Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics instead of a Master's degree. Current course structure The course lasts one year, divided into three eight-week terms. There are a wide variety of lectures on both pure and applied maths, mostly concentrated in the first two terms. The third term is primarily for examinations (and revision for said examinations) which, together with the option of writing a part III essay (introduced in the 1970s, a miniature thesis of sorts, often in the form of a literature review), determine one's final grade entirely. Grading The grades available are Fail, Pass (Honours), Merit, and Distinction (the Merit grade was introduced in 2000). Cambridge recognises that in Part III of the mathematical tripos a merit is equivalent to a First Class in the other parts of the Tripos. The level of achievement required for a distinction is yet higher. Traditionally, results are announced in the University's Senate House. Standing on the balcony, the examiner reads out the class results for each student, and printed copies of the results are then thrown to the audience below. The students' exact rankings are no longer announced, but the highest-ranked student is still identified, nowadays by the tipping of the examiner's academic hat when the relevant name is read out. Prizes In addition to the grades, there are six associated prizes. Five of these may be awarded at the discretion of the examiners: the Mayhew Prize for applied mathematics, the Tyson Medal for mathematics and astronomy, the Bartlett Prize for applied probability, the Wishart Prize for statistics and the Pure Mathematics Prize for pure mathematics. Several notable astronomers and astrophysicists have been awarded the Tyson Medal in the history of Part III maths, including Jayant Narlikar, Ray Lyttleton and Edmund Whittaker. In addition, the Thomas Bond Sprague Prize is awarded by the Rollo Davidson Trust for distinguished performance in actuarial science, finance, insurance, mathematics of operational research, probability, risk and statistics. References Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge Mathematics education in the United Kingdom