The subject choices that your make in Year 11 (England and Wales) / S4 (Scotland / Y12 (Northern Ireland) can have a major impact on your course and university options. Selective universities often consider not only the individual subjects, but also the combination of subjects - they will want to see you taking sixth form courses that prepare you well for advanced study in your subject.
At the University of Cambridge, many of our courses require applicants to have taken certain subjects, or combinations of subjects at A level, or in the International Baccalaureate, Scottish Advanced Highers, Irish leaving Certificate or Pre-U. This is because they prepare students more effectively for those courses than some of the other subjects available.
Even if there are no required subjects for a course you are considering, you should take sixth form courses that develop relevant academic skills. Many students do not know at the start of sixth form what they might like to study at university. Advice is available for keeping your options open. PLEASE attend our subject choices webinar before finalising your post-16 subject choices - it may save you all sorts of problems later on!
| General information | Course-specific information |
|---|---|
| Cambridge University wesbite: Choosing your post-16 subjects | Christ's subject pages
Cambridge Admissions course pages |
If you have more general questions it can be helpful to also look up your qualification on the Cambridge admissions entry requirements page.
Christ's regular webinar:
Post-16 subject choices
If you are reading this while you are in Year 10 or Year 11, do consider signing up for our regular webinar on Post-16 subject choices. These are scheduled regularly from February - August and you will find the booking forms on our events page or in the webinar info.
If you're not in England or Wales, the table below sets out the relevant school years / ages:
| England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Non-UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinar suitable for Year 10 and Year 11 | Webinar suitable for S3 and S4. Students from Scotland are welcome to attend but please be aware that the webinar will focus on A level and IB choices specifically. Please ensure that you also read our Scotland section | Webinar suitable for Year 11 and Year 12 students from Northern Ireland, and please also read our Northern Ireland page. | Webinar suitable for students aged 14 - 16 AND planning to take either International A-Levels or the International Baccalaureate. Please note that the webinar does not cover other qualifications. |