Tripos
course system at the University of Cambridge
A Tripos ( , plural 'Triposes') is an academic examination that originated at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The term encompasses both the examinations required for undergraduate students to qualify for a bachelor's degree and the courses of study undertaken to prepare for such examinations. Undergraduate students studying mathematics, for instance, ultimately take the Mathematical Tripos, and students of English literature take the English Tripos.
Etymology
The word has an obscure etymology, but may derive from the three-legged stools, known as tripods, on which candidates once sat during oral examinations. According to an unverified tradition, students are said to have received one leg of a stool during each of their three years of exams, and the complete stool upon graduation. Another tradition holds that the name derives from the three brackets printed on the back of the voucher.
History
Initially, the only way to obtain an honours degree at Cambridge was the Mathematical Tripos examination. John Jebb proposed reforms in 1772, but implementation was hindered by factors including the lack of expertise in smaller colleges across a broader range of subjects. Classed examinations in law were introduced in 1816 by James William Geldart, who was then Regius Professor of Civil Law. Although a classical tripos was created in 1822, it was open to only those who already had high honours in mathematics or those who were the sons of peers.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tripos” as course system at the University of Cambridge. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tripos” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.