When Lucy Cavendish was founded in 1965, newspapers called it ‘the College without towers, turrets or gatehouse’. We’re still as informal and as open-minded today.
Lucy Cavendish is one of the smaller Cambridge Colleges, and one of the most diverse: our 370 students come from more than 60 countries, and include many affiliate students alongside first-time undergraduates with a wide range of interests, experience and qualifications.
The College lies close to the city centre, in tranquil grounds featuring a wildflower meadow, pond and music pavilion as well as our cluster of Victorian and 1990s buildings. The library is unusually spacious, with a collection designed to encourage reading for pleasure, not just academic study. Students also enjoy a well-equipped gym and interconnecting common room, bar, games room and conservatory. The sunny dining hall opens onto an al fresco eating area and our chefs pride themselves on using seasonal, local produce.
On-site accommodation is offered to all single undergraduates; most rooms are en suite, with a smaller number of twin ‘sets’ sharing a bathroom and kitchenette. Our new Histon Road complex includes one- and two-bedroom flats, increasing the options available to couples and families.
The ratio of staff to undergraduates is low, making for close-knit, non-hierarchical relations; social events involve the whole College.
We are known for preparing women for the professions but Lucy Cavendish students have excelled across the arts and sciences. The College has a growing profile in sport, and values creativity as a complement to scholarship: we run an annual fiction prize, and recent students have included novelists, filmmakers and theatre directors.
