We mostly refer to A levels and the International Baccalaureate for our entry requirements.
We also welcome applications from applicants taking other qualifications.
We regularly assess a wide range of qualifications and have experience of assessing applicants with a variety of educational backgrounds. If you have any questions about qualifications in relation to your Cambridge application, please get in touch with your shortlisted College(s). You should do this before you begin the application process.
You can find out more about our entry requirements and minimum offer levels on our entry requirements page. You should also check the requirements of your course.
Applying with a combination of qualifications
We know that some applicants may be taking a combination of different qualifications. For example, you might be taking some IB Higher Level subjects alongside your secondary school diploma, or have taken other qualifications like APs or A levels alongside your school-leaving exams. We welcome these applicants and we will assess your application individually. We expect a very high level of attainment in all qualifications that you’re taking. You should look at the grades required for each qualification for guidance as to what might be expected.
If you’re combining qualifications, contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice as early as possible.
Qualifications
Check International entry requirements for international qualifications not listed here.
Choose subjects that will prepare you for the course you're interested in and that meet any specific entry requirements. If you're not sure which course you want to study, read how to choose A levels or high school subjects.
International AS and A levels
We accept international A levels offered by Cambridge International, Oxford AQA or Pearson Edexcel, as they are comparable to UK AS and A levels.
If you’re taking international A levels offered by another exam board or awarding body, contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice.
Minimum A level offers
Most applicants study 3 to 4 A level subjects and our offers are usually based on 3 A levels taken together in Year 13. Taking 4 A levels will not normally give you an advantage. However, strong applicants for STEM courses usually study Further Mathematics as a fourth subject.
If you’re studying in a country where an A* grade is not available, three A grades will usually be acceptable.
If you’re taking A levels in science subjects, we usually expect you to complete and pass the practical assessment.
We do not take Key Skills into consideration when assessing your academic ability.
Retaking A levels
We understand that you might need to resit an exam or retake an AS or A level unit.
However, we'd be concerned if you have to retake a lot of exams. This is because Cambridge students are regularly assessed by exam and it's not normally possible to resit them. An exception to this is for professional qualifying examinations in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
If you need to retake a lot of exams because of circumstances beyond your control, your teacher should explain this. They can do this in your UCAS reference. Your teacher can also explain any disruption to your studies to the College you're applying to.
Courses that require A level Mathematics
For courses where A level Mathematics is required by all Colleges, we'll consider applicants who take:
- A level Mathematics in Year 12
- Further Mathematics and only one other A level in Year 13
In these cases, we'll also look at:
- your individual circumstances
- your combination of A level subjects
- the grade you achieve in the early A level
We recommend that you contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice and consider the views of other universities you are interested in applying to.
The Access to HE Diploma is accepted for the Foundation Year, with no specific subject requirements.
If you're applying to any other course with an Access to HE Diploma, you should contact a College admissions office to discuss your options.
We may accept an Access to HE Diploma (with Distinctions in all relevant subject units) for:
- most undergraduate arts courses (excluding Economics)
An Access to HE Diploma alone is not enough for entry into sciences courses (including Psychological and Behavioural Sciences) or Economics at Cambridge.
Some specific additional requirements will also apply for individual courses. Details will be available here in April.
If you are given a conditional offer, certain subject-specific requirements may be included in your offer. You should contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice on subject-specific requirements.
If you are aged 21 or older (and will be a mature student) you should check information for mature applicants.
ACTs alone are not considered sufficient for entry to Cambridge - they must be accompanied by other qualifications.
If you have taken Advanced Placement examinations or equivalent qualifications alongside your ACTs, you will normally be expected to have an ACT composite score of:
- at least 33 out of 36 for Economics and most Science courses (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine)
- 32 out of 36 for all other courses
Students applying for Science courses should also achieve an ACT Science Score of at least 33.
Country specific requirements in conjunction with the above can be found on the Canada, India and USA sections of the International Entry requirements page.
We accept the Advanced Diploma in Environmental and Land-based Studies for Geography and Natural Sciences (Biological), as long as you’ve taken two appropriate A levels within the Additional Specialist Learning component.
For Natural Sciences (Biological), you should take A level Chemistry and either A level Biology, Mathematics or Physics. The requirements for Geography are more flexible.
If you are taking A level Physics and A level Mathematics or the Level 3 Certificate in Mathematics for Engineering, the Principal Learning components of the Advanced Diploma in Engineering are accepted for the Engineering course. See the Department of Engineering website for further guidance. Contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice.
We require a minimum of five AP Test scores at Score 5. Usually, these need to have been taken within a two-year period and with your most recent test results achieved within two years of starting your course.
You should take AP Tests in subjects that are particularly relevant to the course you are applying for. You don’t have to have completed a minimum of five AP Courses to meet this requirement, as an AP Test can be sat without completing the relevant AP Course. Advice on how to study for and take AP Tests is available on the College Board AP website.
In addition to the AP Tests, we usually expect you to have:
- high passing marks on your school qualification (eg the relevant High School Diploma)
- a high score on the SAT Test or ACT
You are required to inform us in your application of all tests taken and scores achieved (including retakes). If you do not tell us about any of the tests you have taken or your scores, this may disadvantage your application. The Cambridge Colleges reserve the right to contact ACT, College Board, or your school to confirm your results.
See the SATs and ACTs drop-downs on this page for more information.
AP Capstone
The University welcomes AP Capstone. We also encourage applicants to undertake AP Research and Seminar courses. It will help to develop independent study and research skills valuable for higher education.
AP Capstone courses will not usually be a requirement of your offer. AP Capstone scores will not usually count towards the requirements for five or more scores of Score 5.
Choosing AP Tests
When choosing which AP Tests to sit for, you should check our course pages to identify close subject matches. Please note that for Cambridge courses that ask for Mathematics and Further Mathematics A level, we strongly prefer you to take Calculus BC. For courses that ask for Physics A level, we prefer you to take the two Physics C Tests. AP Tests do not have to be completed in a single sitting to fulfil this requirement.
We do not accept Applied Certificates and Diplomas for any courses at Cambridge.
We may consider them for admission to the Foundation Year.
If you are taking the AQA Baccalaureate, your offer will be conditional on achievement in the A levels within the qualification, rather than the overall Baccalaureate award.
At Cambridge, Core Maths is not a suitable alternative to A level or IB Higher Level Mathematics. This means that it won’t be part of any offer we make you.
But we encourage students to take Core Maths (where appropriate) as it strengthens mathematical ability.
You may use your Core Maths grade towards the UCAS tariff for the Foundation Year. But we would expect you to combine it with your other qualifications to meet the total tariff required.
If you are taking this qualification, your offer will be conditional on achievement in the A levels within the qualification, rather than the overall Diploma award.
Check our Entry requirements page for more information on English Language requirements.
Successful applicants are typically asked for at least 85 per cent overall, with scores of 9 or more in the subjects most closely related to the course they want to study.
In order to make a competitive application to a course where Further Mathematics at A level is listed as an advantage, applicants taking the European Baccalaureate should be taking six hours of Mathematics, where available.
Trinity College has additional requirements - you should check Trinity's website for more information.
We encourage applicants to take an EPQ. It will help to develop independent study and research skills, which are valuable for higher education.
We know that not all students have equal access to the EPQ. The completion of the EPQ won’t normally be a requirement of offers.
You may use your EPQ grade towards the UCAS tariff for the Foundation Year. But we would expect you to combine it with your other qualifications to meet the total tariff required.
Standalone Foundation Year programmes may be accepted for some arts courses at Cambridge.
They are generally not accepted for our science courses.
You should contact your shortlisted College(s) at an early stage and provide full details of your Foundation Year programme. The College will tell you whether it will be enough to meet the requirements of the course you want to study.
The University offers a Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Completing the course to the required standard will allow you to progress onto one of 18 degree courses at the University. Please check the Foundation Year course page for full details.
There are no GCSE (or equivalent) requirements for entry to Cambridge. Our minimum offers are based on A levels and other Level 3 qualifications.
We will look at your GCSE results as an indicator of your academic performance. But this will be within the context of the performance of the school/college where you achieved your GCSEs.
Any Level 1/Level 2 Certificates you are taking will be considered in the round along with GCSEs. Of the Level 2 qualifications you are taking, we recommend as many as possible be academic in focus.
Bespoke school qualifications
We are aware of an increase in the provision of bespoke qualifications at certain schools, often as an alternative to specific GCSEs.
Whilst we do not have a minimum GCSE requirement at Cambridge, our assessment of an applicant's qualification history and trajectory is based on qualifications that have been benchmarked at an internationally recognised standard. We are therefore limited in our ability to take such bespoke qualifications into account when making our admissions decisions, and we do not treat these qualifications as equivalent to GCSEs.
We encourage relevant schools to seek to have any bespoke qualifications benchmarked should they wish for them to play a meaningful role in our processes.
Minimum offer levels are 41-42 points out of 45, with 776 in Higher Level subjects. The following Colleges usually make IB offers above the minimum offer level: Churchill, Corpus Christi, and Selwyn.
- Some Colleges may ask you to achieve 777 or a higher points total.
- You may also be required to achieve 7 in particular subjects.
- Standard Level subjects will meet our AS level subject requirements.
- Higher Level subjects will meet A level subject requirements.
See our course pages for details of the IB requirements at individual Colleges.
Courses that require Mathematics
For most courses where Mathematics is a requirement, IB applicants are expected to take IB Higher Level 'Analysis and Approaches'. If this option is not available at your school, please contact the College that you wish to apply to directly for further advice and guidance. For Medicine, Natural Sciences (Biological) and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences we recommend Analysis and Approaches for the most competitive application, but Applications and Interpretations will also be considered.
International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme
If you’re taking the IB Career-Related Programme with three Higher Level Diploma subjects, contact your shortlisted College(s) for advice. They will tell you whether your qualifications are suitable for your chosen course.
If the qualification you're taking isn't listed here, please check the webpage for International entry requirements.
Offers are based on achievement in Higher Level subjects, with H1 in subjects most relevant to the course.
Courses with a typical A level offer of A*AA generally require H1, H1, H1, H2, H2, H2; and for courses with a typical A level offer of A*A*A, Leaving Certificate offers are usually H1, H1, H1, H1, H2, H2.
When you have taken Advanced Placement examinations or equivalent qualifications alongside your SATs, you will need to have a minimum combined score of 1,500 with a Mathematics section score of at least 750 for the following courses:
- most Science courses (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine)
- Economics
For all other courses at Cambridge, you will need:
- a minimum combined score of at least 1,460
- and
- a score in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing of at least 730
You are required to inform us in your application of all tests taken and scores achieved (including retakes). If you do not tell us about any of the tests you have taken or your scores, this may disadvantage your application. The Cambridge Colleges reserve the right to contact College Board or your school to confirm your results.
Information on SATs can be found on College Board SAT website
SAT Subject Tests
You should also refer to our Applying to Cambridge from Scotland page.
- Courses with a minimum offer level of A*AA generally require A1, A2, A2 in Advanced Highers
- Courses with a minimum offer level of A*A*A, offers are usually A1, A1, A2 in Advanced Highers
Our offers are usually based on achieving particular grades and specific bands within those grades. We do this as we have seen a strong correlation between that level of attainment and success at the Cambridge.
We know that some applicants, from circumstances outside of your control, are prevented from studying more than two Advanced Highers. In these cases, we may accept two Advanced Highers and an additional Higher. We will look at this on a case-by-case basis. You should seek advice from your shortlisted College(s) as early as possible, who may ask you to supplement your study by taking additional Highers.
Additionally, if your school/college can only offer a limited range of Advanced Higher qualifications, or taking three Advanced Highers would mean you have to travel to different schools, please say this on your My Cambridge Application. We can then consider this when we assess your application.
If you're studying towards a Scottish Baccalaureate qualification, you're expected to do three Advanced Highers as part of it.
Performance in Highers
When assessing your application, Colleges will look at your Highers and how you did in them. If you are made an offer while studying for Higher(s) alongside Advanced Highers, a grade requirement for your Higher(s) may be set as part of your offer.
We also recognise that the Scottish education system is not linear and that students may not take 3 Advanced Highers in one year (although the majority of our applicants do). You do not need to take all your Advanced Highers in one sitting, but we would expect applicants to be taking at least 3 Advanced Highers or a combination of 2 Advanced Highers and 1 Higher in a year.
Choosing Higher and Advanced Higher subjects
Check the subject requirements on our course pages for advice about which subjects to choose. Highers will meet AS level subject requirements. Advanced Highers will meet A level subject requirements.
Where A level Maths is required, we may require Advanced Higher Maths. Where Further Maths is required, we may require an additional Advanced Higher in Applied Mathematics (Mathematics of Mechanics or Statistics).
Modern studies can be considered alongside subjects like Politics and Sociology.
If you’re not sure which course you want to study, you can check the choosing your high school subjects page for guidance.
National 5s
If you skipped National 5s, you can still apply. We are more interested in your Highers and Advanced Highers. If there is a reason why you skipped your National 5s, it is helpful if you share this with the College you are applying to.
Curriculum reform
We recognise that the Scottish secondary school sector is undergoing significant curriculum reform. For more information, please see the University's admissions policy statement on Curriculum for Excellence.
- STEP Mathematics is used to assess aptitude for university study in mathematical subjects.
- It’s used as part of almost all conditional offers from Cambridge for Mathematics. Some Colleges require or may require STEP for other courses needing strong mathematical ability.
T-Levels are not accepted for our undergraduate degree courses.
We may consider them for admission to our Foundation Year. The Foundation Year course page provides information on the T-Level subjects that we may considered.
VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs can’t usually be used to replace the A level requirements for our courses.
We may accept a combination of A levels and VCE or other qualifications for some Cambridge courses.
In these cases, you would need to have taken any required or highly desirable subjects. A six-unit VCE or Applied A Level could then be taken instead of a third A level or as an additional fourth broadening subject.
If you are taking these qualifications, we recommend that you contact your shortlisted College(s) as soon as possible.
BTECs and other Level 3 qualifications (eg Cambridge Technicals) are generally accepted for admission to our Foundation Year. There are some restrictions. Please see the Foundation Year course page for details.
We regularly receive applications from Welsh students. This includes students whose first and main language is Welsh.
You should check our course pages for entry requirements. If you have any queries about our entry requirements or admissions process, contact your shortlisted College(s).
You should also refer to our Applying to Cambridge from Wales page.
UMS Scores for AS and A levels
In Wales, AS and A Levels are modular and grade boundaries are given on a uniform mark scale (UMS). We ask for your UMS scores because they give us detailed information about your attainment within a grade boundary. This extra information is helpful when assessing your application.
Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate
If you are taking the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate, any offer we make you would be conditional on three A level subjects studied as options for the Advanced Diploma.
We may take The Skills Challenge into consideration when we assess your application. But we wouldn't normally include it as part of an offer. You may use your Skills Challenge grade towards the UCAS tariff for the Foundation Year. Please see the Foundation Year course page for details.
English language requirements and submitted work
If English isn't your first language and you're taught in a Welsh-medium school, you should check our English language requirements and guidance on interviews.
If we ask you to provide any examples of written work, then you need to submit work that is written in English. This can either be translated into English or written in English. See our Written Work and Portfolios page for more information.
The Individual Project is normally the most relevant component to Cambridge applications, since students often use it as an opportunity to dig into the subject(s) they want to study for their degree. In this way, the Individual Project has similar benefit to an Extended Project Qualification, as it helps to develop independent study and research skills that are valuable for university-level education.
Your interview(s) will be in English and a good standard will be expected, to show you can express and describe your ideas and thoughts. Don’t worry if you find you encounter a language wrinkle, like a technical word that you know in Welsh but not in English. If something like this happens, just explain your hesitation to your interviewers and talk them through the concept.
Further Maths for Welsh applicants
For some courses, A Level Further Maths is a requirement or taken by the majority of entrants. If you want to study one of these courses, speak with your school or college early on to ask whether A Level Further Maths can be made available to you. If they can’t offer Further Maths, we recommend you discuss the prospect of you undertaking it independently with their support at another local centre or with support of the Welsh Government funded Further Maths Support Programme Wales.