Information for current students

This page contains information for students currently taking the Computer Science Tripos and the MPhil in ACS. There is a separate page for PhD students.

Course information for Tripos and MPhil students

• Taught lecture courses and modules
  Web pages for each course, with syllabus, materials provided by lecturers, information for supervisors, etc.
  (Previous years' material is also still available.)
• Projects
  • Part IB Group Projects
  • Part II Individual Projects
  • Part III and MPhil Research Projects and Essays
• Examinations and assessment
  
  • Previous years' examination papers indexed by both year and topic.
  • Formal notices about examinations (Form and Conduct Notice, Head of Department's Announcements, Paper Structure, Marking and Assessment, Plagiarism etc.)
  • Guidance on deadlines, Late Submission and Penalties
• Lecture feedback and student representation
  
  • Urgent teaching or supervision-related problem (the fast feedback button — highlight an issue, anonymously if you wish).
  • Staff-Student Consultative Forum where student representatives and staff discuss issues arising from the course
  • Graduate Students' Forum for issues particularly affecting MPhil and PhD students
• Lecture timetables and calendars
  
  • Parts IA, IB and II: one-page "landscape" overview and the famous concise lecture list (with decoding explanation).
  • Part III and MPhil timetable; also an ACS Agenda of important dates and deadlines.
• Booklets
  • Syllabus booklets
    Descriptions of the undergraduate lecture courses in Computer Science (HTML version, book list for College librarians).
• Course handbook for Part III students and for MPhil students

Material for undergraduates only

• College Teaching
  The Director of Studies at each College is responsible for the teaching organised by that College, and advice to Tripos students on academic matters.
• Information on supervisions
  Information on what supervisions are, where and when to sign up for them, plus guidance for supervisors.
• Computer Science in the Natural Sciences Tripos
  Information for those considering taking the Computer Science option in first year NST. The same course is also available as a first year option in the PPS Tripos.
• Transferring into second year Computer Science
  It is possible to transfer into Part IB of the Computer Science Tripos after taking one or two years of some other Triposes.
• Continuing to Part III
  Information about admission to Part III in including the Part III application form for eligible Part II students (please print out both sides).
  Information for Directors of Studies and students including dates for enrolment.
• Academic exchanges with other universities
  Cambridge students occasionally spend time at other universities and vice versa.

Resource material

• Computer systems
  • All students have access to MCS facilities in the Intel Laboratory.
  • Part III and MPhil students have additional dedicated facilities.
• Software
  • We encourage students who use their own PC to install Linux on it.
  • Students (and staff) benefit from special cost-free licences for some commercial software products:
    • The University has bought from MathWorks a MATLAB and Simulink site license which also covers use on home computers by staff and students.
    • Microsoft makes selected operating systems and development tools freely available to staff and students of the Computer Laboratory, under the Microsoft DreamSpark for Academic Institutions programme. You will receive the account details needed by e-mail in the Michaelmas term after arrival. Please ensure you keep a record of all licenses issued to you, as they cannot be retrieved after you leave the department. This scheme does not cover Microsoft Office and is not available to students from other departments or faculties.
• Library
  The facilities provided by the Computer Laboratory's library.
• Online services
  Mailing lists, newsgroups, student-operated web sites, etc.
• Upper limb disorder/RSI/OOS
  Information on typing-related injuries (part of the main Laboratory safety page).
• Policy statements relating to students
  Official policy statements released by the Head of Department.
  Transferable skills are regarded as particularly important; see the Laboratory's summary of skills acquired by undergraduates and the University's page on transferable skills.

Information for prospective students

If you are considering applying to Cambridge to study Computer Science as an undergraduate or our MPhil in Advanced Computer Science then look at our information for prospective students.