- Why Study Archaeology at Christ's College?
- Course content and structure
- Teaching
- What do our students think?
- How to apply
- Helpful resources
- Come to an open day or online event
- Want more information?
Why Study Archaeology at Christ's?
Christ’s has been famous for Archaeology since the 16th century, when antiquarian John Leyland – ‘the father of English local history’ – studied here. In the Victorian era our students included eminent Egyptologist and Director of the British Museum, E.A. Wallis Budge, whose legacy has enabled us to provide strong support for Archaeology. In fact, we usually have a Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow at the College, and you may be interested to look at the Christ's Egyptology website.
The College has an excellent library, particularly for Egyptology, and many of the world’s leading Egyptologists have been members of Christ’s during their careers. These include Salima Ikram, Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo and Stephen Quirke, the current Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London.
Our Archaeology graduates have gone into areas including commercial and field archaeology, education, conservation, museums, international development, logistics, the diplomatic service, urban planning, publishing, information architecture, politics, trade unionism, the civil service, business development, banking, law and the charity sector.
Course content and structure
Archaeology covers a broad range of topics, from the evolution of humans through the development of farming, ancient societies and world empires, to heritage in modern societies.
The course (or ‘tripos’) is a three-year degree during which you can follow a particular stream, choosing from:
- Archaeology (covering all world cultures)
- Biological Anthropology
- Egyptology and Assyriology
Please visit the University website for full details of the Archaeology course content and structure, including the course film. You will also find information on the Archaeology Faculty page for prospective applicants . If you have further questions about the course content, please contact undergraduate-secretary@arch.cam.ac.uk.
Teaching
Christ’s students enjoy the fact that we’re one of the closest colleges to the Department of Archaeology and the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology on the Downing Site.
Your lectures are arranged by the University and you also have weekly ‘supervisions’. These are one-to-one or small-group tutorial sessions which give you the advantage of personally-tailored tuition.
Christ’s Director of Studies for Archaeology is Dr Kate Spence, whose research focuses on the built environment and culture of Ancient Egypt and Sudan. She guides you through your course and arranges your weekly supervisions. Christ's also has an an expert in Egyptology, Dr Alex Loktionov.
What do our students think?
Ari studies Archaeology here at Christ's College. She has written about her experiences in her student profile.
If you would like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, visit our Student Profiles page.
How to apply
Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.
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Subjects: what do you need?
Archaeology is a broad subject which allows you to specialise in many areas. The course encourages study of topics ranging across the humanities, social sciences and sciences, so there are no required or recommended courses.
We welcome applications from those studying:
- Humanistic fields such as History, English, Classics or ancient languages
- Social Sciences such as Geography, Sociology, Psychology or Anthropology
- Sciences such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics
Applicants for Egyptology and Assyriology should be enthusiastic about studying languages.
We encourage students to attend one of our regular Subject Matters webinars for help with choosing Post-16 subjects for competitive university applications. This webinar is pitched for students aged 14-16 though it is also possible to attend when you have started sixth form.
Written work
After we receive your application, we ask you to send us one example of a recent essay that you feel accurately reflects your abilities and interests. This should be work written during the normal course of your studies and already marked by a teacher. We recommend you keep a copy for your own reference, as we may discuss it at interview.
We publish full guidelines on written work in the Current Applicants section on 20 September each year.
Interviews
If we select you for interviews, these usually take place in early December. At Christ's we do all of our interviews online. You can have your interviews either at home (most applicants do this) or at school (if easier). Interviews are normally last 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with academics in Archaeology.
We don’t expect you to have any background in archaeology, as it’s a very varied field and not usually taught in schools. Simply be prepared to talk about your relevant interests and any potential directions you might want to explore.
Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student.
Written assessment (College registered)
If we select you for interview, we will also ask you to take the Archaeology Admissions Assessment in the second half of November (this year's date is Wednesday 20 November 2024). We arrange your assessment automatically so you don’t need to do anything to register. You complete the assessment remotely (you can complete it at home or at school) and upload your work - you will not need to travel for it. Details of how the assessment will work are given to students selected for interview by email.
Information about the format and content of the Archaeology Admissions Assessment is available on the College admissions assessments page. There are some specimen papers available there. There are sometimes changes to assessments from year to year - any changes are confirmed by the July before you apply.
Offers
We define the terms of each offer individually, but our typical conditional offer for Archaeology is:
- A*AA at A-level
- 42 points overall in the International Baccalaureate with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects
- A1, A2, A2 in three Scottish Advanced Highers
If you’re taking another qualification, we expect you to be working at or close to the top of the mark range i.e.
- Baccalauréat français international (BFI): 17 (mention très bien) out of 20 overall, with a minimum of 17 in individual subjects.
- European Baccalaureate: at least 85% overall, with 9/10 in relevant subjects
You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.
If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, applying from a university.
Helpful resources
| Reading list | Suggestions so you can choose according to your interests – we don’t expect you to have read all of these if you come for interview! |
| Christ's Egyptology website | Egyptology has been studied at Christ’s College since 1936, making Christ’s one of the oldest and best-known Egyptology institutions in the UK. This website tells our story. |
| HE+ Archaeology | Resources for students who would like to explore Archaeology |
| Current Archaeology | Magazine about Archaeology in Britain |
| A History of the World in 100 objects | Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made. |
| Naked Archaeology | Archaeology podcast |
| Archaeological Review | A bi-annual journal of archaeology run on a non-profit voluntary basis by University of Cambridge researchers |
| Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology | Many archaeology practicals take place here due to its large teaching collection of objects. It’s free to the public so visit if you can. |
| Gresham College Lectures | Use the search function to find the Archaeology lectures |
| Taster lecture | The Political Economy of Precolonial African States |
| Recording Archaeology | YouTube channel showing presentations from conferences |
| Women in Archaeology | An Archaeology blog about, for, and by women in the Field |
| Archaeology Podcast Network | Free podcasts |
| Skills & techniques | Find out about some of the skills and techniques used in Archaeology |
| CamGuides | Introducing the academic and information skills that you will need during your studies, as well as how and where you would be working. |
Attend an Open Day / webinar
Our open days and events page advertises regular online opportunities as well as events you can attend in Cambridge. If you can, sign up for a College Open Day (our October, February and September events normally include a meeting with a subject specialist). Between February and August we run regular webinars:
- Subject Matters: The importance of post-16 subject choices (this one is also run Sept - Nov)
- Cambridge for Beginners
- Christ's College: A look at the Grounds and Facilities
- Personal Statements and preparing for an application
Further subject-specific opportunities you might wish to consider include Subject Masterclasses organised by Cambridge Admissions Office, and subject-specific talks in the July Cambridge Open Days. If you are a UK student from a background where there is little tradition of entry to Higher Education, you can apply to attend a Sutton Trust Summer School in Archaeology or to shadow a current undergraduate studying Archaeology via the Cambridge SU Shadowing Scheme (do be aware that there's a high proportion of applicants to places for both of these last two opportunities so please don't be discouraged if you don't get a place).
Want more information?
For more detail about what the course involves, please read Undergraduate Archaeology admissions on the University website and visit the Department of Archaeology site too.
If you have any queries at all, please contact us at admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to advise.
Undergraduate Admissions / Subject list / How to apply / Why Christ's?
