This page is part of the current applicants section and contains practical information for students who are coming for interview at Christ's in the week beginning Monday 13 January. Further details are being added to this page gradually.
Arriving at Christ's
We hope that the How to get to Christ's page will give you the information you need to find the College.
When you arrive, please enter the College on your own by the main gate on St Andrew's Street (it is not possible to enter by other gates). There is a porters' lodge on the left as you enter, and from there, the college porters will be happy to give you a College map and directions to any rooms that you need to find.
We have found from experience that accompanying parents and friends can be distracting both for the interviewee and for other candidates, so we ask that parents and guardians leave you at the gate and do not accompany you whilst you are in Christ's.
If a parent / guardian would like to explore Cambridge whilst you're in Christ's, there's lots of information on the Visit Cambridge website, and they can always pop into the Visitor information Centre at Peas Hill, Cambridge CB2 3AD if they want some guidance or to go on an official tour (map - the Visitor Centre is close to Christ's). If your parents would like to print a map of Cambridge to bring with them, there's one here that can be printed in landscape format. Otherwise, there are coffee shops and shops over the road from Christ's and we're very close to the market, three shopping centres (Grafton, Lion Yard and Grand Arcade), restaurants, several University museums and a couple of cinemas. For a quiet place to work, we recommend that parents & guardians head for Cambridge Central Library - the entrance is upstairs inside the Lion Yard Shopping Centre.
Waiting in the Buttery (First Court)
If you have time before or between your interviews and would like somewhere to relax, please use the College Buttery bar in first Court (indicated on the College map). There is a Costa Cafe there and sofas to sit on, so please make yourself comfortable. Note that we do not run very many interviews in January, so you may be there on your own - we advise you to bring a book or something to do.
You should not wait outside your interview room more than five minutes before your interview. There is often nowhere to wait and some of the rooms open directly into the open air so it can be very cold waiting outside! There’s no problem with finding out ahead of time where the room is but please use the Buttery as a waiting room before and between your interviews.
Toilets
There are toilets indicated on the College map. Due to refurbishment work in First Court, please do not use the toilets indicated in First Court - instead, use the toilets indicated in Second Court or the ones in the Yusuf Hamied Centre (these are in the basement - go down the stairs inside and walk around the corridor until your find them).
There are also toilets next to Z Amenity Room in the basement of Z (Todd Building).
Please wear a watch!
Please wear a watch on your interview day so that you know the time. You will be asked to hand in your mobile phone when you do some parts of your assessment so you will not be able to rely on the clock on your phone.
Food
If you would like to get some food, as well as a very small selection of quick snacks available to buy in the College Buttery, there are plenty of options in the town centre just outside the College, as well as a Sainbury's Local Supermarket on St Andrew's Street.
Contact details
It's a really good idea to add your mobile phone number on UCAS Track if you've not already done so. That way we would be able to contact you on the day of your interview in case we need to.