Engineering

Why study Engineering at Christ’s?

At Christ’s we welcome Engineering students from all across the world. Our six Fellows work together with research students and external academics to cover all aspects of Engineering at a high level, so you can be confident of an outstanding start in the subject. Almost half of our first-years achieved Firsts in 2018.

Our graduates go on to work in a range of sectors, including in traditional engineering companies, consultancies, management consultancies, investment banks, hedge funds, start-ups, research and for online giants such as Google and Facebook.
 

Course content and structure

Please visit the University website for full details of the Engineering course content and structure.

Cambridge offers two courses (or ‘triposes’) in Engineering:

• > Engineering (with specialisation in one of the main engineering disciplines in 3rd and optional 4th year)
• > Manufacturing Engineering (specialist training in marketing, design, manufacturing engineering and factory operation in the third and fourth years).
   

There is also a separate Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology degree, or after two years of Engineering you can opt for the one-year Management Studies course to gain a BA degree after a total of three years of study.

Please visit the University website for full details of the Engineering course content and structure.
 

Teaching

Christ’s College has the following Engineering Fellows and Bye-Fellows whose broad collective expertise means we’re well placed to support your studies.

• > Dr Elena Punskaya (Director of Studies) Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer in software Engineering and Design
• > Dr Sam Stanier Fellow and College Lecturer in Engineering, University Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering
• > Prof Mark Girolami Fellow and Professor of Civil Engineering
• > Dr Ho-On To, Research Fellow working on aero-propulsion
• > Dr Timos Kipouros Bye-Fellow and supervisor in Engineering Materials
• > Dr Graham Spelman Bye-Fellow and Supervisor in Engineering Mechanics
• > Dr Dai Jones Life Fellow in Engineering and Materials
• > Dr Richard Turner Bye-Fellow and University Lecturer in Computer Vision and Machine Learning
• > Professor Peter Rayner Emeritus Professor; Information Engineering

The University’s Engineering Department arranges all your classes, lectures and practicals. Christ’s Director of Studies in Engineering Dr Elena Punskaya helps organise your work and ‘supervisions’. These weekly small-group tutorial sessions with College Fellows, university lecturers or research workers give you the advantage of personally-tailored tuition and guidance. And we’re willing to provide extra sessions if needed.

Christ’s is handily located right in the heart of Cambridge, only 15 minutes’ walk from the Engineering Department.
 

What do our students think?

Read about the experiences of Annie, Andrew, Ollie, and Hiral who recently studied Engineering here at Christ’s. There's also Statos, who did first year Engineering before changing to Natural Sciences (Physical).

You may also find the following student session from our February Open Day helpful as Annie is currently studying Engineering:

• >  Timetable, Workload, Activities student presentation & Q&A (all subjects)
  It's a full hour but if you watch it to the end you'll have a very good sense of what it's really like to study at Christ's.

If you’d like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.

How to Apply

Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.

Subject requirements

To apply for Engineering, you should take

• 1. Mathematics (For International Baccalaureate students, this should be 'Analysis and Approaches')
• 2. Physics
• 3. A third mathematical / science subject at A-level, IB Higher or equivalent. If you are an A-level candidate and your third maths/science subject is not Further Mathematics, you will be more competitive if you can offer Further Mathematics as an AS-level. If you are applying with Scottish Advanced Highers, please see the information here.

There is no additional STEP requirement for Engineering at Christ's.

The university publishes statistics on the profile of recent successful applicants for Engineering including the percentage of A level candidates taking Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry. To find these, go to the university Engineering infiormation, click on the entry requirements tab and scoll down to the grey box at the end of the page.

If your school does not offer Further Mathematics, you may be able to get support through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme. It can support you by offering advice about choosing Further Mathematics, revision events, university applications, enrichment materials and activities, and tuition, when it is not available through your school or college.

A number of our international candidates from countries where you study a wide range of subjects at school in the final two years find it helpful to take part in mathematics competitions as a way to focus on extending their mathematical knowledge and ability. 

Admissions Assessment (Registration required)

Applicants to the University of Cambridge for Engineering (or Chemical Engineering via Engineering) must sit an  admissions assessment called the Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA). This will take place in your school, college or local testing centre. The same assessment is used regardless of which College you apply to. The Engineering Admissions Assessment examines your academic abilities, knowledge-base and potential, and forms part of our holistic admissions process: there is no set score that we are looking for. When applying, it is important to be aware of the registration and assessment dates:

*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.

Information about the assessment including example papers and subject content is available on the University Admissions website from March each year.

Interviews

If we invite you for interviews, these usually take place in very late November or early December. For the last three years interviews have been online and students have been interviewed either at home (in most cases) or at school (if easier).  Those invited for Cambridge interviews are normally interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with academics in Engineering. During these interviews, you will have an opportunity to show us your academic potential, your approach to solving problems and your ability to generate ideas.

Do not forget that the interviews are not just there for us to ask you questions. They provide you an excellent opportunity to ask us about the course, the College and the University. Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student.

Offers

We typically admit between eight and twelve Engineering students per year. Offers for Engineering are likely to be minimum A*A*A at A-level including A* in A-level Further Maths (or minimum grade A at AS level Further Maths); 42 points overall in the IB with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects; A1, A1, A2 in Scottish Advanced Highers; or equivalent in other qualifications.

The international students section has further information about typical offers for other qualifications. If you will have already finished school when you apply, please see our page for post-qualification applications.

Taking a gap year

For those who are considering a gap year, deferred entry applications and post-qualification applications for Engineering are encouraged by the College. A gap year can offer a valuable opportunity to travel and/or gain work experience in an industrial setting (via, for example, the Year in Industry Scheme), which can be a major advantage during the undergraduate course. See the industrial placements information on the Engineering Department website.
 

Helpful Resources

Open Days and Online Events

Online events: Our open days and events page advertises online opportunities as well as events you can attend in Cambridge (in normal times). These include our regular webinars from February until August, and our College Open Days in October, February and September.

The Engineering Department puts on lots of events for the annual Cambridge Open Days, in July. Booking opens in April each year and you can visit Christ's College on the same day. If you can't visit in person, there is a virtual tour of the Engineering department online.
 

Want to know more?

For a full picture of what the course involves, please read the University's Engineering course prospectus, take a look at Undergraduate Engineering admissions and the Department of Engineering information for prospective students too. It would be helpful to watch this film about the Dyson Centre too.

If you have any queries, send them to admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll help however we can.
 

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