The board of examiners will consist of 4 internal members (2 from the Numerical Analysis Group and 2 from OCIAM) and 1 external examiner. The examiners will appoint assessors to help with the assessment of special topics and dissertations.

All students must complete 12 units. Each unit will carry the same weight. Marks will be given in terms of USM's out of 100 with the usual conventions: 0-49 fail, 50-69 pass, 70-100 distinction.

There are two routes through the course: Strand C and Strand R.

In Strand C, a student takes and is assessed on:

• 4 core courses;
• 3 special topics;
• case studies in both modelling and scientific computing;
• a '4 unit' dissertation.

In Strand R, a student takes and is assessed on:

• 2 core courses;
• 3 special topics;
• case studies in both modelling and scientific computing;
• a '6 unit' dissertation.

1. Core Courses (1 unit each). There are four courses, two in Michaelmas Term and two in Hilary Term. Each course will be assessed by a written examination paper on Thursday of Week 0 of the following term. Each paper will be two hours long and contain 6 questions. The best 4 answers will count and students will be given a USM for each paper, with a weighting of 1 unit.

2. Special topics (1 unit each). Each student must do at least one special topic in the area of Modelling (M) and one in the area of Computation (C). For each special topic taken the student must submit a mini-project. Mini-projects will be marked by the appropriate lecturer. For each mini-project they will be given a USM working in units of 5 marks (0-45 fail, 50-65 pass, 70-100 distinction), with a weighting of 1 unit.

3. Case Studies in Modelling and in Scientific Computing (0.5 units each). Each student must do at least one modelling case study and at least one scientific computing case study. Each case study involves 4 weeks of group work, an oral presentation, and a report. Each student will write an individual report which will be marked by the appropriate lecturer. 20% of the mark will be for the oral presentation. For each Case Study they will be given a USM working in units of 5 marks (0-45 fail, 50-65 pass, 70-100 distinction), with a weighting of 0.5 units.

4. Dissertation (4 units for Strand C and 6 units for Strand R). Dissertations will be read and marked by two examiners/assessors, neither of whom is the student's supervisor and at least one of whom will be an examiner. Students taking Strand C are taking the coursework-intensive option. Their Dissertation should be approximately 50 pages long, and not necessarily original, and will be given a USM with a weighting of 4 units. Students taking Strand R are taking the research-intensive option. Their Dissertation should be approximately 65 pages long, with some original ideas, and will be given a USM with a weighting of 6 units. The USM marks will include performance in the viva if one is held.

The USMs, weighted as above, are averaged to give an Average USM.

Students will only be able to obtain a Distinction if they fulfil all the following criteria:

• Average USM &ge 70
• All partial USM > 50
• Dissertation/Viva of sufficient merit (examiners' discretion).

Students will fail if the average USM < 50. Candidates who fail 4 or more units of assessment may also fail even if their average USM &ge 50.

Otherwise, students will be awarded a Pass.