Prior to the founding of the University of Cambridge in 1209,Cambridge and the area surrounding it already had developed a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation due largely to the intellectual and academic contributions of monks from the nearby bishopric church inEly. The founding of the University of Cambridge, however, was inspired largely by an incident at theUniversity of Oxford during which three Oxford scholars, as an administration of justice in the death of a localOxford-area woman, werehanged by town authorities without first consulting ecclesiastical authorities, who traditionally would be inclined to pardon scholars in such cases. But during this time, Oxford's town authorities were in conflict withKing John. Fearing more violence from Oxford townsfolk, University of Oxford scholars began leaving Oxford for more hospitable cities, including Paris,Reading, andCambridge. Enough scholars ultimately took residence in Cambridge to form, along with the many scholars already there, the nucleus for the new university's formation.[18][19][20]
By 1225, a chancellor of the university was appointed, and writs issued byKing Henry III in 1231 established that rents in Cambridge were to be setsecundum consuetudinem universitatis, according to the custom of the university, and established a panel of two masters and two townsmen to determine these. A letter fromPope Gregory IX two years later to the chancellor and the guild of scholars granted the new universityius non trahi extra, or the right not to be drawn out, for three years, meaning its members could not be summoned to a court outside of the diocese of Ely.[21] After Cambridge was described as astudium generale in a letter fromPope Nicholas IV in 1290,[22] and confirmed as such byPope John XXII's 1318papal bull,[23] it became common for researchers from other Europeanmedieval universities to visit Cambridge to study or give lecture courses.[22]
The31 colleges of the present-day University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the university; no college within the University of Cambridge is as old as the university itself. The colleges within the university were initially endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, which were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, and they have left some traces, including the naming of Garret Hostel Lane andGarret Hostel Bridge, a street and bridge in Cambridge.[24]
The University of Cambridge's first college,Peterhouse, was founded in 1284 byHugh de Balsham, theBishop of Ely. Multiple additional colleges were founded during the 14th and 15th centuries, and colleges continued to be established during modern times, though there was a 204-year gap between the founding ofSidney Sussex in 1596 and that ofDowning in 1800. The most recent college to be established isRobinson, which was built in the late 1970s. Most recently, in March 2010,Homerton College achieved full university college status, making it technically the university's newest full college.
Inmedieval times, many colleges were founded so that their members couldpray for thesouls of the founders. University of Cambridge colleges were often associated with chapels orabbeys. The colleges' focus began to shift in 1536, however, with thedissolution of the monasteries andHenry VIII's order that the university disband thecanon law that governed the university's faculty[25] and stop teachingscholastic philosophy. In response, colleges changed their curricula from canon law toclassics, the Bible, and mathematics.
The university quickly established itself as a global leader in the study of mathematics. The university's examination in mathematics, known as theMathematical Tripos,[27] was initially compulsory for all undergraduates studying for the Bachelor of Arts degree, the most common degree first offered at Cambridge. From the time ofIsaac Newton in the late 17th century until the mid-19th century, the university maintained an especially strong emphasis onapplied mathematics, and especiallymathematical physics. Students awardedfirst class honours after completing the mathematics Tripos exam are calledwranglers, and the top student among them is known as theSenior Wrangler, a position that has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain."[28]
The Cambridge Mathematical Tripos is highly competitive and has helped produce some of the most famous names in British science, includingJames Clerk Maxwell,Lord Kelvin, andLord Rayleigh.[29] However, some famous students, such asG. H. Hardy, disliked the Tripos system, feeling that students were becoming too focused on accumulating high exam marks at the expense of the subject itself.
Pure mathematics at the University of Cambridge in the 19th century achieved great things, though it largely missed out on substantial developments in French and German mathematics. By the early 20th century, however, pure mathematical research at Cambridge reached the highest international standard, thanks largely to G. H. Hardy and his collaborators,J. E. Littlewood andSrinivasa Ramanujan.W. V. D. Hodge and others helped establish Cambridge as a global leader ingeometry in the 1930s.
The university contributed significantly to theAllies' forces inWorld War I with 13,878 members of the university serving and 2,470 beingkilled in action during the war. Teaching, and the fees it earned, nearly came to a halt during World War I, and severe financial difficulties followed. As a result, the university received its first systematic state support in 1919, and aRoyal commission was appointed in 1920 to recommend that the university (but not its colleges) begin receiving an annual grant.[35] FollowingWorld War II, the university experienced a rapid expansion in applications and enrollment, partly due to the success and popularity gained by many Cambridge scientists.[36] This was not without controversies, however. For example, Cambridge researchers were accused in 2023 of helping to develop weapon systems for Iran.[37]
The University of Cambridge was one of only two universities to hold parliamentary seats in theParliament of England and was later one of 19 represented in theParliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created by aRoyal charter of 1603 and returned two members of parliament until 1950 when it was abolished by theRepresentation of the People Act 1948. The constituency was not a geographical area; rather, its electorate consisted of university graduates. Before 1918, the franchise was restricted to male graduates with adoctorate orMA degree.
Newnham College, one of two female-only colleges at the university
For the first several centuries of its existence, as was the case broadly in England and the world, the University of Cambridge was only open to male students. The first colleges established for women wereGirton College, founded byEmily Davies in 1869,Newnham College, founded byAnne Clough andHenry Sidgwick in 1872,Hughes Hall, founded in 1885 byElizabeth Phillips Hughes as the Cambridge Teaching College for Women,Murray Edwards College, founded in 1954 byRosemary Murray asNew Hall, andLucy Cavendish College, founded in 1965. Prior to ultimately being permitted admission to the university in 1948, female students were granted the right to take University of Cambridge exams beginning in the late 19th century.[38] Women were also allowed to study courses, take examinations, and have prior exam results recorded retroactively, dating back to 1881; for a brief period after the turn of the 20th century, this allowed thesteamboat ladies to receivead eundem degrees from theUniversity of Dublin.[39] In 1998, a special graduation ceremony was held in which the women who attended Cambridge before admission was allowed in 1948 were finally conferred their degrees.[40]
Beginning in 1921, women were awarded diplomas that conferred the title associated with the Bachelor of Arts degree. But since women were not yet admitted to the Bachelor of Arts degree program, they were excluded from the university's governance structure. Since University of Cambridge students must belong to a college, and since established colleges remained closed to women, women found admissions restricted to the few university colleges that had been established only for them.Darwin College, the first graduate college of the university, matriculated both male and female students from its inception in 1964 and elected a mixed fellowship. Undergraduate colleges, starting withChurchill,Clare, andKing's colleges, began admitting women between 1972 and 1988. Among women's colleges at the university,Girton began admitting male students in 1979, andLucy Cavendish began admitting men in 2021. But the other female-only colleges have remained female-only colleges as of 2023. As a result ofSt Hilda's College, Oxford, ending its ban on male students in 2008, Cambridge is now the only remaining university in the United Kingdom with female-only colleges; the two female-only colleges at the university areNewnham andMurray Edwards.[41][42] As of the 2019–2020 academic year, the university's male to female enrollment, including post-graduates, was nearly balanced with its total student population being 53% male and 47% female.[43]
In 2018 and later years, the university has come under some criticism and faced legal challenges over alleged sexual harassment at the university.[44][45] In 2019, for example, former student Danielle Bradford, represented by sexual harassment lawyerAnn Olivarius, sued the university for its handling of her sexual misconduct complaint. "I was told that I should think about it very carefully because making a complaint could affect my place in my department", Bradford alleged in 2019.[46] In 2020, hundreds of current and former students accused the university in a letter, citing "a complete failure" to deal with sexual misconduct complaints.[47]
The relationship between the university and the city ofCambridge has sometimes been uneasy. The phrasetown and gown continues to be employed to distinguish between Cambridge residents (town) and University of Cambridge students (gown), who historically woreacademical dress. Ferocious rivalry between Cambridge's residents and university students have periodically erupted over the centuries. During thePeasants' Revolt of 1381, strong clashes led to attacks andlooting of university properties as locals contested the privileges granted by the British government to the University of Cambridge's academic staff. Residents burned university property inMarket Square to the famed rallying cry "Away with the learning of clerks, away with it!".[48] Following these events, theUniversity of Cambridge's Chancellor was given special powers allowing him to prosecute criminals and reestablish order in the city. Attempts at reconciliation between the city's residents and students followed; in the 16th century, agreements were signed to improve the quality of streets and student accommodation around the city. However, this was followed by new confrontations when theplague reached Cambridge in 1630 and colleges refused to assist those affected by the disease by locking their sites.[49]
Such conflicts between Cambridge's residents and university students have largely disappeared since the 16th century, and the university has grown as a source of enormous employment and expanded wealth in Cambridge and the region.[50] The university also has proven a source of extraordinary growth inhigh tech andbiotech start-ups and established companies and associated providers of services to these companies. The economic growth associated with the university's high tech and biotech growth has been labeled the Cambridge Phenomenon, and has included the addition of 1,500 new companies and as many as 40,000 new jobs added between 1960 and 2010, mostly atSilicon Fen, a business cluster launched by the university in the late 20th century.[51]
Partly because of the University of Cambridge's extensive history, which now exceeds 800 years, the university has developed a large number of traditions, myths, and legends. Some are true, some are not, and some were true but have been discontinued but have been propagated nonetheless by generations of students and tour guides.
One such discontinued tradition is that of thewooden spoon, the prize awarded to the student with the lowest passing honours grade in the final examinations of the university'sMathematical Tripos. The last of these spoons was awarded in 1909 to Cuthbert Lempriere Holthouse, an oarsman of the Lady Margaret Boat Club atSt John's College. It was over one metre in length and had an oar blade for a handle. It can now be seen outside the Senior Combination Room of St John's College. Since 1908, examination results have been published alphabetically within class rather than in strict order of merit, which made it difficult to ascertain the student with the lowest passing grade deserving of the spoon, leading to discontinuation of the tradition.
Each Christmas Eve,The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, sung by theChoir of King's College, are broadcast globally onBBC World Service television and radio and syndicated to hundreds of additional radio stations in the U.S. and elsewhere. The radio broadcast has been a national Christmas Eve tradition since 1928, though the festival has existed since 1918 and the celebration itself originated even earlier atTruro Cathedral in Cornwall in 1880.[52] The first television broadcast of the festival was in 1954.[53][54]
The university occupies a central location within the city ofCambridge. University of Cambridge students represent approximately 20 percent of the town's population, which was 145,674 as of 2021, resulting in a lower age demographic in the city.[55]
Most of the university's older colleges are located near the city centre, through whichRiver Cam flows. Students and others traditionallypunt on the River Cam, which provides views of the university's buildings that surround the river.[56]
Many of the sites are quite close together, and the area around Cambridge is reasonably flat. Furthermore, students are not permitted to hold car park permits except under special circumstances. For these reasons, the favourite mode of transport for students is the bicycle; an estimated one-fifth of journeys in the city are made by bike.[66]
The University of Cambridge and its constituent colleges include many notable locations, some of which are iconic or of historical, academic, religious, and cultural significance, including:
Cambridge is acollegiate university, which means that its colleges are self-governing and independent, each with its own property, endowments, and income. Most colleges bring together academics and students from a broad range of disciplines. Each faculty, school, or department at the university includes academics affiliated with differing colleges. The university is legally structured as anexempt charity and a common law corporation. Its corporate titles include theChancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.[67]
The college faculties are responsible for giving lectures, arranging seminars, performing research, and determining thesyllabi for teaching, all of which is overseen by the university's general board. Together with the central administration headed by theVice-Chancellor, the college faculties make up the University of Cambridge. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels by the university. TheCambridge University Library is the university's largest and primary library.Squire Law Library is the primary library for the university'sstudents of law. Individual colleges each maintain a multi-discipline library designed for each college's respective undergraduates. College libraries tend to operate 24/7 and their usage in generally restricted to members of the college. Conversely, libraries operated by departments are generally open to all students of the university, regardless of subject.
The colleges are self-governing institutions with their own endowments and property, each founded as components of the university. All students and most academics are attached to a college. The colleges' importance lies in the housing, welfare, social functions, and undergraduate teaching they provide. All faculties, departments, research centres, and laboratories belong to the university, which arranges lectures and awards degrees, but undergraduates receive their overall academic supervision within the colleges through small group teaching sessions, which often include just one student; though in many cases students go to other colleges for supervision if the teaching fellows at their college do not specialise in a student's particular area of academic focus. Each college appoints its own teaching staff and fellows, both of whom are members of a university department. The colleges also decide which undergraduates to admit to the university, in accordance with university standards and regulations. Costs to students for room and board vary considerably from college to college.[68][69] Similarly, the investment in student education by each college at the university varies widely between the colleges.[70]
Cambridge has 31 colleges, two of which,Murray Edwards andNewnham, admit women only. The other colleges aremixed.Darwin was the first college to admit both men and women. In 1972,Churchill,Clare, andKing's were the first previously all-male colleges to admit female undergraduates. In 1988,Magdalene became the last all-male college to accept women.[71] Clare Hall and Darwin admit only postgraduates, andHughes Hall,St Edmund's, andWolfson admit onlymature undergraduate and graduate students who are 21 years or older on the date of theirmatriculation.Lucy Cavendish, which was previously a women-only mature college, began admitting both men and women in 2021.[72] All other colleges admit both undergraduate and postgraduate students without any age restrictions.
Colleges are not required to admit students in all subjects; some colleges choose not to offer subjects such as architecture, art history, or theology, but most offer a complete range of academic specialties and related courses. Some colleges maintain a relative strength and associated reputation for expertise in certain academic disciplines.Churchill, for example, has a reputation for its expertise and focus on the sciences and engineering, in part due to the requirement imposed by Winston Churchill upon the college's founding that 70% of its students studied mathematics, engineering, and the sciences.[73] Other colleges have more informal academic focus and even demonstrate ideological focus, such asKing's, which is known for its left-wing political orientation,[74] andRobinson andChurchill, both of which have a reputation for academic focus onsustainability and environmentalism.[75] Three theological colleges at the university,Westcott House,Westminster College, andRidley Hall Theological College, are members of theCambridge Theological Federation and associated in partnership with the university.[76]
The University of Cambridge's 31 colleges are:[77]
In addition to the 31 colleges, the university maintains over 150 departments, faculties, schools, syndicates, and other academic institutions.[78] Members of these are usually members of one of the colleges, and responsibility for the entire academic programme of the university is divided among them.
A school in the University of Cambridge is a broad administrative grouping of related faculties and other units. Each has an elected supervisory body known as a Council, composed of representatives of the various constituent bodies. The University of Cambridge maintains six such schools:[80]
Arts and Humanities
Biological Sciences
Clinical Medicine
Humanities and Social Sciences
Physical Sciences
Technology
Teaching and research at the university is organised by faculties. The faculties have varying organisational substructures that partly reflect their respective histories and the university's operational needs, which may include a number of departments and other institutions. A small number of bodies called syndicates hold responsibility for teaching and research, including for theUniversity of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, theUniversity Press, and theUniversity Library.
TheChancellor of the university is limitless term position that is mainly ceremonial and is held currently byDavid Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, who succeeded theDuke of Edinburgh following his retirement on his 90th birthday in June 2011. Lord Sainsbury was nominated by the nomination board.[81][82][83][84] Theelection took place on 14 and 15 October 2011[84] with Sainsbury taking 2,893 of the 5,888 votes cast, and winning on the election's first count.
The currentvice-chancellor isDeborah Prentice, who began her role in July 2023.[85] While the Chancellor's office is ceremonial, the Vice-Chancellor serves as the university'sde facto principal administrative officer. The university's internal governance is carried out almost entirely byRegent House augmented by some external representation from the Audit Committee and four external members of theUniversity's Council.[86]
Light show onSenate House for the 800th anniversary of the university's foundingOld Court atClare College
The university Senate consists of all holders of theMA or higher degrees and is responsible for electing the Chancellor and the High Steward. Until 1950 when theCambridge University constituency was abolished, it was also responsible for electing two members of theHouse of Commons. Prior to 1926, the university Senate was the university's governing body, fulfilling the functions thatRegent House has provided since.[87] Regent House is the university's governing body, comprising all resident senior members of the university and the colleges, the Chancellor, theHigh Steward, the Deputy High Steward, and the Commissary.[88] Public representatives of Regent House are the twoProctors, elected to serve for one year terms upon their nominations by the colleges.
Although theUniversity Council is the university's principal executive and policy-making body, the Council reports to, and is held accountable by,Regent House through a variety of checks and balances. The council is obliged to advise Regent House on matters of general concern to the university, which it does by publishing notices to theCambridge University Reporter, the university's official journal.[89] In March 2008, Regent House voted to increase from two to four the number of external members on the council,[90][91] and this was approved by Her Majesty the Queen in July 2008.[92]
The General Board of the Faculties is responsible for the university's academic and educational policies[93] and is accountable to the council for its management of these affairs. Faculty boards are accountable to the general board; other boards and syndicates are accountable either to the general board or to the council. Under this organizational structure, the university's various arms are kept under supervision of both the central administration and Regent House.[94]
The Cambridge University Endowment Fund is the main vehicle of investment for the university.[95] In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university group, excluding colleges, reported a total endowment of £3.736 billion.[96] The figure includes both restricted and unrestricted funds. When reported strictly using Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) guidelines, which accounted for only donations that meet certain criteria among non-profit organizations in the UK, endowment reserve stood at £2.469 billion.[96] The 31 colleges reported collectiveendowment reserve of £4.582 billion.
In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the central university, excluding colleges, reported total consolidated income of £2.518 billion, of which £569.5 million was from research grants and contracts.[5] In July 2022, theDear World, Yours Cambridge Campaign for the university and colleges concluded, raising a total of £2.217 billion in commitments.[5]
The university maintains multiple scholarship programs. The Stormzy Scholarship for Black UK Students covers tuition costs for two students and maintenance grants for up to four years.[97] In 2000,Bill Gates ofMicrosoft donated US$210 million through theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation to endowGates Cambridge Scholarships for students from outside the United Kingdom to pursue full-time postgraduate study at Cambridge.[98]
In October 2021, the university suspended its £400m collaboration with theUnited Arab Emirates, citing allegations that UAE was involved in illegal hacking of the university's computer and storage systems usingNSO Group'sPegasus software. UAE also was behind the leak of over 50,000 phone numbers, including hundreds belonging to British citizens.Stephen Toope, the university's outgoing Vice-Chancellor, said the decision to suspend its collaboration with UAE also was a result of additional revelations about UAE's Pegasus software hacking.[99]
The University of Cambridge borrowed £350 million in October 2012 by issuing 40-year securitybonds,[100] whose interest rate is approximately 0.6 percent higher than theBritish government's 40-year bond.[101]
Admission to the University of Cambridge is extremely competitive. In 2022, for instance, around 15% of applicants were admitted.[112][113] In 2021, Cambridge introduced an over-subscription clause to its offers of admission, which also permits the university to withdraw acceptances if too many students meet its selective entrance criteria. The clause can be invoked in the event of circumstances outside the reasonable control of the university. The clause was introduced following a record number ofA-level pupils who obtained the highest grades from teacher assessment, which was introduced due to the cancellation of A-level examinations during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[114][115]
The university's standard offer for most courses is set at A*AA,[116][117] with A*A*A for science courses, or equivalent in other examination systems, e.g. 7,6,6 or 7,7,6 in IB. Due to a high proportion of applicants receiving the highest school grades, an interview process was introduced as a component of consideration for admission. Interviews are performed by College Fellows, who evaluate candidates on unexamined factors including potential fororiginal thinking and creativity.[118] Prior to 2020 these interviews were normally held in person but moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic and have, at most colleges, remained online since.[119] For exceptional candidates, a matriculation offer is sometimes offered, requiring only two A-levels at grade E or above.Sutton Trust maintains that theUniversity of Oxford and the University of Cambridge recruit disproportionately from eight schools, which account for 1,310Oxbridge places over three years contrasted with 1,220 from 2,900 other schools.[120]
Strong applicants who are not successful in being admitted to their chosen college at the university may be placed in theWinter Pool, where they can be considered for admission to other university colleges, which maintains consistency throughout the colleges, some of which receive more applicants than others.
Undergraduate applications are processed throughUCAS, and the deadline for their submission currently is mid-October in the year before prior to beginning. Until the 1980s, candidates for all subjects were required to take special entrance examinations,[121] which have since been replaced by additional tests for some subjects, such as the Thinking Skills Assessment and Cambridge Law Test.[122] The university has at times considered reintroducing an admissions exam for all subjects.[123]
Graduate admission is first decided by the faculty or department responsible for the applicant's respective academic subject. An offer of acceptance effectively guarantees admission to the university, though not necessarily the applicant's preferred choice of college.[124]
TheWinter Pool orinter-College Pool is part of the undergraduate application process intended to ensure that the best applicants are offered admission.[125] Approximately 20–25% of undergraduate admissions are awarded through the Pool. Each college can place applicants in the Winter Pool. These applicants' applications are then considered by Admissions Tutors or Directors of Studies during the pool, which takes place over three days in January prior to the release of the university's admissions decisions.[126]
For each subject, colleges create an ordered list of the pooled applicants they seek to admit, and take turns choosing applicants. Colleges with specific student requirements, such as mature colleges and women-only colleges, are given priority over applicants eligible for their colleges. Some applicants are selected from the pool by the college that originally pooled them.[126] Once all the colleges have selected as many applicants as they need, the pool ends. Some applicants are then interviewed a second time by the colleges before final admissions decisions are made.
Colleges can pool any candidate, either because the college has no space but believes the applicant is strong enough to get a place, or because the college wants to compare that applicant to other pooled applicants. Most applicants in the pool are pooled at their original college's discretion, but some candidates meet the compulsory pooling criteria.[127]
There were, as of the 2020–21 admissions cycle, only two grounds for compulsory pooling. For post-qualified applicants, their achieved grades at A level or equivalent and, for applicants with overseas interviews, an interview score of at least eight is achieved in all interviews. The second criterion does not apply to medicine applicants.[128] Previously,AS-Level UMS have been used as pooling criteria, but afterA-levels became linear this was discontinued.[128]
Compulsory pooling criteria for post-qualified candidates
For science applicants, at least 3 A1s must be in science/maths subjects
As of 2012, there is only one specifically identified category for pooled applicants, which is known asS, meaning that the application is in special need of reassessment. This is used when candidates whose initial interview scores are of questionable accuracy, such as when a candidate received very different scores from different interviewers, experienced technical issues with interviews conducted over the internet, or was impacted by significant extenuating circumstances such as illness or the loss of a family member.[128]
Pooled applicants who are fished by a college may be offered a place immediately or may be invited for an interview. In 2020, just 89 applicants were invited for second interviews, 34 of whom received offers of admission.[126]
Each year, approximately 3,500 applicants receive offers from their preference college and a further 1,000 to 1,100 applicants are offered admission by another college through the pool. On average, one in five applicants is pooled and around one in four pooled applicants receives an offer of admission.[126]
Statistics released by the university show that some colleges regularly receive particularly high numbers of applicants, and these colleges tend to take fewer applicants from the pool. Other colleges regularly draw a greater proportion of their undergraduate intake from the pool.[129]
Percent of state school students at Cambridge andOxford[130][131]
Public debate in the United Kingdom exists over whether admissions processes used at theUniversity of Oxford and Cambridge are entirely merit-based and fair, whether enough students fromstate schools are encouraged to apply, and whether these students are offered sufficient admission. In 2020–21, 71% of all successful applicants were fromstate schools[132] compared to approximately 93% of all students in the UK who attended state schools and 82% of post-16 students[133]).
Critics have argued that the relative lower percent of state school applicants with the required grades for admission to Cambridge and Oxford has had a negative impact on Oxford and Cambridge's collective reputation, though both universities have encouraged pupils from state schools to apply to help redress the perceived imbalance.[134] Others counter that government pressure to increase state school admissions constitutes inappropriatesocial engineering.[135][136] The proportion of undergraduates drawn from independent schools has dropped over the years, constituting, as of 2020, 26% of total admissions among the university's 3,436 applicants from independent schools compared to 23% of the 9,237 applications from state schools.[137] Cambridge, together with Oxford andDurham, was among those universities that adopted formulae in 2009 to rate theGCSE performance of schools, using data from theDepartment for Children, Schools and Families, and took this into account when assessing university applicants.[138]
With the release of admissions figures,The Guardian reported in 2013 that ethnic minority candidates had lower success rates in individual subjects even when they had the same grades as white applicants. The university was criticised for what was seen as institutional discrimination against ethnic minority applicants in favour of white applicants. The university denied the claims of institutional discrimination, stating the figures did not take into account other variables.[139] A subsequent article reported that, in the years 2010 to 2012, ethnic minority applicants to medicine with 3 A* grades or higher were 20% less likely to gain admission than white applicants with similar grades. The university refused to provide figures for a wider range of subjects, claiming that assembling and releasing such information was excessively costly.[140]
Given the competitive nature of gaining admission to the University of Cambridge, a number of educational consultancies have emerged to offer support with the application process. Some claim they can improve chances for admission, though these claims have never been independently verified. None of these companies are affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Cambridge. The university informs applicants that all necessary information regarding the application process is publicly available through the university and none of these services is providing any insight not already publicly available to applicants.[141]
The University of Cambridge has been criticised for admitting a lower percentage of Black students, though many apply. Of the 31 colleges at Cambridge, six of them admitted fewer than 10 Black or mixed race students between 2012 and 2016.[142] Similar criticism exists over a relatively lower admission rate for white working class applicants; in 2019, only 2% of admitted students were white working class.[143]
In January 2021, Cambridge created foundation courses for disadvantaged students.[144] While the usual entry requirements are A*AA inA-Levels, the one-year foundation course has 50 places for students who achieve BBB.[145] If successful on the course, students receive a recognisedCertHE qualification and can progress to degrees in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at the university.[144] Candidates include those who have been in care, who are estranged from their families, who have missed significant periods of learning because of health issues, those from low-income backgrounds, and those from schools with few students attending universities.[144]
Results for theCambridge Mathematical Tripos are read aloud atSenate House and then tossed from the balcony in accordance with a tradition that began in the 18th century.
The University of Cambridge academic year is divided into three academic terms determined by the statutes of the university.[146]Michaelmas term lasts from October to December; theLent term last from January to March; and theEaster term last from April to June.
Within these terms, undergraduate teaching takes place during eight-week periods called full terms. According to university statutes, it is a requirement during these periods that all students live within three miles of theChurch of St Mary the Great, which is known as keeping term. Students eligible for graduation must fulfill this condition for nine terms (three years) while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or twelve terms (four years) when pursuing a Master of Science, engineering, or mathematics degree.[147]
These terms are shorter than those of many other British universities.[148] Undergraduates are also expected to prepare heavily in the three holidays known as the Christmas, Easter, and Long Vacation holiday periods, which are referred to by the university as vacations rather than holidays; students vacate the premises during these periods but are still expected to be pursuing studies and assignments.
TheTripos exam involves a mixture of lectures organised by the university department) andsupervised and organised by the colleges. Science subjects involve laboratory sessions organised by the departments. The relative importance of these methods of teaching varies according to the needs of the subject. Supervisions are typically weekly hour-long sessions in which small groups of students, usually between one and three students, who meet with a member of the teaching staff or with a doctoral student. Students are normally required to complete an assignment in advance of this supervision, which they then discuss with the supervisor during the session. The assignment is often an essay on a subject assigned by the supervisor, or a problem sheet set by the lecturer. Depending on the subject and college, students sometimes receive between one and four supervisory sessions each week.[149] Thispedagogical system is often cited as being unique to Oxford, where supervisions are known astutorials,[150] and Cambridge and is sometimes credited with the exceptional nature generally associated with the education at these two world-renowned universities. A tutor namedWilliam Farish developed the concept of grading students' work quantitatively at the University of Cambridge in 1792.[151]
The University of Cambridge has research departments and teaching faculties in nearly every academic discipline, and ll research and lectures are conducted by university departments. The colleges are charged with giving or arranging most supervisions, student accommodation, and funding most extracurricular activities. During the 1990s, the University of Cambridge added a substantial number of new specialist research laboratories on several sites around the city, and major expansion continues.[152] From 2000 to 2006, the University of Cambridge maintained a research partnership withMIT in the United States, known as theCambridge–MIT Institute, which was discontinued after evolving into what is now called the CMI Partnership Programme.
Graduands enterSenate House at a graduation ceremony.University officials leading the Vice-Chancellor's deputy intoSenate House for graduation
The university's governing bodyRegent House manages and votes on graduations. A formal meeting of Regent House, known as acongregation, is held for this purpose,[153] which is typically the final act during which all university procedures for undergraduate and graduate students and other degrees are finalised. After degrees are approved, candidates for graduation are required to request their respective college presents them during commencement congregation.
Graduates receiving an undergraduate degree wear theacademic dress to which they are entitled prior to graduating; for example, most students becoming Bachelor of Arts graduates wear undergraduate gowns and not BA gowns. Graduates receiving a post-graduate degree wear the academic dress that they were entitled to before graduating if their first degree was also from the University of Cambridge; if their first degree was from another university, they wear the academic dress of the degree that they are about to receive. The BA gown without the strings is worn if the graduate is 24 years old or younger, and the MA gown without strings is worn if the graduate is 24 years old or older.[154] Graduates are presented their degrees inSenate House by each respective college in order of foundation or recognition by the university, except for the university's royal colleges.
During the University of Cambridge's congregation ceremony, graduands are brought forth by thePraelector of their respective college, who takes them by the right hand and presents them to the vice-chancellor to receive the degree they have earned. The Praelector presents graduands with the followingLatin statement, substituting "____" with the name of the degree and substituting "woman" for "man" if the graduate is female:
"Dignissima domina, Domina Procancellaria et tota Academia praesento vobis hunc virum quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina esse idoneum ad gradum assequendum _____; idque tibi fide mea praesto totique Academiae.
The Latin statement translates in English as, "Most worthy Vice-Chancellor and the whole University, I present to you this man whom I know to be suitable as much by character as by learning to proceed to the degree of ____; for which I pledge my faith to you and to the whole University."
After presentation, the graduate is called by name and kneels before the vice-chancellor and proffers their hands to the vice-chancellor, who clasps them and then confers the degree through the following Latin statement, known as theTrinitarian formula (in nomine Patris), which may be omitted at the request of the graduand:
"Auctoritate mihi commissa admitto te ad gradum ____, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, which translates in English as: "By the authority committed to me, I admit you to the degree of ____, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
The new graduate then rises, bows, and leaves the Senate House through the Doctor's door inSenate House Passage, where they receive their degree certificate.[153]
The University of Cambridge has116 libraries.[155]Cambridge University Library, which holds over eight million volumes, is the central research library. It is alegal deposit library, which entitles it to request a free copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland.[156]
In addition to the University Library and its dependents, almost every faculty or department has a specialised library; for example, the History Faculty'sSeeley Historical Library houses in excess of 100,000 books. Every college also maintains a library, partly for the purpose of undergraduate teaching; older colleges often possess many early books and manuscripts in a separate library. For example,Trinity College'sWren Library houses over 200,000 books printed before 1800 andCorpus Christi College'sParker Library has over 600medieval manuscripts, representing one of the largest such collections in the world.Churchill Archives Centre on the campus ofChurchill College houses the official papers of former British prime ministersWinston Churchill andMargaret Thatcher.
The university's publishing arm,Cambridge University Press & Assessment, is the oldest printer and publisher in the world and the second largestuniversity press in the world.[158][159] It is also the largest department of the university by financial income, reporting income above £800 million.[160]
The university established its Local Examination Syndicate in 1858, now known asCambridge University Press & Assessment after its merger with Cambridge University Press. It is the largest assessment agency in Europe. Cambridge University Press & Assessment plays a leading role in researching, developing, and delivering assessments around the world.[161]
The University of Cambridge issues a number of prestigious awards and prizes annually to accomplished University of Cambridge faculty and students. It also issues some awards to those of varying global academic accomplishment regardless of whether their recipient is affiliated with the University of Cambridge. Some of these awards and prizes rank among the world's most estimable academic and intellectual accomplishments. Among the most prominent of them are:
Adam Smith Prize, awarded annually to the university's top-performing student in economics
Adams Prize, awarded annually by University of Cambridge mathematics faculty to a UK resident in recognition of distinguished research in mathematics
Owing to its age[168][169] and its social and academic status,[170][171] the University of Cambridge is considered to be one of Britain's most prestigious or elite universities[172][173][174] and to form, along with theUniversity of Oxford, a top two that stand above other UK universities in this regard.[168][170][171][175]
The University of Cambridge is routinely ranked among the world's top five universities, and has sometimes been ranked as the world's best. As of 2024, the University of Cambridge is ranked the second-best university in the world behind theMIT and the best university in Europe byQS Rankings.[176]ARWU ranks Cambridge the fourth-best university in the world as of 2024 behindHarvard,Stanford, and MIT.[177]Times Higher Education ranks Cambridge third-best in the world (tied with Stanford) in its 2023 rankings behindOxford and Harvard.[178]
In April 2022,QS Rankings ranked Cambridge's programmes among the world's best. Cambridge's Arts and Humanities program is ranked second-best in the world. The University of Cambridge's Engineering and Technology program is ranked second-best in the world. Its Life Sciences and Medicine program is ranked fourth-best in the world. Its Natural Sciences program is ranked third-best in the world. Its Social Sciences and Management program is ranked fourth-best in the world.[179]
In 2011,Times Higher Education recognised the University of Cambridge as one of the world's six super brands in its "World Reputation Rankings" along withBerkeley, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, and Stanford.[180]
The University of Cambridge has been highly ranked by mostinternational andUK league tables. It was ranked the best university in the world byQS World University Rankings in both their 2010–11 and 2011–12 rankings.[181][182]
In 2006, aThomson Scientific study reported that the University of Cambridge had the highest research paper output of any British university and ranked first in research production as assessed by total paper citation count in ten of 21 major British research fields.[183] An evidence-based study published the same year showed that the University of Cambridge won a larger proportion (6.6%) of total British research grants and contracts than any other university, ranking first in three out of four major measured discipline fields.[184]
One privilege of student life at the University of Cambridge is the opportunity to attend formal dinners at a student's respective college, known asFormal Hall that are held regularly during academic terms and daily at some of the university's colleges. During Formal Hall, students typically sit down for a meal in theirgowns whilefellows and sometimes guests eat separately at a so-called High Table. The beginning and end of the function is usually marked withgrace, which is said inLatin. Special Formal Halls are organised for Christmas and the Commemoration of Benefactors.[185]
After the exam period,May Week is held during which it is customary to celebrate by attendingMay Balls, which are all-night lavish parties held in the colleges where food, drinks, and entertainment are provided. So-called Suicide Sunday, the first day of May Week, is a popular date forgarden parties.[186]
In addition to university-wide representation, students can participate in their own college student unions, which are known asJunior Combination Room (JCR) for undergraduates and Middle Combination Room (MCR) for post-graduates. These serve as a link between college staff and members and include officers elected annually between the fellow students; individual JCR and MCRs also report toCambridge Students' Union, which offers training courses for some of the positions within the body.[187]
Numerous student-run societies exist at the University of Cambridge designed to encourage students who share common passions or interests to periodically meet or discuss these interests. As of 2010[update], there were 751 registered societies at the university.[188] In addition to these, individual colleges often promote their own societies and sports teams.
Although technically independent from the university,Cambridge Union, a globally-renowned debate organization and the oldest debate organization in the world, offers students high-level debate and public speaking experience. Drama societies include the Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC) and the comedy clubFootlights, whose alumni include many well-known show business personalities. The university'sChamber Orchestra, composed entirely of university students, offers a range of orchestra programs, including symphonies.
Rowing is one of the most popular sports at the University of Cambridge, and there are competitions between colleges, notably thebumps races. The University of Cambridge's rowing competition againstOxford is known as theBoat Race.Varsity matches against Oxford also exist in other sports, includingcricket,rugby,chess, andtiddlywinks. Athletes who representing the university in a varsity match are entitled to aBlue or a Half Blue, depending on the sport and other criteria.[189]
TheUniversity of Cambridge Sports Centre opened in August 2013. Phase one included a sports hall, a fitness suite, a strength and conditioning room, a multi-purpose room, andEton andRugby fives courts. Phase two of its development included five glass-backedsquash courts and a team training room. Future phases include indoor and outdoor tennis courts and a swimming pool.[190]
Other student publications includeThe Cambridge Student, which is funded byCambridge Students' Union and is published fortnightly,The Tab, andThe Mays Founded by two University of Cambridge students in 2009,The Tab is an online media outlet featuring light-hearted features content.The Mays is a literary anthology including student prose, poetry, and visual art from both University of Cambridge andOxford students. Founded in 1992 by three Cambridge students, the anthology publishes once a year and is overseen by Varsity Publications Ltd., the same body responsible forVarsity. Another literary journal,Notes, is published roughly twice per term. Additionally, many colleges have their own student-run publications.
The student radio station,Cam FM, is run jointly by University of Cambridge andAnglia Ruskin University students. The station holds anFM licence (frequency 97.2 MHz), and hosts a mixture of music, talk, and sports shows.
All students at the University of Cambridge are represented byCambridge Students' Union, which was founded in 2020 as a merger of two student unions,Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU) and the Graduate Union (GU). CUSU previously represented all University students, and GU represented graduate students.[191][192]
The eight most important positions in Cambridge Students' Union are occupied bysabbatical officers.[193] In 2020, the sabbatical officers were elected with a turnout of 20.88% of the whole student body.[194]
In 2021, Cambridge Students' Union launched a petition opposing the financial collaboration between the university and the government ofUnited Arab Emirates that was worth £400m. The Union cited a "values gap" and threat to "academic freedom and institutional autonomy" following the release of internal UAE documents. Citing UAE's history of violating international human rights laws, it warned that university staff were vulnerable under the partnership to repression by gender, sexuality, or freedom of expression.[195]
In 2023, 72% of the Students' Union voted in favour of hosting talks regarding the removal of all animal products from cafes and canteens operated by the university's catering services. The students backedvegan food in response to threats to the climate and biodiversity. The vote is non-binding since the university controls the catering service. The vote was supported by the student chapter ofPlant-Based Universities.[196] After the vote,Darwin College decided to serve only vegan food at itsMay Ball in 2023.[197]
A protest inCambridge with an attendance of over a thousand students and residents – the city's largest demonstration – called on the University of Cambridge todivest from Israel over Israel's actions in theGaza Strip during theGaza war.[198][199] Students and staff also walked out of lectures in protest over the same issues.[200]
Students and staff at the University of Cambridge wrote an open letter to the university, with more than 1,400 signatories, demanding it acknowledge the "slaughter of innocent Palestinians", "sever financial ties with Israel" as it had with Russia following theinvasion of Ukraine, and demanding it investigate its financial ties witharms manufacturers that potentially supplied to Israel, mentioning, among others,Plasan andCaterpillar.[198][201]
The University of Cambridge has produced many distinguished alumni in various fields. As of 2020,[202][203] 70 alumni have won Nobel Prizes. As of 2019, Cambridge alumni, faculty members, and researchers have won 11Fields Medals and sevenTuring Awards. Highly notable University of Cambridge alumni by specialty include:
Despite the university's delay in admitting women to its full degree programs, women associated with the University of Cambridge have been at the heart of scientific research throughout the 20th century. Notable female scientists include biochemistMarjory Stephenson, plant physiologistGabrielle Howard, social anthropologistAudrey Richards, psychoanalystAlix Strachey, who with her husband translated the works ofSigmund Freud,Kavli Prize-winnerBrenda Milner, responsible for co-discovering specialised brain networks for memory and cognition. Veterinary epidemiologistSarah Cleaveland has contributed to advances in eliminatingrabies in theSerengeti.[204]
The university is widely considered the birthplace of the computer; mathematician and father of the computerCharles Babbage designed the world's first computing system as early as the mid-1800s. Cambridge alumnusAlan Turing devised the basis for modern computing, andMaurice Wilkes later created the first programmable computer. Thewebcam was also invented at the University of Cambridge, showing theTrojan Room coffee pot in the university's computer laboratories.
At least 30 foreign heads of state or government, including presidents of India, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, South Korea, and Zambia; along with prime ministers of Australia, Burma, France, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Thailand, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand
By 2016, athletes who are university graduates or attendees had won 194 Olympic medals, including 88 gold medals.[17] Alumni of the university include Chinese six-time world table tennis championDeng Yaping; sprinter and athletics heroHarold Abrahams; inventors of the modern game of football,H. de Winton andJ. C. Thring; Indian cricketer Colonel H. H. Shri SirRanjitsinhji Vibhaji II; andGeorge Mallory, the mountaineer.
University of Cambridge alumni are responsible some of the world's greatest advances in technology, and several have gone on to found or co-found leading technology companies, including:
Herman Narula and Rob Whitehead, co-founders ofImprobable, a British multinational company developing video game simulation software
Sophie Wilson andSteve Furber, co-founders ofARM, a British semiconductor and software design company still based in Cambridge
Kennedy Ekezie, co-founder and chief executive officer ofKippa, a Nigerian software and financial services company
Ramsey Faragher, founder, president, and CTO of a business, as well as chairman and president of another business; expert on navigation using novel methods
In thePsmith series, a collection of novels published between 1908 and 1923 byP. G. Wodehouse, thetitle character andMike, his closest friend, study at the University of Cambridge.
The filmMaurice, based on the 1971 novelMaurice, is partly filmed at the University of Cambridge.
The 1989 filmDead Poets Society features character John Keating (played byRobin Williams), who is a Welton Academy English teacher described in his senior annual as "Cambridge bound".
In the 2014 biographical filmThe Theory of Everything, youngStephen Hawking falls in love with literature student Jane Wilde at the University of Cambridge, where both of them study.
Red Joan (2018) was partly filmed at the University of Cambridge. Joan Smith (played byJudi Dench), loosely inspired byMelita Norwood, is depicted as studying physics at Cambridge.
^Refers to operational estate owned by the university, including the 550-hectare (1,400-acre) University Farm[9] but not including college-owned property or investment properties
^Includes those who indicate that they identify asAsian,Black,Mixed Heritage,Arab or any other ethnicity except White.
^Calculated from the Polar4 measure, using Quintile1, in England and Wales. Calculated from theScottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) measure, using SIMD20, in Scotland.
^"Farm Facts & Figures".Estates Division. University of Cambridge. June 2020.Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved28 February 2023.
^"Identity Guidelines – Colour"(PDF). University of Cambridge Office of External Affairs and Communications. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 10 September 2008. Retrieved28 March 2008.
^Catto, J. I. (1984).The History of the University of Oxford: I The Early Oxford Schools (1st ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 37–41.ISBN0199510113.
^Willey, David (2012). "Vatican reveals Cambridge papers".Cam.66: 5.
^Cooper, Charles Henry (1860).Memorials of Cambridge. Vol. 1. W. Metcalfe. p. 32.Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved9 September 2012.
^Helmholtz, R.H. (1990).Roman Canon Law in Reformation England. Cambridge Studies in English Legal History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 35, 153.ISBN978-0-521-38191-8.
^Thompson, Roger,Mobility & Migration, East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629–1640, Amherst:University of Massachusetts Press, 1994, 19.
^Cambridge University Physics Society (1995). Cambridge University Physics Society (ed.).A Hundred Years and More of Cambridge Physics. Cambridge University Physics Society.ISBN978-0-9507343-1-6.
^Firth Green, Richard (2002).A Crisis of Truth: Literature and Law in Ricardian England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0-8122-1809-1.
^Joshi, A.; Ryan, D. (20 June 2013)."Bricks: A Light Foundation". Johnianblog.blogspot.co.uk.Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved30 June 2013.
^Sastry, Tom; Bekhradnia, Bahram (25 September 2007)."The Academic Experience of Students in English Universities (2007 report)"(PDF). Higher Education Policy Institute. pp. footnote 14. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved4 November 2007.Even within Russell Group institutions, it is remarkable how consistently Oxford and Cambridge appear to require more effort of their students than other universities. On the other hand, they have fewer weeks in the academic year than other universities, so the extent to which this is so may be exaggerated by these results.
^"Graduate Union". Cambridge University Graduate Union. Archived fromthe original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved4 July 2018.
^"About the Union". Cambridge University Students' Union. 27 June 2012. Archived fromthe original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved2 September 2012.
^"Officers". Cambridge Students' Union. 1 July 2021. Archived fromthe original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved9 September 2021.
^Bayliss, Chloe; Killeen, Molly; Lally, Catherine (5 March 2020)."Live: Cambridge SU election results". Varsity.Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved9 September 2021.
^"Prof Sarah Cleaveland". Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance. Archived fromthe original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved10 June 2014.
^"Why Cambridge?". Cambridge Judge Business School. Archived fromthe original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved9 May 2015.
Anonymous (2009) [1790].A Concise and Accurate Description of the University, Town and County of Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-108-00065-9.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_shield.svg)
_shield.svg)
_shield.svg)
_shield.svg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpeg)
_2012.jpg)
