota for the board which recognises nation-wide degree qualifications). Exactly how much this limits and what implications it has for the extra year(s) of study needed will depend heavily on the subject in question.

What I will say is that, if possible, I think the university will try to accommodate the student's needs - which means they will do their best to give you the option to switch without having to repeat the year. If you are forced to study for additional years - it will be because doing so otherwise is not a realistic or possible option.