Information for Prelims Students

This page contains information for first year students and is primarily for Mathematics, and Mathematics and Philosophy students. You are also encouraged to consult the undergraduate handbook for your course. The information may be of interest to other joint school students but please also consult the website of the Department of Statistics or the Department of Computer Science as appropriate.

Prelims Mathematics Synopses 2023-24

Prelims Mathematics and Philosophy Synopses 2023-24

Key Dates 

The weeks of term are labelled weeks 1 to 8 with week 0 being the week before term. 

The IT Team at Wolfson College provides Oxford term date files in iCal, CSV and Google calendar format.

Michaelmas Term

 
Week 1, Monday 9th OctoberMichaelmas term lectures begin
Week 3, Monday 23rd OctoberComputational Mathematics classes begin
Week 8, Friday 1st DecemberMichaelmas term lectures end

Hilary Term

 
Week 1, Monday 15th JanuaryHilary term lectures begin
Week 6, Monday 19th February (12noon)Submission deadline for first computational mathematics project (M, M&S students only)
Week 8, Friday 8th MarchHilary term lectures end
Week 9, Monday 11th March (12noon)Submission deadline for second computational mathematics project (M, M&S students only)

Trinity Term

 
Week 1, Monday 22nd AprilTrinity term lectures begin
Week 5, Friday 24th May  Prelims preparation lecture
Week 4, Friday 16th May  Trinity term lectures end
Week 9, Monday-FridayProvisional dates for Preliminary Examinations

Finding Your Way Around

In Michaelmas term 2023, lectures will be delivered in person but will also be recorded and uploaded to Moodle. 

Normally in-person lectures take place in the Mathematical Institute, Andrew Wiles Building but you may go to lectures held in other departments, particularly in later years of the course. Mathematics and Philosophy students will also have lectures in the Examination Schools and the Radcliffe Humanities Building.  A map of the University departments can be found here.

Your Working Week 

Lectures

You will have ten lectures each week through term and this will be the first time you meet new material.  The format is more formal than tutorials, with relatively little chance for questions.  You may find the material is rather intensely presented - it is a good idea to read over your notes later before starting work on your problem sheets. The lecture list is available online.  

Problem Sheets

These are provided by the lecturer and typically set as work for tutorials.  For the mathematics courses the sheets can be found on the course material webpages. The problems will highlight the concepts and techniques discussed in lectures so far. Your answers will need to be returned to your tutors by a set deadline.  Try to include a bibliography with your problems to show which books you have referred to.

Tutorial and Classes 

These problems and your solutions will be gone over in tutorials and classes during the week; there will usually be two per week. It is important that you make the most tutorials - you can do this by preparing for the tutorial: reminding yourself of the main definitions and theorems that are likely to come up, preparing a list of points from lectures or books that have troubled you through the week, and by being prepared to ask questions in tutorials when you are unsure of something.  Tutorials are your chance to get answers to your questions, not something to be "gotten through". The following video provides guidance on how to make the most of tutorials.

Study Skills and Resources 

The are a number of resources available on the University's website to help you develop your study skills.  In addition, you will receive subject specific advice at the undergraduate induction and throughout your studies from your college tutors.  The department also publishes a study guide: How do Undergraduates do Mathematics? in PDF

There are many resources available to help you with your work: tutors are happy for you to collaborate with (but not copy from) other students; lecture notes contain most of the ideas needed, and further reading of the recommended text books on reading lists will often provide you with the rest.  The reading list for a course can be found in the course synopsis. 

The department currently records Prelims lectures for courses where the lecturer has consented. Captured lectures are in no way intended to replace current lecturing, and will at best supplement them. The recordings can be accessed through Moodle.

The University has put arrangements in place for the streaming of such captured lectures in a secure fashion, with severe penalties for disseminating them more widely. Further details are given in the End User Licence Agreement .

Computational Mathematics 

Mathematics, and Mathematics and Statistics students follow a course on computational mathematics and, in Hilary term, are required to submit two projects for assessment.  During Michaelmas term the are two lectures and fortnightly practical sessions held remotely on Teams or as videos.  If you’re buying a computer for university, please do consider a standard laptop (running MS Windows or MacOS X) over a desktop, Chromebook or tablet etc. as such a laptop will be used for the practical sessions and project work. The Computational Mathematics course uses Python. If you do not have a laptop you will be able to borrow one for the sessions, and can apply for access to the computers in the Undergraduate Study Room to work on your projects, please contact Academic Admin to make arrangements.

Exams 

At the end of the year Mathematics students sit one 3-hour, three 2.5-hour, and one 2-hour examinations known as Preliminary Examinations.  Mathematics and Philosophy students sit two 2.5-hour mathematics examinations, one 2-hour mathematics examination and two 3-hour philosophy examinations.  The Preliminary Examination is an unclassified examination in which candidates are awarded overall either a distinction, pass or fail.  For further information about the examinations please see the examinations and assessments section.

During the year, usually at the start of each term, your tutors may set you collections.  These are college-set examinations, less formal than Prelims, though still to be taken seriously as they are a guide to you and your tutors as to your progress.  

Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Last updated on 05 Dec 2023 16:13.