Application FAQs | Undergraduates
You can find loads of information about Churchill and our undergraduate admissions process on our Undergraduate applications webpage, including a start-to-finish undergraduate pre-applicant pack. You should also check out the University’s Undergraduate Study FAQs.
Additional FAQs that we’re regularly asked at Churchill are answered here.
Where is Churchill College and how can I visit?
Churchill is set in a 42-acre park to the west of Cambridge, a short walk from the city centre. We’re the largest College in the University so we have space to accommodate all our undergraduates on-site, with an exceptional environment and amenities. We’re up the road from the University Library and the Sidgwick Site (arts and humanities), and effectively next door to the West Cambridge Site where many science courses are based.
For more information, head over to our Admissions micro-site and Visit Us page, particularly the “prospective students” section. We don’t have capacity to offer individual/personalised tours of College but you can arrange to visit informally yourself or to come and see us on an Open Day. You’ll also find links to virtual tour apps and our online Q&As page, through which you can subscribe to attend any of our regular free webinars and Q&A sessions (which often include students or academic staff involved in admissions).
Finally, check out videos of our students telling you about their Cambridge experience and taking you on a full tour of College, our accommodation and facilities.
How do I apply to Churchill?
Once you’ve chosen a course you’d like to study at the University of Cambridge, you’ll also have the option to choose a College in your UCAS application. Choosing Churchill means that we’ll review your application on behalf of the University and have first choice of making you an offer. Check out our Admissions micro-site to help decide if Churchill’s the right College for you.
Whether you’re completely new to the idea of applying to a UK university or are seeking detailed guidance about applying to Cambridge and Churchill specifically, our Undergraduate admissions page and the resources linked from it will provide what you need to know.
We’ve covered content from preparing to make a strong application and our entry requirements, through to what it costs to be a student and the technicalities of the admissions process itself.
You’ll also find links to our online Q&As page, through which you can subscribe to attend any of our regular free webinars and Q&A sessions (which often include students or academic staff involved in admissions).
What are Churchill’s academic entry requirements?
We’re asked this a lot so we’ve included it in the pre-applicant pack linked at the bottom of this page.
What if I don’t have qualifications or grades that meet your academic entry requirements?
Regretfully, if you’ve not attained or you’re not on track to attain at the very least Cambridge’s typical academic offer for your chosen course then it’s unlikely that Churchill will be able to continue with your application.
If you don’t have access to a high school curriculum that’s acceptable for entry to Cambridge (which is quite common in the case of certain international applicants, for example), we advise you to self-study for portfolio of exams that meet our requirements, as an individual candidate. For most, the easiest way to do this is to undertake a single sitting of a minimum five Advanced Placement tests, relevant to the target course, achieving Grade 5 in each.
Do you take extenuating circumstances into account?
Certainly, yes. Head over to our Applications page to see the range of information we consider about each applicant, including contextual data and a link to the University’s Extenuating Circumstances Form.
Be aware that, due to the competition for places here, extenuating circumstances won’t mean of themselves that we can admit (even interview) you if you’re not on track to attain at the least Cambridge’s typical academic offer for your chosen course. Nevertheless, your application should clearly tell us about any extenuating circumstances, particularly if you have excelled in the face of adversity.
And remember, if you don’t tell us about your circumstances then we can’t factor them into our considerations.
What part do UCAS personal statements play in the Churchill admissions process, and how do I write a good one?
At Churchill (and Cambridge), we generally place less emphasis upon UCAS personal statements than many other universities do. This being said, what we find most helpful in them is evidence that you have explored your subject and are continuing to do so, and therefore that you have made an informed choice about your target course. If you’re later invited to interview, conversations about these things and anything else on your personal statement may form part of the discussion.
For further guidance, head to the personal statements section of Cambridge’s UCAS application webpage.
Is there a minimum age for entry to Churchill?
Legally no, except for undergraduate Medicine (see the University’s Medicine page). However, if you won’t turn 18 during your first year then you may find the fact that you’ll need legally to be treated as a minor limiting to your experience, since most of our undergraduates are at least 18 when they arrive and our courses are residential. For this reason, we recommend that entrants should optimally be 18 by the end of their first term.
If you successfully apply and will be aged younger than 17 at point of entry, we’ll particularly need to talk with you and your family about accommodation and care arrangements. We’ll likely recommend that they or a legal carer should move to Cambridge with you, so you can live off site together until you are at least 17.
In all cases, our academic expectations and admissions process remain the same.
Is there a maximum age for entry to Churchill?
Absolutely not. If you’re a prospective mature student, including for a second and/or affiliated undergraduate degree, then we’d welcome an application from you, with the caveat that our academic expectations and admissions process remain the same for all applicants.
How much does it cost to study at Churchill?
There are two main costs associated with studying at Churchill — tuition fees and maintenance, including College charges. For further guidance, check out our Fees and Costs page.
If we make you an offer to study here, we’ll ask you to evidence that you’re able to fund your place. For home fees students who’re eligible for UK student finance and choose to apply to it for support with both tuition fees and maintenance, we’ll ask you simply to send us your UK student finance breakdown when you get it. For everyone else, we’ll ask you for evidence of readily available funds (liquid assets) to cover the full duration costs of your course, underwritten by one or more guarantors.
What financial help is available?
Cambridge and its colleges are committed to the principle that no suitably qualified home fees student should be deterred from applying to study here for financial reasons. There’s more information on the University’s Financial Assistance webpages, including particularly the Cambridge Bursary Scheme for home fees students from low income households.
If you’re not a home fees student, or if you’re not going to apply for UK student finance, then you must plan to fund the full duration costs of your course through a combination of evidenced private finance (liquid assets) and/or bursaries and scholarships that you may choose to apply for.
Cambridge’s financial support for international fees undergraduates is limited and highly competed for, and there are only a few full undergraduate scholarships available. You can read more on the University’s International Fees and Costs page and the pages linked from it. Regretfully, Churchill does not offer College-based financial support for international fees undergraduates.
I’m currently an undergraduate at another university. Can I apply to be an undergraduate at Churchill, either by mid-course transfer or by starting afresh?
Churchill does not accept mid-course transfer applications from students at any other universities, UK or international, under any circumstances.
If you’re an undergraduate enrolled on a degree course at another UK university, we typically won’t consider an application from you to start afresh with us, unless: (i) you complete your current degree then apply to us read a second undergraduate degree in a different subject; or (ii) the circumstances are exceptional and/or your application involves a significant change of subject. We regard a significant change of subject as a move to a different discipline, for example, you are currently studying Engineering at another university and you want to apply to study English with us. If you’re in any doubt about whether your target subject is too similar to your current one, email our Admissions Office. In any case, you would need to be appropriately qualified to study your new subject and have strong support – a formal reference or letter of recommendation – from your Course Director or other academic tutor at your present university. It’d also be useful in your application to include your reasons for wanting to switch subjects.
If you’re an undergraduate enrolled on a degree course at a non-UK university, we may consider an application from you to start afresh with us, even for a cognate course or discipline. This is especially true where you have not previously had access to a high school curriculum that meets Cambridge’s international entry requirements. Under these circumstances, we would still require evidence of your high school attainment (and would anticipate that this would show that you were high performing), as well as strong support – a formal reference or letter of recommendation – from your Course Director or other academic tutor at your present university. Before you apply, we would also strongly advise you to consider whether you truly want to move between universities, especially if you have already undertaken a significant period of undergraduate study elsewhere. For most students in a situation like this who want to study at Cambridge, it is best for them to finish their current undergraduate course elsewhere then apply to Cambridge for a postgraduate qualification.
Finally, if you apply successfully to us whilst you’re enrolled at another university (UK or otherwise), any conditional offer we set you could – at our sole discretion – be academically contingent upon end-of-year outcomes in your current course, to confirm that you remain high performing in your present cohort.