Experience Christ's Summer School

The programme will take place in August 2025 and involves staying overnight here at Christ's College. You can expect sessions on a variety of subjects delivered by experts in their fields, and if selected for the event, you will be able to make a choice of the three academic sessions to attend during your stay. Academic sessions will be wide-ranging and aiming to give you a taste of the academic challenge of studying at Cambridge. The following subjects will be covered: Architecture, Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, Design, Education, Engineering, Geography, Land Economy, Law, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences. Whilst we expect you will want to attend at least one related to what you would like to study, there is no obligation to only attend those sessions, and similarly even if your exact preferred course isn't covered, we welcome applications from students who feel they will still benefit from attending them (and are taking the necessary subjects at school). 

The two strands will take place from Monday 18 August to Wednesday 20 August, and from Wednesday 27 August to Friday 29 August. You will only attend one of these, depending on your subject area. 

Complementing the academic sessions, we'll also cover information, advice and guidance around things like financial support, careers and applications, balanced with opportunities for down time and fun activities - the social side of university is important too! You will also have the opportunity to interact with current undergraduate students in the disciplines offered, to find out more about living and studying at Cambridge, as well as meeting other young people from around the country with similar interests. 

How much does it cost?

This event is free to attend, and will include accommodation and meals. You will stay in undergraduate accommodation and have your meals in the same spaces as our own students, providing you with the chance to get a real taste of unviersity life here at Christ's. 

Timetable

Typically for our overnight programmes, you would arrive for early afternoon on the first day, and finish early to mid-afternoon on the final day of your stay. 

The in-person stay may fall in the school term in some areas (Scotland), and therefore selected students will need permission to miss school on those days if applicable. We would encourage students to discuss this with school as soon as possible, and not just assume you would not have permission! 

CORE CRITERIA (2024 event - this may be updated for 2025)

Students applying or being nominated must meet all of the following criteria (a)-(e) to be eligible for this event:

(a) currently (academic year 2024-25) in Year 12 in England/Wales, Year 13 in Northern Ireland or S5 in Scotland 

(b) currently studying at a state-maintained school in the UK - this means schools that do not charge fees. Students attending independent schools on a bursary are not eligible for this event. 

(c) achieved at least 5 GCSEs at grade 8, 9 or A* (England, Wales, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland), or a majority of National 5s at grade A (Scotland)

(d) on track to achieve the necessary grades in suitable qualifications* to study their subject/course of interest and the subject areas of sessions they might be interested in attending at Christ's. See more below for details.

(e) you are available for the full duration the event. You will not be able to join/leave the event early, and you are expected to attend all scheduled sessions during the event. This also means if you already have plans (a different event, a holiday, festival etc) on these dates - you won't be able to do both.

Students should also be eligible for home fee status i.e. would not be classed as an international student for fee purposes at university. Please get in touch if you require advice on this aspect (contact at bottom of page).

Grade requirements (d)

If you are interested in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: you will need to be on track for at least A*AA at A-Level, 776 at Higher Level with 42 overall for the International Baccalaureate, or A1A2A2 in Advanced Highers. You'll also need to take the required subjects for the course you're interested in (see next section).

If you are interested in Sciences and Mathematics, or Economics and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, you'll need to be on track for at least A*A*A at A-Level, 776 at Higher Level with 42 points overall for the International Baccalaureate, or A1A1A2 in Advanced Highers. You'll also need to take the required subjects for the course you're interested in (see next section).

*Please note that Applied A-Levels, Level 3 Diplomas/Certificates (such as Criminology) and BTECs are generally not suitable qualifications for applying to Cambridge and therefore will not be accepted as suitable qualifications for this programme (if the student does not also study 3 A-Levels alongside these). You can find out more about entry requirements for Cambridge here. This programme is not suitable for students considering the Foundation Year.  

Further guidance on subjects and qualifications

This event aims to offer sessions across a variety of subject areas. Students won't be restricted to only attending sessions in their preferred subject/intended course they want to apply for at university, but they will need to be taking appropriate school subjects for any of their desired sessions. Please read the below information on what we expect students to be studying and on track for in each area. 

Subject requirements

Subjects required below must be studied at A-Level, Advanced Higher or Higher Level in the IB. For IB, Maths must be HL Analysis and Approaches where Maths is a required subject. Examples:

Architecture: no required subjects, but Art and either Maths or Physics are desirable. A note on Art: If you don’t have a formal qualification in Art, we can consider you as long as you are doing plenty of artwork in your spare time. Please be aware that your drawing skills would be assessed during the admissions process, so you will need to make sure that these are of a high standard.

Design: Mathematics required.

Education: no specific required subjects but recommended to be studying at least one relevant subject. This might include a social science or essay-based subjects, like English, Sociology, Psychology or History, for example.

Geography: Geography required.

Land Economy: no specific subjects required.

Law: no specific subjects required.

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences: Either Maths or Biology required.

Engineering: Maths and Physics required. Further Maths required if taking A-Levels, or a third science/mathematical subjects for those doing IB or Advanced Highers.

Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology: Maths, Chemistry and one more out of Physics, Further Maths or Biology required. 

Other subjects: students may not be interested in these specific courses at Cambridge, but other related or adjacent disciplines. Those students are still very welcome to apply for this programme if they feel they will still find benefit in attending academic sessions in the areas listed above. They will still need to be on track for appropriate grades and in appropriate subjects to their area of interest, and for tasters in the areas they would choose.

You can see all subjects offered at Christ's here - there is a subject page for each with full detail on the entry requirements for our courses. Subject requirements as above are set in line with the requirements for applications to Christ's College. 
 

Should we have more eligible applications than places, we will prioritise students who meet any of the following (alongside strong prior and current academic achievement):

• Students who have not yet had the opportunity to participate in a summer school/residential or taster event at Cambridge (or won't otherwise be attending one in the summer e.g. Sutton Trust). This does not include open days!
• Students who are currently or previously eligible for government-funded free school meals
• Students who are care-experienced (i.e. have spent time/are currently in local authority care or kinship care)
• Students who receive the 16-19 bursary (England) or Education Maintenance Allowance (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)
• Students who are refugees, asylum seekers or under humanitarian protection
• Students with a home postcode in the bottom 40% of postcodes in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation measure (IMD deciles 1-4). Click here to view a map for this measure and search your postcode (UK), or get in touch via the email below if you need help. You don't need to meet this measure or know your postcode's decile, we include the link simply to give you an idea. 
• Students for whom visiting Cambridge as part of a day trip is least feasible (i.e. longest travel distances), such as those living in the South West, West Midlands, North West or North East England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland 
• Students attending schools with low progression/little tradition of sending students to Cambridge 
• Students who will be the first generation in their family to attend university (neither parents/carers have attended university)

Please note we do not typically accept more than two students from any single school or college (of applications received - there is no limit on the number of applications from a single school or college).

Applications are not yet open for 2025. Register interest here to be notified when they do. 

Your application will need to be accompanied by a supporting teacher reference. The teacher you nominate will be automatically emailed when you submit your application. All applications with references received by the specified deadline will be considered equally. Late applications will not be considered under any circumstances. 

You will hear from us whether you are successful in obtaining a place or not. We strongly encourage you to consider an application if you meet the outlined core criteria, even if you are not 100% sure - you don't know unless you give it a go!

If you are selected for a place, we will then send you confirmation and permission forms to confirm acceptance of your place. There will be a deadline for these, which is a hard deadline. Submitting confirmation forms late if offered a place may result in your place being offered to another student.
 

Nominations are not yet open. To be notified when they do for 2025, register interest here!

Whilst students can choose to apply individually, we also welcome teachers to make nominations directly for students they would like to encourage for an opportunity such as this.

Before making your nomination(s), we do ask that:

• You double check other staff members are not also making (the same) nominations!
• The student you are nominating will be available to attend the event if selected
• You have obtained consent from the student you are nominating, to do so, as you will need to provide some information on their behalf. We also send a short confirmation email of being nominated to them, but this doesn't contain the information you write on the form.

If the student is successful in being offered a place for the event, their place is only confirmed upon receipt of the relevant confirmation and permission forms we would send them at that stage.

Separate nomination forms will need to be completed for each student - note that you will need to finish and submit one form before completing the next. If having issues with the form, try an incognito or different browser.