University of Cambridge

Entry standards

• Most conditional offers made by the Cambridge colleges will require A*AA in three A level subjects (or equivalent).
• Colleges have the discretion to make non-standard offers where appropriate as part of their holistic assessment of candidates.
• Applicants may be asked to submit written work or sit a test (i.e. BMAT or a college-based test).
• The university interviews the majority of its undergraduate applicants.

Applying

• For a comprehensive guide on applying to Cambridge, see here.

Teaching standards

• Cambridge is at the international forefront of excellence in teaching and research.
• Performance league tables consistently place Cambridge among the world's top-ranking institutions.
• Supervisions, small group tutorials with a senior member of the university, are one of the unique advantages of the teaching at Cambridge.

Research standards

• In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 71% of academic staff were deemed to be producing world-leading or internationally excellent research – the highest proportion of outstanding research in the UK.

Academic strengths

• Cambridge has produced 89 Nobel Prize winners.
• The university has one of the highest levels of graduate employment in the UK.

Course flexibility

• Courses cover the subject very broadly in the initial years and then become more specialised within a wide range of options in the later years.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• Every college has a computer suite, linked to the university network and available (usually round the clock) for work and email.
• Each college library contains the standard texts needed for an undergraduate course, as well as other materials. The university provides extensive library facilities in every department.
• The university library is a copyright library, meaning it receives by law a copy of every book published in Britain.

Disability service

Students' union

• The union exists to represent Cambridge students' interests at a university level, and to provide central services and support for all students.

Sport

• A  wide range of sports are catered for at university and college level. Sports facilities include playing fields, courts, boathouses and often additional facilities such as multi-gyms.

Recent/prospective new builds

• An ongoing estate development programme is currently valued at more than £430 million, with major new faculty, research and accommodation facilities.

Availability of part-time work

• Since the university terms are short and highly demanding on students' time and intellectual capabilities, the university strongly discourages taking on part-time work during term time.

History

• The university, founded in 1209, has recently celebrated its 800th anniversary.

Location and transport

• Cambridge is 88.5km (55 miles) north of London, off the M11 motorway, a 45-minute journey by train.
• Stansted Airport is 48km (30 miles) away.

Notable alumni

• Christ's College – Charles Darwin, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Rowan Williams.
• Clare College – Siegfried Sassoon, Roger Norrington, David Attenborough.
• Corpus Christi College – Christopher Marlow, John Fletcher, Matthew Parker.
• Darwin College – Jane Goodall.
• Downing College – John Cleese, Trevor Nunn, Thandie Newton.
• Emmanuel College – John Harvard, Griff Rhys Jones, Graham Chapman.
• Fitzwilliam College – Lord Fawsley, Lee Kuan Yew, Nick Drake.
• Girton College – Sandi Toksvig, Raquel Cassidy, Delia Derbyshire.
• Gonville and Caius College – Thomas Shadwell, Harold Abrahams, Alastair Campbell.
• Homerton College – Nick Hancock, Cherie Lunghi, Graham Wynne.
• Jesus College – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Snowdon, Nick Nornby.
• Kings College – Francis Walsingham, Salman Rushdie, Lily Cole.
• Magdalene College – Samuel Pepys, Katie Derham, Alan Rusbridger.
• New Hall College – Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, Sue Perkins.
• Newnham College – Emma Thompson, A.S. Byatt, Claire Balding.
• Pembroke College – William Pitt, Jonathan Lynn, Eric Idle.
• Peterhouse College – Charles Babbage, Sam Mendes, David Mitchell.
• Queens' College – Stephen Fry, Richard Hickox, Osborne Reynolds.
• Robinson College – Charles Hart, Konnie Huq, Robert Webb.
• St Catharine's College – Ian McKellen, Steve Punt, Richard Ayoade.
• St John's College – William Wordsworth, Hugh Dennis, Sid Waddell.
• Selwyn College – Hugh Laurie, Simon Hughes, Robert Harris.
• Sidney Sussex College – Oliver Cromwell, Ian Lang, Tom Kilburn.
• Trinity – John Nott, Stephen Frears, Charles Moore.
• Trinity Hall College – J.B Priestley, Terry Waite, Stephen Hawking.

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