̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Cambridge Admissions Office

Vice-Chancellor continues UK tour

ps748 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:52:55 +0000

̽��ֱ��South West of England has one of the country’s lowest levels of student progression into higher education. One of the key objectives of the visit was to engage with pupils and teachers in an area that is conspicuously under-represented in applications and admissions to Cambridge.

First stop was Colyton Grammar School, in east Devon, where Professor Prentice talked to school leaders about the barriers encountered by students from the region wishing to attend university. Joining her were representatives from Downing College, which has a particular connection to the area. They were also joined by Mike Nicholson, the ̽��ֱ��’s Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Participation, and Tom Levinson, Head of Widening Participation and Collaborative Outreach.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Downing College have partnered with the ̽��ֱ�� of Bristol and the Sutton Trust to support the Colyton Foundation Your Future Story – a programme that aims to support high attaining students from under-resourced backgrounds in the South West to pursue higher education opportunities.

In the evening, the Vice-Chancellor attended a reception in Bristol which was attended by nearly 50 Cambridge alumni, including one who matriculated in 1949.

̽��ֱ��following day the Vice-Chancellor travelled to North Somerset for a visit to Priory Community School, part of an Academy Trust in Worle, near Weston-super-Mare. Mike Nicholson led a school assembly for year 11 students. Later that morning, Xanthe Robertson, Access and Recruitment Officer of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, led assemblies for 1,500 students in Years 7 through to 10.

̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor and colleagues were interviewed by members of a student news team named after the journalist Jill Dando, who grew up in Worle. ̽��ֱ��visitors noted that among the school’s notable alumni was Stephen Jenkins, Professor of Physical and Computational Surface Chemistry at Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��next stop was Weston College, a further and higher education College in Weston-super-Mare that provides education and vocational training to students from the age of 14 through to adulthood. There the group met Sixth Form students to hear about their aspirations.

̽��ֱ��final leg of the journey took the Cambridge delegation to St Bede’s Catholic and Sixth Form College in Bristol. ̽��ֱ��school is part of the HE+ network, through which the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Colleges work together with schools FE establishments across the country to encourage applications from talented students.

Reflecting on her visit, the Vice-Chancellor said: “Travelling to the South West allowed me to learn more about the region and to understand some of the barriers to aspiration and attainment that prevent bright students from pursuing higher education. ̽��ֱ��students we met were impressive. Their teachers’ commitment to supporting their educational journey is outstanding. I hope that the outreach partnerships between the ̽��ֱ��, the Colleges and local schools will help us attract talented students to Cambridge, and will more generally encourage them to consider going to university.”

This visit to the South West followed the Vice-Chancellor’s trip to Rochdale, Manchester and Liverpool a year ago and her visit to Peterborough in the autumn of 2024.

̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, has led a delegation to Devon, North Somerset and Bristol. It was the first time a serving Cambridge Vice-Chancellor had travelled to the region in an official capacity to engage with local schools and alumni.

̽��ֱ��students we met were impressive

Professor Deborah Prentice

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

New admissions tests for 2024

ps748 — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 10:11:46 +0000

Cambridge and Imperial will provide two sets of tests. ̽��ֱ��Engineering and Science Admissions Test (ESAT) will be used for degree programmes in Engineering, Natural Sciences, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge, and Physics and most Engineering degrees at Imperial.

̽��ֱ��Test of Mathematics for ̽��ֱ�� Admission (TMUA) will be used for Economics and Computer Science degrees at Cambridge, and both the Economics, Finance and Data Science and Computing degrees at Imperial. A number of other UK universities will also use the TMUA for assessing applications for mathematically-based courses.

Pearson VUE is the certification and licensure arm of Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, providing assessment services to many institutions in the academic and admissions space. From October 2024 students will take a new computer based assessment at a Pearson VUE test centre, selecting from a global network of more than 5,500 locations in more than 180 countries. Mike Nicholson, Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Participation at Cambridge said “We are delighted to be able to provide computer based admissions tests from 2024, and in locations that take the burden off teachers and schools to act as test centres.”

Cambridge and Imperial will also be using the UCAT assessment for admission to their medical degrees from 2024, also provided through Pearson VUE, and Cambridge will continue to use the LNAT test for Law admissions.

Applicants will be required to pay an administration charge to take the tests, in line with other comparable institutions, but a fee waiver will be applied for UK-based applicants who are eligible for free school meals or who meet a number of other widening participation criteria. Nicholson added that “It is important that cost is not a barrier to participation, and the model we are using for the fee waivers has been successfully used for other admissions tests supported by Pearson”.

Lizzie Burrows, Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions at Imperial said “ ̽��ֱ��applicant experience is at the heart of our ambitions. With the number of applications expected to continue to rise over coming years, universities need to find ways to fairly select the best candidates while minimising the burden on our applicants.”

We hope that these tests, operating through Pearson VUE’s well established test centre network will encourage other universities to use the TMUA and ESAT as assessments and streamline the admissions process for students.”

To attract a wider range of applicants the TMUA and ESAT will run test-sittings in mid-October 2024 and early January 2025 to reflect the two main deadlines for courses in the UCAS admissions process. Applicants to Cambridge must take the Autumn sitting.

Matthew Poyiadgi, Vice President EMEA and Asia at Pearson VUE, commented “As academic settings and admissions programmes continue to evolve in an increasingly digital world, computer-based assessments drive greater efficiencies. We look forward to collaborating with Imperial and Cambridge on this transition and supporting applicants to these world-leading universities in proving their potential.’’

Learn about our admissions tests and assessments.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Imperial College London are to launch a new joint venture to deliver admissions tests for science, engineering and mathematics based degree courses. ̽��ֱ��tests, which will be delivered by global assessments leader, Pearson VUE, aim to improve the experience of students applying for highly competitive undergraduate courses while helping universities to fairly assess the skills of the brightest applicants.

We are delighted to be able to provide computer based admissions tests from 2024

Mike Nicholson

Senate House

Yes

Cambridge College to support care experienced teenagers

ps748 — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:22:02 +0000

̽��ֱ��children will be offered mentoring and will be able to visit the College on Saturdays for extra tuition in English and Maths plus extra-curricular activities. ̽��ֱ��College will also host a 3 week summer school next year (2024) with a focus on academic, as well as personal, development. In addition to the academic focus, the programme will also teach valuable life skills such as cooking and nutrition, emotional regulation and self-advocacy.

Film producer, Peter Samuelson, is the Chair and Founder of First Star Scholars UK. He was the first in his family to go to university, arriving at Emmanuel in the late 1960s. He says those in care feel they don’t have a voice and are often passed around like “cardboard boxes”. He is keen to raise expectations: “You may be carrying trauma, horrible things may have happened to you, but ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and the scholars will find a village at Emmanuel College. There are role models, there are mentors, there are tutors, there’s a community that prizes critical thinking, exploration and personal growth. That’s for you too and it’s a ladder that can help you lift yourselves up.”

̽��ֱ��partnership will show care experienced children what it is like to live and study within a ‘Russell Group’ institution, where care leavers make up only 0.4% of the total undergraduate population, and inspire them to continue pursuing their studies in order to make the essential step from care into higher education.

Master of Emmanuel College, Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers, says “A lot of children in care simply don’t think they can get into higher education so this partnership is about giving these children, across Cambridgeshire, a platform from which they can aspire to go to universities like Cambridge. This isn’t about recruiting students for Emmanuel…this is about us playing our part in helping the social environment that is around us. When I was in the military, whether you were garrisoned or camped, you worked out what your local environment was like and then assessed whether you could engage with it and add value or not…we’re doing a similar thing at this College.”

A joint report by First Star Scholars UK and the independent think tank, Civitas, found that only 14% of care leavers under 19 started a university course in 2021–22 compared with 47% of non-care leavers (based on Department for Education (DfE) data). There are currently 65 care experienced students at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge but it’s hoped this figure will rise as a result of targeted outreach programmes and more scholarships being made available. Through its Realise project, the ̽��ֱ�� runs a series of events throughout the year for young people with experience of care.

Care experienced children in Cambridgeshire are to receive significant support with their education and pastoral needs through a new partnership between Emmanuel College and the charity First Star Scholars UK. It will offer young care experienced people first-hand experience of a College environment to help them develop academically, personally and emotionally from Year 9 through to Year 13, helping them fulfil their potential and work towards entering higher education.

This is about us playing our part in helping the social environment that is around us

Doug Chalmers

Paul Seagrove

Peter Samuelson and Doug Chalmers

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

A-level results day

ps748 — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 16:38:30 +0000

Celebrating the achievements of those coming to Cambridge

Applauding the teachers

ps748 — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 09:11:34 +0000

Cambridge hands out first Educator Awards to teachers who've been nominated by former pupils who are now studying at the ̽��ֱ��.

STEM SMART: ̽��ֱ��Cambridge students mentoring sixth formers

sb726 — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 14:25:15 +0000

More than a hundred Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� students have been mentoring sixth formers across the UK as part of the ̽��ֱ��’s new STEM SMART programme .

Plan to boost support for care experienced students

ps748 — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:59:40 +0000

Earlier this year, the ̽��ֱ�� hosted an event to celebrate the achievements of students with a care background. ̽��ֱ��gathering, at Homerton College, included prospective students turning their thoughts to ̽��ֱ��, their foster carers and current students. ̽��ֱ��carers said they were impressed with the general desire to see young people develop their skills and achieve their potential.

One of those the group heard from was Robert Barker, a care-experienced student currently studying for a degree in Geography at Fitzwilliam College who encouraged younger students to do whatever they set their minds to achieve:

'Students from care-experienced backgrounds really can go on to do the most amazing things, despite challenging circumstances. Ensuring students from these backgrounds can see that people from similar backgrounds can go on to do great things is crucial and programmes such as the Realise Project do this exceptionally well through celebrating the achievements of students from these backgrounds. Being in care presents many challenges and often at times it is difficult to see the future, but the reality is people with a background in Care can and do go into doing amazing things - the sky really is the limit.’

Student Robert Barker

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� is a signatory to the Care Leaver Covenant which commits it to providing support for those with experience of the care system and ensuring they don’t miss out on opportunities. It’s also signed the Stand Alone pledge demonstrating a similar commitment to those young people who are either estranged from their families or living independently. There are currently more than 150 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Cambridge who have experience of the care system. Six of the 47 students embarking on the Foundation Year programme this year are also care experienced. Dr Alex Pryce is the Foundation Year Course Director:

“ ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Foundation Year exists to provide a pathway for those whose education has been disrupted or disadvantaged. We know the impact having been in care can have on someone’s educational journey. We are delighted to see 1 in 10 care experienced students in our first cohort and look forward to supporting them - and hopefully many others in the future - to realise their potential at Cambridge.”

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� is working towards further accreditation with a NNECL (National Network for the Education of Care Leavers) Quality Mark for the inclusion and success of care experienced students. To achieve this it will have to demonstrate a continuing commitment to the inclusion of care experienced students. Jon Datta is Deputy Head of Widening Participation at the ̽��ֱ��:

“We know that care experienced students are less likely to go to ̽��ֱ�� than other groups and we also know that they have lower continuation rates and outcomes. We are committed to ensuring they thrive while studying here and will be establishing a new role within the Widening Participation team to help improve their participation in ̽��ֱ�� life. We are also setting up an advisory panel for care-experienced and estranged students. This will bring together a group of students to share their experiences and offer suggestions to help the ̽��ֱ�� devise new initiatives to support them.”

In May the annual celebration of Foster Care Fortnight was marked by another event at Homerton College. ̽��ֱ��choice of the College as venue was apposite as its Principal, Lord Woolley, was raised by foster parents. He spoke passionately about his own journey through Higher Education and of his subsequent achievements in life. ‘You’re superheroes without capes’, he told the attendees, stressing the need for those who are care-experienced to ‘drop the impostor syndrome’ and be ambitious about what they wanted to achieve in life.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is increasing its efforts to support students who have a care background or who are estranged from their families. It’s establishing a panel of care experienced students to advise on ways to ensure proper support is available and will be recruiting a team of mentors to help guide new students through their time at Cambridge.

We are committed to ensuring they thrive while studying here

Jon Datta

Group at Homerton

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Statement on 2022 admissions

ps748 — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:15:25 +0000

We would like to congratulate those who successfully met the terms of their offers. This is a cohort of students who have faced immense disruption to their education so their excellent results this summer are a testament to their effort and determination.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� will welcome another record number of state school students. Around 72.5% will come from the maintained sector (up from 71.6% in 2021). A total of 84 students were admitted through the August Reconsideration Pool (formerly Adjustment). These are students from less advantaged backgrounds who are likely to have narrowly missed out on an offer in January but who then went on to achieve high grades at A-level, demonstrating their potential for Cambridge.

A further 47 students have been successful in securing a place on the ̽��ֱ��’s Foundation Year. This provides fully funded, year-long study in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for those who have faced educational disruption or disadvantage.

̽��ֱ��Director of Admissions for the Cambridge Colleges, Dr Sam Lucy, said:

“We’re delighted to be welcoming another cohort of talented young people on to our courses this year who have shown real resilience in going on to achieve superb results. Every student who gets a place at Cambridge thoroughly deserves it. We know that many will have faced challenging circumstances in the last two years and the Colleges are ready to help with the transition to university level study. Once again, more than a quarter of our students will have come from less advantaged backgrounds* with just over 7% having been eligible for Free School Meals while at school. Our Foundation Year programme will give an opportunity to those who have faced additional hurdles in their route to higher education.”

Around 21% of freshers will be international, slightly down on last year. With more than 22,000 applications for 2022 entry, competition has remained high, with 6 applications per place.

Notes

*Using a combination of POLAR 4 Q1 + 2 and IMD measurements.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is publishing initial figures from the 2022 admissions cycle. With a few decisions still outstanding, the ̽��ֱ�� will be admitting just under 3,600 undergraduates this year.

Every student who gets a place at Cambridge thoroughly deserves it

Dr Sam Lucy

Senate House

Yes