Students by the passagewayApplying to Cambridge is much the same as applying to other UK universities, but we have an early application deadline (18:00 UK time on 15 October for all courses), and there are extra things to do, such as sending in additional forms and documents, taking an admissions assessment, and coming for interviews.

This page provides information for Christ's College applicants: 

If you would like to know more about applying to Cambridge, please visit the University applications section.

An overview of the application timeline

Here is a list of dates and deadlines for the admissions process at Christ's College. Note that the application process is reviewed each year and there can be changes to forms and which subjects require an assessment. We normally have any changes included in the info below by early July.

Jan - June

August

  • Check whether your course requires an admissions assessment that you have to register for, and what the registration deadline is. The Admissions Assessments information will be updated by July 2023 for students applying in Oct 24. Please note that open centres may set an earlier deadline for accepting entries, and it is your responsibility to check if this applies at your centre.
     

September

  • 1 September: Organ Scholarship application deadline.
  • 1 September: Registration opens for the BMAT (Medicine), ENGAA (Engineering), TMUA (Computer Science, Economics), and NSAA (Natural Sciences, Chemical Engineering)
  • Early September: UCAS Apply opens for applications. The UCAS application must be completed first.
  • Early September: Booking opens for the Applicant Webinar Series
  • tbc mid September: Registration deadline for LNAT (Law)
  • 20 September: current applicants section published on the Christ's website.
  • 29 September (18:00): Registration deadline for the BMAT (Medicine applicants), the TMUA (Economics and Computer Science applicants), the ENGAA (Engineering) and the NSAA (Natural Sciences; Chemical Engineering).
     

October

  • 16 October (18:00 UK time): Deadline for UCAS application. We do not consider late applications.
  • 17 October: Important Information for applicants email sent to all Christ's applicants with information about the next stages of the admissions process, what you need to send when, and support from Christ's Admissions Office via the current applicants section.
  • 23 October (18:00 UK time): Deadline for My Cambridge Application (additional questionnaire received by email after UCAS application, previously called the SAQ), and some applicants also include a transcript. 
  • 23 October (23:59): Multiple further deadlines including the Extenuating Circumstances Form, a form & accompanying document that students with a disability, Specific Learning Difficulty or long-term illness need to send etc. 
     

November

  • tbc early November: Multiple deadlines including written work and cover sheet (certain essay subjects only).
  • Second half of November. All applicants receive an email letting them know if they are selected for interview or not.
  • Late November: students selected for interview in subjects that require a College registered assessment have their assessment online
  • Late November: Deadline for online interview attendance reply form
     

December

  • 27 Nov - 13 December 2023 tbc: Provisional dates for interviews for Christ's applicants.
     

January

  • Mid January: Winter pool takes place. A small number of applicants may be contacted and asked to attend a further remote interview.
  • tbc late January 2024: Decisions available to applicants via the UCAS website.
     

February

May-June

A Levels, IB and other examinations taken – including STEP for Mathematics.

August

  • Examination results published and confirmation of conditional offers that have been met - all conditional offers must be met by 31 August (the deadline set by UCAS) unless otherwise specified.
  • Some students who applied in October but did not get an offer may be eligible to be considered via the August reconsideration pool. If you were interviewed in December and did not get an offer but meet the widening participation criteria for the August reconsideration pool, we will tell you this by email in January.
     

September

Freshers’ Information emailed to successful offer holders.
 

Further detail

Third Court
Third Court

The UCAS application

To apply to the University of Cambridge you must submit your application through UCAS. If you choose Christ's College in your UCAS application, we will receive your application directly and process it from there. Please note that Cambridge has an earlier UCAS deadline than most other universities, which is 18:00 UK time on 16 October in 2023 for every course we offer, though those applying for an organ scholarship must apply by 1 September. We are not able to consider late UCAS applications under any circumstances.

Admissions assessments 

Applicants for many courses are required to take a written assessment, either a pre-registration assessment or a College registered assessment. The list of subjects that require these assessments is updated in July each year. The course-specific written assessments are designed to supplement the information in your application and provide a gauge of your abilities – to assess skills (such as comprehension and thinking skills) and, where appropriate, levels of current knowledge and understanding relevant to the course applied for.

Written assessments that require pre-registration will take place at your school or at a Test Centre. Your school or test centre must register you for the relevant assessment and you should ask for your candidate number before the registration deadline as proof that you are registered.

  • > Register between X and Y dates (tbc) if you are applying for Law. Note that you must sit the LNAT by 15 October.
  • > Register between 1 Sept and 29 Sept 2023 (18:00 UK time) if you are applying for Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering Medicine, or Natural Sciences.

Some courses that don't require a pre-registered assessment use a College registered assessment for which you don't need to make any arrangements, as the College will automatically arrange this if you are invited for interview, and the written assessments take place in late November.

My Cambridge Application (MyCApp)

All applicants are also required to complete an additional questionnaire called My Cambridge Application (formerly called the SAQ). You can only do this after you have sent your UCAS application - the log-in details are emailed to you within 48 hours of your UCAS application submission, and you must submit your My Cambridge Application questionnaire by 23 October. There is information and guidance on the Cambridge Admissions website, a Guide to completing the MyCApp, and a helpdesk email address (applicationhelp@admin.cam.ac.uk) to contact if you have any questions. The most common problem is that the email containing the MyCApp log in details sometimes goes into people’s junk / spam folder, so do check there first if the expected email hasn’t arrived in your inbox within 48 hours.

If applying for an Organ Scholarship, check the Organ applications page for details of the process.
 

Support for Christ's applicants: the current applicants section

At Christ's we publish an open-access current applicants section for each year's applicants on 20 September. This section is designed to support you from when you have submitted your UCAS application through the entire admissions process.

We email all applicants at Christ's just after the 16 October UCAS application deadline to introduce ourselves and send you to the current applicants section. This is called the Important Information for Applicants email, and it is normally sent at the end of 17 October. Introductions and explanations done, the current applicants section is then your first point of reference in October, November, December and January, since it provides details of what you need to do, sets out the arrangements and any requirements for each subject (e.g. any written work to send), answers common questions, and updates you so that you know when invitations to interviews are sent out for individual subjects, for example. We update it most days, sometimes several times a day! 

As you can see in the overview above, there are a lot of parts to the admissions process, however in the current applicants section, we break the process down into a few chunks (stages) and tell you clearly what to focus on in which time period so that it doesn't feel too overwhelming.

Of course, if you have questions that are specific to your application, or you can't find a piece of information that you're looking for, you would then email us directly. Our email address is admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk, and we request that you start all of your emails (every single one!) with

  • Your name (exactly as you wrote it on your UCAS form), 
  • The course you have applied for (including 'Biological or Physical' if Natural Sciences),
  • Your UCAS number (with no dashes)
  • Which country you're applying from.

This helps us to process your query as quickly as possible so that we can get you the information you need.

There is also a very helpful Applicant Webinar Series run by the central Cambridge Admissions Office.

"I think if you take the application process step by step instead of viewing it as a whole, it’s much less stressful."

Max, History

Information for specific students

Applying from a background with low participation in Higher Education If you're the first in your family to apply to university, or if you go to a school / live in an area where not that many people apply to universities like Cambridge & Oxford. 
International applicants
(EU and overseas)		 If you are applying from outside the UK (this is a whole section and includes additional application support for non-UK students)
Updates for EU students Keeping you updated as details are confirmed following Brexit.
Post-qualification applications If you have already taken your A Levels, International Baccalaureate or equivalent qualifications.
Taking a gap year If you will take a gap year between school and Cambridge.
UK care leavers If you've you’ve spent time in local authority care in the UK.
Mature applicants If you will be 21 or over when you start the Cambridge course.
Ethnic diversity If you have concerns about studying at Cambridge these films with Courtney Daniella may be helpful.
Applying from a university If you will be a current student at a university when you apply.
If you already have a degree If you already have already completed a university degree when you apply.
Extenuating Circumstances If you have circumstances that have caused educational or home life disruption or disadvantage (this covers quite a wide range of things).
Disability / Specific Learning Difficulty / Long-term illness If you have a disability, Specific Learning Difficulty, or long-term illness.
Organ Award applicants If you are applying for an organ scholarship (music award).
Teachers and parents If you are a teacher or a parent / guardian supporting an applicant.


Undergraduate admissions / Subjects at Christ's / How we use personal information

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