Comprehensive examination

[3] The form and general requirements for the comprehensive exam vary according to the faculty or department, degree sought, university, and country, but typically tests knowledge of the student's subject area and two or more related areas, and may be used to determine a candidate's eligibility to continue his or her course of study.

At the graduate level, the purpose of the comprehensive exam is to ensure the student is familiar enough with her area of research to make original contributions.

[4] The comprehensive examination system is used primarily in US and Canadian higher education, but it has also been adopted by some programs in other countries such as Pakistan[5] and India.

[3] Other countries use alternative forms of evaluating Ph.D. candidates: in the United Kingdom, for example, students typically must first enroll in an M.Phil.

[3][6] Some colleges or universities in the United States require undergraduate students to pass comprehensive examinations in order to receive their degree.

In some terminal non-thesis Master's programs, successful completion of a comprehensive examination, conducted online or through the university's testing center, is a requirement for graduation during a student's last semester of coursework.

Typically, one exam will question the student on theory while the other will show competency or expertise in their chosen subfield (or major field) within their program.

This also allows students enrolled in the program who do not wish to continue to the completion of a doctoral degree to leave early and in good standing with a Master's.

[2] Comprehensive examinations are often based on a reading list agreed upon by the student and his or her committee, which is staffed by the primary supervisor and several advisors, normally professors at the university, but not necessarily in the same faculty.

[21] PhD students at some Canadian universities must complete their comprehensive exams by the end of their second year; those who fail to pass with a sufficiently high mark may retake the examination usually only once.