This page is part of the Christ's applicants from Scotland section.

Charles Darwin's old rooms
Charles Darwin's old room in First Court

We welcome applications from students in the Scottish SQA qualification system who would like to apply for Natural Sciences at Christ's. We define the terms of our offers individually, but the typical offer for this course is A1, A1, A2 in three relevant Advanced Highers:

  • If you are applying for Natural Sciences (Biological) at Christ's, we require you to take
    • Advanced Higher Mathematics
    • Advanced Higher Chemistry
    • One further subject out of Advanced Higher Biology and Advanced Higher Physics.
    Note that Advanced Higher Biology is not a pre-requisite for the study of Biological Natural Sciences, and that students intending to specialise in Chemistry can follow either this pathway or the Physical Natural Sciences pathway on entry.
  • If you are applying for Natural Sciences (Physical) at Christ's, we require you to take
    • Advanced Higher Mathematics
    • two further subjects out of
      • Advanced Higher Chemistry
      • Advanced Higher Mathematics of Mechanics
      • Advanced Higher Physics.
    We would expect you to achieve an A1 in Advanced Higher Mathematics. Whilst we do not require Advanced Higher Mathematics of Mechanics, applicants who have taken this course or who are doing or some equivalent study of Mathematics beyond the Advanced Higher Mathematics curriculum are likely to be more competitive for Natural Sciences (Physical) than those who have not. Note that students with Advanced Higher Chemistry will have a broader choice of options during the first year of the degree programme than those offering Physics as their only experimental science.

All applicants for Natural Sciences must also take the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test), which requires registration by mid-September. You will be able to search for a test centre in Scotland.

Please read our Natural Sciences subject page thoroughly, including student profiles, information about what the application process involves and resources for developing your interest and relevant skills.

As well as the Natural Sciences subject meetings on Zoom in the Christ's Online Open Days (October of S5, February of S5, or September of S6), there's a University open day online or in person in July of S5. Additional events with science content include any Natural Sciences Masterclasses, and the Cambridge Festival in March/April (though this is a public event rather than one designed specifically for prospective students).

Please don't worry if your school is not able to provide support for your application to Cambridge as we provide support directly via our ongoing support emails and events in the lead up to application, our UK application support pages and our current applicants section.
 

Christ's Applicants from Scotland / Natural Sciences at Christ's / ESAT (registration required)