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What are 'collections' / 'moderations' etc?

What are 'collections'?
Assuming they are exams, what are 'moderations'?
Do you have to pass these?
What is a 'double first'? What is a 'starred first'?

Reply 1

elpaw

collections - college exams at the beginning of the term testing what you learnt the last term. or "parents evening" without the parents at the end of term.

mods - ask a lawyer :tongue:

you have to pass your mods to carry on into the second year (at least if mods are like prelims).

you dont technically have to pass your collections (they are more unofficial and completely unrelated to your final degree) but if you do consistently badly, you could get a penal collection and ultimately thrown out.

a double first is getting a first in your first year exams (prelims or mods) and a first in your final exams.

ive never heard of a starred first. mayhap it's a tab thing.

Reply 2

RichE

Toni Mag

What are 'collections'?
Assuming they are exams, what are 'moderations'?
Do you have to pass these?
What is a 'double first'? What is a 'starred first'?

Collections usually means college exams at the beginning of term so that college tutors can check on your progress. Best compared with mocks in schools. Collections don't count towards your degree.

There are also things called provost's collections (or principal's/master's/rector's/dean's depending on your colleges) when you meet with the head of college and your tutors and have your reports read to you - parents'-evening-style as Elpaw intimated.

Moderations are the first proper set of university exams, usually at the end of the first year. Maths, classics, law all have "mods" (and no doubt other subjects) and these are classified (1st/2nd/etc.). Some subjects have prelims instead as their first exams and these are distinction/pass/fail.

A starred first is when you've done so well (usually in the top three in finals) that the examiners write to you to remind you what a stonkingly brilliant person you are! :eek:

Reply 3

Kalypso

elpaw

mods - ask a lawyer :tongue:

you have to pass your mods to carry on into the second year (at least if mods are like prelims).

arghhh mods. they don't happen. ever. ever. especially not in 7th week this term.

it is polite to refrain from using such nasty words in front of classicists and lawyers. especially now.

the fear has gripped me :eek:

Reply 4

Clodagh

Meep! Mods! *looks around*

7th week this term? I thought they were in Trinity.......

Reply 5

MadNatSci

elpaw

ive never heard of a starred first. mayhap it's a tab thing.

Yes, it is a Cambridge thing. It's something like 85% in your exams although I think different subjects allocate them slightly differently. It's well out of my league, anyway, so I've never worried too much about them...

Reply 6

Clodagh

If you do a joint degree, and you get starred firsts in both subjects..you get a double starred first (so I heard!) Ooooooooooh.

Reply 7

Kalypso

Clodagh

Meep! Mods! *looks around*

7th week this term? I thought they were in Trinity.......

each subject is different :eek:

*hurries back to revision*

Reply 8

WhatFreshHell?

Is it true modern linguists get collections as soon as we arrive?

Reply 9

d750

Clodagh

If you do a joint degree, and you get starred firsts in both subjects..you get a double starred first (so I heard!) Ooooooooooh.

A joint degree just counts as one degree. But what a double first means in Oxford isn't getting a first in mods and finals, but getting a first in two degrees studied simultaneously. :eek:

Which used to happen from time to time, amazingly.

Reply 10

elpaw

d750

But what a double first means in Oxford isn't getting a first in mods and finals, but getting a first in two degrees studied simultaneously. :eek:

Which used to happen from time to time, amazingly.

But Bazthemoney got a double first, and i dont think he did two simultaneous degrees

Reply 11

d750

elpaw

But Bazthemoney got a double first, and i dont think he did two simultaneous degrees

He didn't really get a double first in the proper sense of the word. At Cam, a double is getting a first in mods and finals, and the term has just been carried over. To be honest, most people getting first will get double firsts in the Cambridge sense. But an Oxford double is something pretty special. :smile:

Reply 12

elpaw

d750

oh, i thought you were saying the terminology wasnt used in oxford.

Reply 13

d750

elpaw

oh, i thought you were saying the terminology wasnt used in oxford.

It effectively isn't any more, because no one studies two simultaneous degrees nowadays. I was just making the point that the term technically means something different at Ox than it does at Cam.