You will have the benefit of being able to select a course pattern which suits you. Where a transfer of course between two overlapping degrees is deemed to be in a student's best academic interests, and is approved by all the departments concerned, it can usually be arranged at the end of the first year. Transfer to a non-related subject will normally involve an extension to your period of study. All the University's undergraduate degree courses except the MBChB are of a common modular structure, requiring the accumulation of 120 credits for each year of the course. Even within a single honours degree course there is normally a wide choice of optional modules, some of which may come from outside the main subject.
Some courses allow for a mixture of modules of different sizes to be taken.
The first semester teaching period lasts from September to the Christmas Vacation. The second semester teaching period extends from February to May, broken by the Easter Vacation. Each semester ends with an assessment period. The aim of the University's assessment procedures is to test students' knowledge and understanding of the courses that they have followed and, in certain subjects, their ability to apply a set of skills and techniques in both familiar and unfamiliar settings. You will therefore be expected to argue soundly, to write concisely, and to understand and apply a range of fundamental concepts.