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Undergraduate Study

 

You can apply to Cambridge to study a second undergraduate degree if you have a first or 2.1 Honours in an approved undergraduate degree from another university.

You can apply to:

  • take the full course

or

  • take the course in a year less than usual. We call students who take a course in less time ‘affiliated students’

If you want to apply to take a course in less time, you cannot:

  • make an open application
  • apply for Architecture, Design, History and Modern Languages, or History and Politics

Applying to take a course in less time

Not all applicants who already have an undergraduate degree will be considered for a shorter course of study.

You should contact the College you're considering applying to:

  • check they accept affiliated students in the course you're interested in
  • get advice about whether you may be eligible for an affiliated place

Affiliated applications for Veterinary Medicine will only be considered by Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund’s and Wolfson.

When to apply

You should apply by the 15 October deadline, if possible.

You can also apply to mature (21+) Colleges for some courses in March. Find out more about applying in March.

Entry requirements

You don't need to have your first degree at the point of applying. But you will need to complete it to the required standard before you can join the University.

Law applicants

If you're applying to Law as an affiliated student should have achieved, or be expected to achieve:

  • a first class undergraduate degree (or international equivalent)

or

  • a Distinction in an MPhil (Master's qualification) or its international equivalent

Medicine applicants

As a graduate wishing to study Medicine you have the following options.

You can apply to:

Tuition and College fees

Home tuition fees

Your tuition fees may be different to standard tuition fees if you're taking a second undergraduate degree or if you already have a higher level degree, such as a Master's or PhD. This is because the government's Equivalent or Lower Qualification (ELQ) policy excludes students studying for an award equivalent to, or lower than, the qualification they already hold from the standard regulated fee.

The 2025-26 Home fee for students taking a second undergraduate degree is £12,876.

If you are studying for a second undergraduate degree and undertake a year abroad, the tuition fee payable to the University of Cambridge during the year abroad will be 50% of the full fee.

Students on some courses are exempt from the ELQ policy. This means they will pay the regulated fee rate. These courses are:

  • Architecture
  • Medicine
  • Veterinary Medicine

The 2025-26 Home fee for Architecture, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine is £9,535. This figure is subject to internal approval, which is expected by January 2025.

The fees for our courses are subject to inflationary increases in future years.

International tuition fees

International students should check the International fees and costs page for information.

College fees

Usually, students taking a second undergraduate degree have to pay a College fee. This is in addition to your tuition fees and other living costs.

Annual College fees vary between Colleges.

You can check College fees for 2025-26 in the following document:  PDF icon Undergraduate tuition fees 2025-26. See individual College websites for fees for 2026-27 onwards.

Your College fee covers the cost of educational, support, domestic and pastoral services.

You don’t normally have to pay a College fee if you have Home Fee status and are studying for a second degree in Medicine, Veterinary Medicine or Architecture.

Annual fee increases

You should allow for annual increases to tuition and College fees. You should also be aware that there’s very little financial support available for second undergraduate degrees.

Annual increases will be determined by various factors. For example:

  • the cost of delivering educational and related student services
  • changes in government and other funding

Fee increases will also usually be in line with the prevailing UK rate of inflation.

If you already have a Cambridge degree

If you already have a BA with Honours from the University of Cambridge you won’t be a candidate for Honours in any Honours examination.