Apply: Cambridge

**Applications for Apply: Cambridge are open now! Book below.**

What is Apply: Cambridge?

Apply: Cambridge is a free programme to support high-attaining students from underrepresented backgrounds and areas to make successful applications to the University of Cambridge.

The programme will be delivered by Cambridge staff and admissions tutors who will share their expertise on the application process.

What do I have access to on the programme?

There are two strands of the programme - with or without mentoring.

Apply: Cambridge without mentoring will run from July 2023 to October 2023 and will be entirely online. We will work with you every step of the way over this 3-month period, helping you navigate the process and effectively prepare for your Cambridge application. The programme will include: 

• Informational webinars
• Interactive workshops
• Guided learning opportunities
• Q&A sessions with Admissions Tutors and current students

Apply: Cambridge with mentoring will run longer, from July 2023 to January 2024. It will include all of the above, as well as mentoring from a current student at the University of Cambridge. Mentoring includes:

• Virtual 1-1 mentoring over a text-based app and website
• Monthly group mentoring meetings with your mentor over Zoom
• Personal statement feedback

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply, you must:

• Be eligible for UK home fee status
• Be a student at a state school or college in the UK
• Be intending to make an application to Cambridge in October 2023
• Be studying for qualifications at your school/college that meet the entry requirements for your chosen course at Cambridge
• Be on track to achieve at least the minimum grades required for entry. A*A*A for most sciences courses (excluding Veterinary Medicine, which has an entry requirement of A*AA) and A*AA for arts and social sciences courses (excluding Economics or Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, which have entry requirements of A*A*A). See Entry requirements for other qualifications and more details.
• Be committed to undertaking the necessary work attached to participation in the programme. Places on the programme are competitive and we expect students chosen to be engaged with all aspects of their programme strand.

It may not possible to offer every applicant a place on the programme but we would encourage ALL students meeting the eligibility criteria outlined above to apply.

Priority criteria

Where spaces are limited, students who meet one or more of the following criteria will be prioritised. The criteria below are organised in order of their priority i.e. being care experienced is of the highest priority.

• Students who are care experienced
• Students who are an asylum seeker or refugee
• Students who are estranged from both primary carers (eg both parents/carers)
• Students who are eligible for the 16-19 Bursary/ Pupil Premium and/or those who have been in receipt of Free School Meals at any point in the last 6 years
• Students who come from an under-represented ethnic group:
  • Black African and Black Caribbean
  • Pakistani and Bangladeshi
  • Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
  • White Students from Lower Socio-Economic Backgrounds (ever 6 FSM)
• Students who are a young carer, defined as being the primary carer for a parent or sibling
• Students who have experienced disruption to their education such as for the following reasons:
  • Medical/health issues (including mental health), particularly those that have resulted in long or extended periods of absence (over 8 weeks) from school in the last 6 years
  • Bereavement of a close family member (eg parent/carer) in the last 6 years
  • Becoming a parent
  • Moving schools twice or more in the last 6 years
  • Being from a UK Armed Forces family
  • Experience of close family imprisonment (eg parent/carer)
  • Experience of homelessness
  • Other disruption (to be specified)
  • Please note: educational disruption due to COVID-19 is NOT regarded as a marker of disrupted education.
• Students from schools with historic low progression to Oxbridge
• Students who live in POLAR4 Quintiles 1&2 or IMD Quintiles 1&2 target wards
• Female students applying for Mathematics or Computer Science and male students applying for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences or Veterinary Medicine
• Students who have been participants on other programmes offered by the central Cambridge Admissions Office
• Students who attend an HE+ or Insight school