i hope yoda doesn't mind me using his picture. as you can tell there's much celebration at the end of the immensely stressful few weeks of finals.
unlike other universities, undergraduate students at oxford have few examinations (not few papers). they have one set at the end of their first year, and then one set at the end of their 3rd and final year. (i'm neglecting 4 year courses, or indeed medicine, classics or modern languages, the special cases)
this means that to get your final degree, and classification, you need to be examined at the end of your course over the whole of your syllabus. many students will find that by the time of the exams, they would have forgotten what they learnt almost two years ago. given the substantial syllabus covered by oxford courses, it is not the matter of a couple of weeks' revision to make up the lost time. even the laziest students would have started revision three months in advance of the first paper. most students will start some sort of revision in the summer before their final year.
of course, the stress begins to build around that time. this is why students at oxford take their celebrations at the end of their exams to the extreme. champagne, cigars, confettis, flour, eggs, flowers etc etc. many friends will be waiting at the back gate for the student to come out. (it is moved to the back gate since previously the celebrations would cause congestions to the main road). the students will go on to drink in a pub for the rest of the day, or however long they will last before passing out.
two other facts. one is that during the exams they still have to present themselves in their academic dress, the so called sub fusc. (as seen in the photo) not only that but there is a tradition to wear carnations (flower). the code is that you wear a white one in your first paper to indicate innocense. pink ones are for the middle papers and indicate maturity. the red one seen in the photo indicate the final paper is taken, and most students can't wait to have the red carnation on them.
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