Teachers, Advisers and Schools

The Area Links scheme enables the Cambridge colleges to build effective, coherent relationships with schools and colleges across the UK by matching every area of the country with a specific contact point at the university. 

Through the Area Links scheme, Christ's College works with schools located in the following regions:

Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire

Herefordshire and Worcestershire

London Borough of Harrow

Whilst much of our outreach and admissions events are open to schools regardless of their location, we provide additional specific support to schools in our link areas. If your school is located in one of the above regions, please see our Link Areas page for further information. 

Schools from outside of our link areas are welcome on our school visit days (see below) where there is capacity, though priority for places will go to those from our link regions. Subject taster events, open days, regular webinars and residential events are open to schools from all regions - read more below on these.

Not in one of our link areas above? Find your link college contact here. 

The first thing we recommend reading is the Teachers and Advisers pages on the University website. This includes lots of guidance about what we want to see in UCAS references, upcoming events specifically for teachers and advisers, and helping students in preparing their application.

The first key step is ensuring students have taken suitable combinations of qualifications for their desired university course in their post-16 studies. Read more about entry requirements and qualifications here. 

Next, students should be exploring their interests through supercurricular activities. Similarly to extra-curricular activities, these are things students do beyond their school curriculum and/or outside of school, but the crucial difference is that supercurriculars are relevant to the course for which they are applying. This is something they should begin doing from the early stages of their post-16 studies. Read more about supercurriculars in the resources page along with guidance on different aspects of the application process and further sources of information - it's for students and teachers alike.

Once they begin researching their university options it's really important they are aware of key deadlines. Whilst the UCAS deadline for Cambridge is 18:00 on 15 October, courses that have certain tests to take may have deadlines for booking those tests at least a month before the UCAS deadline - though students should really be getting these booked in as early as possible, or risk their nearest test centres being full. See here for which courses require admissions tests.

If you have a query that hasn't been answered by this page, resources or the university webpages, please do not hesitate to reach out to us - our contact details are at the bottom of this webpage.

Core Maths does not meet the requirements for any courses requiring Mathematics. 

International Baccalaureate: generally, where Maths is required IB takers should be studying Higher Level Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches. 

Scotland: We have written a dedicated section for applicants taking Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, which covers various courses. 

Further Maths A-Level

For students doing A-Levels and considering the following courses, Further Mathematics is a very important subject: Mathematics (required); Computer Science, Engineering, Economics (required at Christ's and some other colleges); Natural Sciences (Physical).

Even where Further Maths might not be required (at all or by all colleges), in these subjects those who can offer the A-Level are likely to be more competitive than those who do not due to the highly mathematical nature of these courses. Under the entry requirements tab on each of the relevant course pages, you will find a box highlighting what typical successful  applicants to Cambridge have studied. 

What if my school/college is unable to offer Further Maths?

State-funded schools and colleges in England can access support for teaching Further Maths (and mathematics more generally) through the Advanced Maths Support Programme. This includes a tuition support option. Many of the study resources are free to access regardless of location. 

Schools in Wales can find support through the Maths Support Programme Wales. This includes a tuition support option. 

Christ's College runs a series of regular webinars for potential applicants to Oxbridge and other highly-selective universities. The sessions have been designed to provide the core grounding any young person needs to work towards a competitive application, starting with their post-16 options through to understanding the application process and financing university.

Each session runs regularly - in other words, is repeated - throughout the year, so that students are able to attend no matter the stage in their application and research journey. By offering the same session multiple times through the year, no young person should miss out on information and guidance because they happened to look a little later than another. 

Webinars available:

Subject Matters: The Importance of Your Post-16 Subjects

Cambridge for Beginners

Christ's College: A Look at the Grounds & Facilities

Personal Statements & Competitive Applications

NEW FOR 2025: Student Finance Explained

Webinars last approximately an hour, usually with some additional time for questions where needed. Please note all sessions are live only - recordings are not circulated. Those who have  attended a session will receive a detailed follow-up email afterwards.

You can find out more about these sessions and their upcoming dates over on our dedicated Regular Webinars page.

There are many opportunities throughout the year for prospective students to visit the college, either as individuals or through visiting with their school. 

School Visits

From 2025 we will be running KS4 and KS5 visit days. These are designed to give students insight to studying at a top university like Cambridge, and provide lots of useful information to help them make informed decisions about their future steps. Places will be prioritised for state schools and colleges in our link areas, though we will consider requests from those outside of our areas where places are available. See more about our Visit Days here.

If you will be in Cambridge with your school group and would simply like a tour of the college, please do get in touch with the date, time, age group and size of the group you have in mind. There is always the opportunity to do a self-guided tour, or where there is capacity (and during/close to the university term time) we may be able to find a current undergraduate to lead a tour. 

Individual Visits

As well as booking into our dedicated Open Days (there are at least six opportunities each year), prospective students are always welcome to have a look around the college on a date that suits them. This includes specific student-led tours or a self-guided visit as well as open days. Further information about visiting Christ's in these ways is available here. Students may also find an opportunity to visit if selected for a place on one of our outreach programmes.

Virtual Visits

We appreciate it isn't always feasible to get to Cambridge for a visit, which is why we also offer virtual ways to get a feel for Christ's. This includes our regular webinar for Grounds and Facilities, the University of Cambridge Virtual Tour, and extensive facilities webpages on this website. Our October and February open days are run in hybrid format with key information sessions delivered online and in-person tours being optional. 

There are a huge range of admissions and outreach events that take place every year organised by the University, or Cambridge Colleges, including Christ's. This includes open days, subject taster events (online and in person), and overnight events in Cambridge, as well as a huge range of online webinars on various aspects of living, studying and applying at or to Cambridge. The University Upcoming Events page is regularly updated with opportunities, and these can be filtered by different categories. Christ's also uploads all upcoming events of ours on the central events page, but we have also highlighted our own programmes over in the Resources section. 

Most programmes or events at Cambridge will be free to attend, or with a small cost such as the Subject Masterclasses (£12.50), though there are funded places available for those who meet certain criteria. 

UCAS has recently launched their Outreach Connection Service for UK teachers and advisers in an effort to collate events and opportunities from trusted providers around the country. Read more about the Outreach Connection Service here.

What if my students aren't eligible for outreach programmes?

As part of the University and Christ's commitment to widening participation, many of our outreach programmes have eligibility criteria that target groups of young people that research suggests are less likely to progress to (selective) higher education, and/or specifically Cambridge. Being unable to apply for or not being selected to attend such a programme is not indicative of how successful an actual application for undergraduate study would be, as the methods of selection are simply different. Those who do attend such programmes are not advantaged in the admissions process, and the same information, advice and guidance provided is all still freely available through other open-access opportunities such as webinars, websites and open days - we're just simply trying to encourage those young people to make an application in the first place!

We don't expect potential applicants to have taken part in summer schools, taster days or other programmes, though we do receive many emails each year about such opportunities for students to get a "taste" of university whilst still at school.  We are aware that there are many companies that offer very expensive programmes, which we would not encourage students to attend: even where they might have hired university facilities, they are private for-profit organisations that are nothing to do with the University of Cambridge. The information they provide cannot be verified nor is there any 'extra/secret' information that isn't already freely available through the university website or reaching out to an admissions office with your queries.

As well as ensuring that you receive communications from us to help support students as well as signposting them to upcoming events and opportunities, plus admissions updates and guidance as it happens, signing up to our Teachers and Advisers Newsletter also means we know we have an up-to-date contact for your school. This is particularly important for those in our link areas, so if you aren't already receiving our emails, please sign up below!

Click here to register for our mailing list for teachers and advisers.

We add to this list as we come across things that might be of wider interest!

Maths Inspiration Talks - around the UK

Cambridge Festival

Cambridge Physics Experience