International Entrance Requirements

Each year we welcome applications to Christ's College from students taking a wide range of qualifications from around the world.

To make a competitive application, you must be able to achieve the grades for your qualification below. You can achieve them either in exams that you have already taken, or in exams that you will be taking in the year that you apply.

Depending on which course you are applying for, we may also ask you to take an Admissions Test or Assessment, but it is not possible to admit you on the basis of your test score – this is further assessment in addition to your school qualifications so that we have more information. Please look into the details of Admissions Tests after you have checked the requirements for your school qualifications (for some of these, a registration by mid-September is needed).

If neither your qualification nor your country are listed below, please see the further details.

If you are applying from a university or already hold an undergraduate degree, please see applying from a university
 

International qualifications

• International A levels
• International Baccalaureate (IB)
• Advanced Placements (AP)
• European Baccalaureate (EB)
• SAT I / SAT II or ACT
• Foundation year programmes

IGCSE's can be useful preparation for any of the above courses, as well as indicators of all-round ability and competence in particular subjects, but they are not in themselves appropriate preparation for admission to Cambridge.
 

National qualifications

Please could students from the following countries also go to these links:

What further achievements can be taken into account? 

As admission to Cambridge and to Christ’s is based solely on academic criteria, we do not assess your participation and achievements in areas such as sport, music and drama, and we do not need you to write about your leadership skills etc. in your application.

We look at your academic ability and potential for the specific course that you have applied for, whether it involves a subject that you have already studied at school (in which case we will look for relevant ability and potential in that subject and related areas) or a subject that you will be starting for the first time at Cambridge (in which case we will be looking for appropriate academic skills, but realise that your interest in the specific subject area will be more recent).

Only extra-curricular activities that are academically relevant will be taken into account alongside your school qualifications:

• If you are applying for Music, ABRSM, LCM, NCM, TCL and VCM Grade 8 Performance examinations are relevant (though not required), and ABRSM Grade 8 Music Theory will be accepted as an alternative to A-level Music.
• If you have secured an individual medal in an International Science Olympiad, or in a major regional Olympiad such the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad, then provided you also perform solidly in our Admissions Assessment and at interview, Christ's will consider you for an adjusted offer, that is, an offer set at a lower level than would be the case for non-medalists.
• If you are applying for Medicine there are key criteria for medical admissions: this is the only subject for which personal qualities are relevant.
   

Which qualifications should I list on my UCAS application?

You should list all of your qualifications on your UCAS application form, even if not all of them appear in the above list. We realise that for some students there is not much to fill in, but for other students it can be a long list. For example, a student from the United States taking a US High School Diploma, Advanced Placements, SAT, and SAT II Subject tests should list each one of these, and high passes in the High School Diploma and the SAT are expected, even though Advanced Placements at grade 5 are the requirement.

If you are asked more than once for information about your qualifications on the application forms, please fill the information in fully on each occasion.

Many international students will be asked to provide a transcript in addition to completing the forms.

Further Information

• International Students section
• English Language requirements
• Written Assessments (required for some courses, and for some assessments registration by the relevant deadline is needed).

Back to International Students main page / Why choose Christ's? / Subjects at Christ's / Facilities