Undergraduate FAQs
Answering your questions
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. If you’re a parent of a student, you may find our Parent FAQs useful. Or, if you’re looking more for a sense of what life here is like, our videos may help.
If you have a question we’ve not answered here, we may have a webinar coming up where you can put your questions to us.
Where is Churchill College and 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 Visits and Open Days page. We are not able to offer individual/personalised tours of College but you can visit informally. For the best experience, we recommend you come and see us on an Open Day.
If you are unable to visit in person, in addition to a 360 virtual tour, we have our own virtual guided tour which is led by Churchill Students.
How do I apply?
Once you’ve chosen a course you’d like to study at 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.
Whether you’re 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 the information you need. 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.
Check out our Outreach page to subscribe to our free webinars and Q&A sessions, which regularly feature current students and/or academic staff involved in admissions.
What are your entry requirements?
Please refer to individual course pages for our entry requirements. If you are not taking A Levels or International Baccalaureate, please refer to the following pages:
How important are (i)GCSEs/equivalent qualifications?
There are no GCSE (or equivalent) requirements for entry to Cambridge. If you haven’t taken GCSEs, IGCSEs or Scottish National Qualifications, you will be asked to submit a high school transcript alongside you application: Providing a transcript | Undergraduate Study.
We will look at your results in these qualifications as an indicator of your previous academic performance and take them into account when assessing your application.
What are your English Language Requirements?
If you are not from a majority English speaking country as defined by the UK Home Office, any offer we set you will likely include an English language condition in an approved English language test, as outlined on the University’s Entry Requirements webpage. All components must be achieved in a single sitting, and we do not accept one skill retakes.
What do you want to see in a personal statement?
At Churchill (and Cambridge), we generally place less emphasis on UCAS personal statements than many other universities do.
When it comes to personal statements, what we find most helpful is evidence that you have explored your subject beyond your school/college curriculum through super-curricular activities. If you are invited to interview, conversations about these activities may form part of the discussion.
Personal statements often include accounts of extra-curricular activities, i.e., activities or interests that you do outside school/college which are unrelated to your target course. As a point of principle, we don’t regard these as relevant – though other universities might.
For further guidance, head to the personal statements section of Cambridge’s UCAS application webpage.
Do you take extenuating circumstances into account?
Yes, it is important that we know if there are any extenuating circumstances that have affected your studies so we can assess your application in full context. We can’t take this information into account if we don’t know about it at the point of application, so make sure you report these appropriately, as outlined on the University’s webpage: Tell us if something made it difficult for you to study | Undergraduate Study.
That being said, if you are not on track to attain at least Cambridge’s minimum offer level for your chosen course, it is extremely unlikely that your application will be successful.
What is your view on gap years?
Churchill is happy to consider gap year applications for all of our undergraduate courses, whether you are a post-qualification candidate or you would like to apply for deferred entry.
In both cases, our academic expectations and admissions processes remain the same. We would also expect you to maintain your academic skills and knowledge during your time away from formal education. It is useful for applicants to talk about their plans and reasoning for taking a gap year in their application.
As a rule, we don’t entertain deferral requests after offers have been made; therefore, applicants who want to take a gap year should make this clear at the point of application.
I’m taking a foundation year, can I apply?
Churchill does not admit students to the Cambridge Foundation Year.
If you’re taking another foundation year, in the UK or internationally, you may technically be eligible to apply to Cambridge. Check out the University’s accepted qualifications page.
However, as a rule, at Churchill base we our admissions decisions on internationally-recognised secondary or high school qualifications as described on our Undergraduate applications page, because these provide the best indicator of an applicant’s potential to thrive at Cambridge.
For this reason, it’s highly unusual for foundation year candidates ultimately to be offered a place at Churchill, particularly if their previous academic profile places them outside the very top percentiles of their cohort (in terms of ability and achievement) and/or is evidently not commensurate with entry to Cambridge. If one or both of these is true in your case, we’d advise you to undertake a single sitting of internationally-recognised secondary or high school qualifications (like A Levels or APs) alongside your present course of study, and to apply with predictions or outcomes in these which are at least in-line with the University’s minimum offer level for your chosen course.
To be transparent, in the past decade, no applicant presenting foundation year as their primary qualification for entry has applied successfully for undergraduate admission to Churchill.
I’m currently an undergraduate at another university, can I apply?
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 do not normally consider an application from you to start afresh with us.
For undergraduates enrolled at a non-UK university, we would consider applications from candidates who have been unable to study high school qualifications that are considered competitive for entry to the University of Cambridge, as outlined here: International entry requirements | Undergraduate Study.
If I’m unsuccessful, can I reapply to Churchill College?
All applicants have the right to reapply without prejudice irrespective of their target subject.
We would not be able to access any information about a candidate from a previous admissions round, regardless of which Cambridge College(s) handled their previous application, or candidate’s previous applications to other institutions.
Is there a maximum age for entry?
No. Churchill welcomes applications from mature students, including those applying for a second/affiliated undergraduate degree, with the caveat that our academic expectations and admissions process remain the same for all applicants.
We recommend that mature students consider appyling to one of Cambridge’s Mature Colleges as they are particularly well suited to support those returning to study later.
How much does it cost to study and what financial help is avaliable?
There are two main costs associated with studying at Churchill: tuition fees and maintenance, which includes College charges. For further guidance, please refer to our Fees and Costs page.
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.
Financial assistance for International Undergraduate students is limited and very competitive. There are few full undergraduate scholarships available, with most support being means-tested and only a partial contribution: International financial support | Undergraduate Study.
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