Women in Maths targets potential female applicants to Mathematics and adjacent highly mathematical courses at top universities. The programme will next take place from Thursday 27 March to Saturday 29 March 2025. If you are Muslim and would normally be observing Ramadan, you are still very welcome! See the advice further down this page for more.
Applications are now OPEN until 9am on 28 January 2025. See the How to Apply section below.
During your stay, you will have the opportunity to explore both Christ's and Trinity Colleges, experience taster lectures led by our academics, and meet current students from across Maths and other subjects at our colleges, as well as admissions staff. You will gain an insight into what it is like to live and study at Cambridge, the academic challenge involved and social activities to help you meet others on the programme.
Dr Ems Lord from NRICH delivering a session for the 2023 event
You will normally be expected to arrive in the early afternoon of Thursday 27 March, and depart after 1pm on Saturday 29 March. Those from particularly far distances for whom same-day travel is not feasible will be considered for an additional night of accommodation on 26 March.
What does it cost?
The whole programme is free of charge - this includes meals and accommodation in Cambridge.
I enjoyed meeting people from all over the country and especially those with similar academic interests. There is only one other girl who is looking at Maths in my school and a small Further Maths class so it was cool to even just see that many people do it. A trip alone was also fun to expereience which was out of my comfort zone: a new place with new people.
Jessica, Women in Maths 2024
Who can apply?
To be eligible for this event, you must meet all of the following criteria (a)-(e):
(a) You are a woman studying at a UK school that does not charge fees (even if you are on a bursary or scholarship)
(b) You will be in Year 12 (England/Wales)/ S5 (Scotland)/ Y13 (Northern Ireland) at the time of the event
(c) You will be aged 16 or over by the first day of the programme (27 March 2025)
(d) You are available to attend the full programme (from c. 1pm on Thursday 27 March to lunchtime on Saturday 29 March 2025 - you should check that school will give you permission to attend)
(e) You must be currently studying for any of the following:
(i) A Level Mathematics and A Level Further Mathematics including if you are doing Maths in Year 12 (Year 13 in N. Ireland) followed by Further Maths in Year 13 (Y14 NI)
(ii) International Baccalaureate Higher Level Mathematics 'Analysis and Approaches'
(iii) Scottish Higher in Maths with the intention to study Advanced Highers in Maths and one of Mechanics of Mathematics, Physics or Statistics.
An equivalent academic qualification - please get in touch prior to making an application to check it is suitable.
Please get in touch if you have any queries about your qualifications and please note that Core Maths is not a suitable qualification for this event. Students self-studying Further Maths A-Level will be considered (you should be intending to sit the qualification).
Maths lecture - taking notes
Selection
Applicants will be assessed based on their academic record, their commitment to exploring maths at a higher level, and a teacher’s reference. In addition, we are particularly keen to identify students with little or no family tradition of higher education, those whose schools don’t send many applicants to Cambridge University, those who live in areas of and students who’ve spent any time in care.
It may be helpful to note that in previous years, almost all those successful in being placed on this event had achieved the highest grades in Mathematics at GCSE/National 5 and were on track to achieve top grades in relevant subjects at A-Level/Higher/IB HL. There are 60 places available.
Please note that due to the limited spaces available on events such as these, we do not normally take more than two students from any one school, except in exceptional circumstances.
If selected to attend, you will be sent a confirmation form, requirements form and a code of conduct, which you must have signed by a parent/guardian via an online form (so, no need for scanning or posting!) – this is to confirm that you have permission to attend the residential in Cambridge and to notify us of any requirements you may have.
How to Apply
Applications for 2025 are now OPEN. Click here to apply. Deadline for all applications is 9am on 28 January. Forms submitted after this deadline will not be considered.
All applications must be accompanied by a teacher reference - you will be asked on the application form to provide the details of a supporting teacher who can complete a reference on your behalf. It would be helpful if this teacher is one of your Maths/Further Maths teachers (if it is e.g. a form tutor, they should still speak with your subject teacher before completing the reference).
Once we have received your application, we will then contact your teacher to complete the reference for you. Sometimes this email ends up in spam (especially with school firewalls) so you should check that they have received it. Teachers have until 9am on 3 February 2025 to complete their reference.
All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of February 2025. All applications received by the deadline and with an accompanying teacher reference will be considered equally, and applications will not be assessed until the reference deadline has passed (date TBC here when applications open).
What I enjoyed most about the residential was the incredible people that I met, I’m so glad that I met them and that we got to share our passion for maths. I really loved the talks as they showed me how maths can be used beyond A-Level and how fundamental and important it is, which makes me proud to want to study it.
Kio, Women in Maths 2024
Practical Details
Those selected to attend are responsible for getting themselves to and from Cambridge. You may find the following travel information useful for your planning:
It is expected that Ramadan will overlap with the Women in Maths event in 2025. If you are planning to observe Ramadan, please read our information page on what to expect during your stay with us at this time. Students observing Ramadan are very much welcome to attend our events and we will be putting in place arrangements to allow you to both attend and observe.
Other Opportunities
If you can't attend, found this information too late or are not eligible for this event, don't worry as there are plenty of other opportunities to find out about studying Maths at Cambridge.
The Maths faculty runs an annual Maths open day which both Christ's and Trinity take part in. You can also see the events listing for events across the university here.
It was such a good experience that I can't really isolate one bit of it. Everything from the tours of the colleges, to the lectures which have inspired my own further supracurricular exploration of maths and given me confidence in choosing to study maths at university in the future, to the social events and the people, who also inspired me to have high aspirations when applying to uni. All of this meant I left the event with more friends, more ideas and more confidence in what I want to achieve.
Participant, Women in Maths 2024
Get in Touch
You can send any questions about this programme to Ellie Wood, Admissions & Outreach Officer at access@christs.cam.ac.uk. Please make sure you use 'Women in Maths' in the subject line so we know which event you're asking about!
