• When will the exams be? I need to book my flights home in advance

Unfortunately we have no control over when the exams are set. UCL announces the exam timetable usually around April, with no prior warning of when the exams will be. The exams will typically be in the period mid May to mid June, although this can vary and should in no way be taken as a guarantee of when the exams will be.

  • What happens if I fail an exam?

If you score less than 40% on an exam, you will have to come back the following summer and retake the exam. There is no option to take another exam sooner. For this reason it is extremely important that you attempt to pass the exam the first time -- otherwise you will have to wait another year to retake the exam.

  • I'm entering the MSc and would like to carry out/help with a separate reseacch project whilst I do the MSc.

We generally don't encourage this. The MSc is very intensive and it's very unusual for students to have time to carry out significant projects outside of the MSc.

There is, however, plenty of scope to carry out and contribute to ongoing research as part of the MSc project itself. Students already begin background reading on their project in January, so there is plenty of time to contribute substantially to ongoing research during the project. Indeed, in previous years students have been able to jointly publish research at premier conferences.

  • How much work should I be doing?

The MSc is very intensive and, depending on your skills and background, you can expect to be extremely busy (working long hours every day), particulary in the first term.

Most students will have considerable coursework to complete over both the Christmas and Easter breaks, so its wise not to plan any significant holidays over these periods.

Experience suggests that the workload tends to decrease a little in the second term.

You may wish to take a small break (of a few days) after you have finished your exams. We expect you to work full time on your projects, however, after this.