"Meldrew of Meldreth" wrote in message
.uk...
In article , Terry Harper
writes

Back in my day in Oxford, and I doubt that Cambridge was different, there
were lectures at 9 and 10 on most days Monday-Saturday, but attendance
was
not compulsory

Indeed, not compulsory, but in the later years with some specialist
lectures being given to a handful of familiar students they were
effectively compulsory.

(although desirable, as questions in finals were mostly based
on the lecture course over three years. A certain amount of attendance at
the laboratories was also required, but could usually be fitted in
between
11 and 1 before lunch. Afternoons would often be devoted to sport, games
or
the pleasures of punting

My experience of Engineering at Cambridge was lectures 9-1 Mon-Fri and
9-12 Saturday; plus two or three afternoons of labs, and at least one
5pm lecture. The labs were just collecting experimental results, too;
you could easily spend another two hours writing up and crunching the
numbers - this being before electronic calculators, let alone PCs.

Yes, it was necessary to spend at least two afternoons a week in the lab,
particularly in Physical Chemistry where there was a list of experiments to
complete during the half-term session, before you switched labs. I was
warned off the river by my tutor, because of lack of attendance at the labs.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/