 The universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin award master's degrees to BAs without further examination, where seven years after matriculation have passed, and (in some but not all cases) upon payment of a nominal fee.It is commonplace for recipients of the degree to have graduated several years previously and to have had little official contact with the university or academic life since then.The only real significance of these degrees is that they historically conferred voting rights in University elections, it was seen as the point at which one became eligible to teach at the University and certain other privileges e.g.