Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin)

[1][2][3] Additionally, in accordance with the formula of ad eundem gradum, graduates of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are also eligible to apply for corresponding degrees at Trinity College Dublin, and vice versa, provided that they wish to register for a degree or are members of the academic staff, and pay the required fee.

The basic university education comprised the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic) and the Quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music), which together took about seven years of full-time study.

At the University of Paris, the baccalaureate was awarded soon after responsions (the matriculation exam), while at Oxford and Cambridge the BA was granted much later and became more significant over time.

Upon being admitted to the degree of Master of Arts, a student would become a full member of the university and gain the right to vote in the Convocation.

Upon completing this period of teaching, they would become a 'non-regent master' and either leave the university or remain to pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties—Divinity, Canon or Civil Law, or Medicine.

By the 18th century, the practice had largely become a formality, and students could meet residency requirements (once fulfilled by attending lectures) simply by keeping their names on the college books.

Noblemen were distinguished by gold tassels on their mortarboard caps, compared to the black ones worn by students of lower social ranks.

[11] Students of the next rank—fellow-commoners at Cambridge and Dublin or gentlemen commoners at Oxford—paid twice the standard fees, dined with the fellows, and were exempt from attending lectures and performing exercises required for the BA.

At the bottom were servitors at Oxford and sizars at Cambridge and Dublin, who had their fees subsidized by the college in exchange for menial duties.

This reflects the fact that much of the liberal arts education has been transferred to grammar schools, with students now entering university at an older age, typically between 17 and 19.

Some universities adopted the ancient model temporarily, allowing progression within the same faculty, such as from BSc to MSc, but later switched to the newer system.

[23][25][26] In accordance with the formula of ad eundem gradum, a form of mutual recognition among the three universities, a graduate entitled to an MA degree from one institution may have the equivalent title conferred by one of the other two without further examination.

The degree of Master of Arts traditionally carried various rights and privileges, the chief of which was membership of the legislative bodies of the universities – Convocation at Oxford and the Senate at Cambridge and Dublin.

Today, the main role of Convocation and Senate is the election of the Chancellor of each university as well as the Professor of Poetry at Oxford and the High Steward at Cambridge.

At Oxford, until 1998 the Proctors only had the power to discipline "junior members" (those who had not been admitted to membership of Convocation), which meant that any graduate student who had incepted as an MA was immune from their authority.

At Cambridge, MAs and those with MA status continue to be exempt from the rules governing the ownership of motor vehicles by students.

In 2000, research by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education showed that 62% of employers were unaware that the Cambridge MA did not represent any kind of postgraduate achievement involving study.