University of Cambridge guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation

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Overview

If you go to a state school, there has never been a better time to apply to Cambridge. The 72.5% of admissions that came from the state sector last year was another record and compares to just 61.4% ten years ago. The independent schools don’t like it, but as former Cambridge vice-chancellor Stephen Toope said last year: ‘We have to keep making it very, very clear we are intending to reduce over time the number of people who are coming from independent school backgrounds into places like Oxford and Cambridge.’ The educational background of students may be changing, but academic standards are not. Most applicants will still have to achieve a near-perfect set of examination results once they have got through their interview and internal Cambridge subject-specific assessment during Year 13. The prize is one worth fighting for: a place at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, steeped in history and set in a beautiful city, taught by the academics who often write the textbooks and push the boundaries of knowledge. Just don’t forget to apply by October 16. As with most other aspects of university life, this is just another way in which Cambridge is different.

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Paying the bills

It may be one of the most exclusive universities in the world, but it is also one of the best endowed. This allowed the university to distribute more than £10.5m in bursaries and scholarships last year with about one in four students benefitting from this largesse. A non-repayable grant of £3,500 a year goes to students from homes with a household income of up to £25,000 (paid to 1,340 students last year); a sliding scale of grants from £3,490 down to £100 a year is paid to those from homes with an income ranging from £25,001 up to £62,215 (with another 1,420 students benefitting). Such numbers alone give the lie to the perception that all Cambridge students are posh and come from monied backgrounds. Students who are not classified as being dependent on their parents qualify for bursaries of up to £5,600 a year, while those who received free school meals qualify for an additional £1,000 of support. The 29 colleges that admit undergraduates also have their own separate bursaries and scholarships, providing further sources of potential support. The university also has a hardship fund for students struggling to make ends meet. All first years are offered rooms in college and many students can live in for longer. College accommodation works out much cheaper than in the private sector, typically in the range of £130 to £210 per week in 2022-23 with meals available for between £4 and £7 each. Accommodation contracts run from 27 weeks to 39 weeks a year, giving annual costs of between £3,510 and £8,190. The university estimates that students should budget £11,020 for living costs for the upcoming academic year ‘depending on lifestyle’. More studying, less beer, then.

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What’s new?

What’s new? Not a lot. The course portfolio is the most stable of any university. You won’t find degrees here in international tourism management, but you can study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, one of the 30 undergraduate courses spanning 65 subjects – a relatively small number compared to most universities. That’s not to say that the courses put you in an academic straitjacket. Natural Sciences, for instance, can be configured in so many combinations that it would be almost impossible not to find one to suit most scientists’ tastes. When Cambridge does do new, it is big news, which is why there has been much excitement about the launch next year of a new Design Tripos (Cambridge’s word for undergraduate examinations leading to a degree). It brings arts and science together in one degree and is the first new course in many years to be designed from scratch. It is a collaboration between three departments – architecture, engineering, and materials science and metallurgy – and aims to tackle some of the great design issues facing the world, such as net zero. It will lead to a Master of Design qualification after four years of study.

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Admissions, teaching and student support

An academic system built around supervisions and tutorials is about as supportive as it gets in British higher education. Students meet weekly with their tutors in small groups of no more than four to discuss set work. It is also an opportunity to discuss progress or express concerns. The university introduced a Mental Health Plan in 2022, spending an extra £4.7m a year on services. All colleges now have a wellbeing adviser in post and all student-facing staff are given training in how to spot if a student is struggling. Counselling service appointment waiting times have been cut to three working days, or one day for those deemed to be at the greatest risk. Although the profile of the intake at Cambridge is changing, the procedures remain broadly the same. All candidates are interviewed and there are admissions tests for the various subjects. Offers typically involve at least one A* at A-level, and often two. The only exception is the innovative Cambridge Foundation Year in arts, humanities and social sciences, which is open to applicants predicted to get 120 Ucas tariff points, equivalent to BBB or ABC or A*CC at A-level, or equivalent. Launched in 2021, this offers free tuition and a scholarship to cover living costs for a year to students whose schooling has been severely disrupted, from homes where household income is less than £25,000 and/or schools with low progression to higher education. Students who gain 65% in their foundation year can then progress to one of 18 degree courses at Cambridge. Efforts to diversify the intake involve work with social mobility charities and bodies such as the Sutton Trust, Target Oxbridge and the Brilliant Club. A high-profile scholarship scheme with rapper Stormzy has helped boost applications from black UK students, with the number of black students studying at Cambridge rising above 250 as a consequence. But there is a long way to go. Cambridge has the second lowest proportion of first generation students of any university – fewer than one in five entrants – and in 2021, the number of students admitted from north-east England still numbered just 68 or 2.4% of the home intake. The key issue is to get more school leavers to apply from the north east in the first place – and that’s where the headlines surrounding increased state school admissions will help.

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