Applicants from Estonia

We welcome applicants from Estonia who would like to apply for a place here at Christ's College. We also welcome teachers and guidance counselors at schools in Estonia to get in touch if you have questions about supporting students from your school who would like to apply to Christ's College.

Entry requirements

Typical offers for Christ's applicants taking the Gumnaasiumi Ioptunnistus with Riigiesksamitsunnistus (Secondary School Leaving Certificate with the State Examination Certificate) require an overall average score of 5 from five subjects. Applicants are also usually asked to achieve scores of 90% in three state exams (Riigeksam) in individual subjects. Please also read the bullet points below carefully. 

• If you are taking two state exams and the C1 Advanced (formerly known as Cambridge English Advanced or CAE) instead of the state exam in a foreign language, this also meets our entry requirements.  
• Successful applicants studying for the Gumnaasiumi Ioptunnistus with Riigiesksamitsunnistus have usually undertaken additional study outside of their main qualification. In the past, this has meant good performance in relevant science Olympiads or College Board Advanced Placement tests (APs)
• If no state examinations are to be conducted in the subject(s) you have been asked to take as part of your offer, it is essential that you contact your Cambridge College as soon as you are made aware of this and before the examinations take place.

Students taking the International Baccalaureate would normally need to achieve 42 points overall (including bonus points), with 7,7,6 in Higher Level subjects. If you are applying for a course that requires Maths at Higher Level in the IB, make sure that you take the Maths: Analysis and Approaches option at Higher Level. See our page for IB students.

Some courses require an Admissions Test. The registration dates for these tests are normally in mid-September so please check this carefully in relation to the course you are planning to apply for.

Offers for Mathematics include STEP II and III exams, which you take in the same summer as your Abitur or IB exams. Further information about STEP and preparation support is available on the Maths page.

Mathematics advice for courses that require Further Mathematics

Any course that requires or recommends A-level Further Mathematics is likely to expect applicants to have advanced knowledge of mathematics that differs in places from the mathematics that you cover in the Estonian system. If you are applying for one of these courses, you should ensure that you familiarise yourself with a Further Mathematics syllabus (example) and mention the fact that you are “topping up” your mathematics, in your personal statement. Some online resources are available to non UK students via the Advanced Maths Support Programme, and Mark Warner and Anson Cheung's book, A Cavendish Quantum Mechanics Primer is especially helpful for those considering Engineering and Physical Natural Sciences, and further resources are available on the relevant subject pages.

If you're planning an application for Mathematics at Cambridge, the Advanced Maths Support Programme website contains a range of resources, including problem sheets, test materials and links to other sites. Getting involved with Mathematics competitions and programmes is a great way to stretch your wings mathematically, and many successful applicants to Cambridge participate in regional Mathematics Olympiads or even the International Mathematics Olympiad. If your maths is very strong, you might also wish to practice past papers for STEP, the advanced examination used by Cambridge, Warwick and a few other universities to test mathematical aptitude. Cambridge University provides a free online STEP Support Programme.

Academic Competitions

Many successful applicants have participated in Maths and Science competitions (including international Maths and Science Olympiads), and doing well in such competitions can be a good way to demonstrate that your mathematical and/or scientific knowledge and skills are at the required standard, particularly if you have not taken A levels. Taking part in any form of competitive academic activity will also emphasise your commitment to the subject involved.

Here at Christ's College, students from Eastern Europe and the Baltic States who have won individual medals at selected International Science Olympiads and perform strongly in our interviews and assessments will be considered for adjusted offers, that is, offers set at a lower level than would be the case for non-medalists.

If you are applying for an essay subject such as History, English, Philosophy or Classics, a number of Cambridge Colleges hold essay competitions which you might find helpful and enjoyable. See, for example the Fitzwilliam Essay Competitions and the Trinity Essay prizes. There is no obligation to take part in these, but they can offer good opportunities to explore a relevant topic and write in English, and if you do well, this will be an achievement that you can tell us about in your application.

English Language requirements

We may include IELTS Academic / TOEFL in offers to candidates whose English seems variable at interview, or in an at-interview admissions assessment; this is more common in essay-based subjects. If you demonstrate very good English Language skills at interview and in any  admissions test, we may not need to set you an English Language condition, however. If you are given an English Language condition, the standard requirements are on the university website. 

Some UK universities do routinely include TOEFL, IELTS and comparable qualifications in offers to students from Estonia, so if you already hold such a qualification, you should mention it in your UCAS application.
 

The application deadline

For applicants applying in 2024 (for 2025 entry or deferred 2026 entry) the application deadline is 15 October 2024.

It is very, very important to check whether your course has a test that requires registration, as you will need to check the registration deadline for this. Depending on your subject you may need to register some time before the October UCAS application deadline. See the application process section below.
 

The application process

We recommend that you apply as soon as possible once UCAS opens for applications in September. Your course may require registration for an admissions test by mid-September (depending on the subject) and then the UCAS application deadline for all courses is 15 October 2024.  Application is for entry the following October (or for deferred entry the year after). We encourage all applicants to read the information about applying on the relevant subject page, as well as the how to apply page well in advance of September, as there are a number of parts to the application procedure which may take time to organise and complete:

1. If you have a test that requires registration (needed for some of the courses), you will need to make sure you are registered for this by the relevant deadline in mid-September. Details are updated on the Admissions Tests page by July each year for students applying the following October. You will be able to search for the test centres in Croatia.
2. There is more than one application form. You first make a UCAS application and then you complete an additional form called My Cambridge Application.
3. You will need a referee who can provide a reference and predicted grades for any exams that you have not yet taken.
4. You will also need to arrange for your school to provide a transcript, which you upload as part of My Cambridge Application.

Do also explore our additional support pages for international applicants, and note that on 20 September Christ's publishes the current applicants section, which will support you (in detail!) through the next steps once you have submitted a valid application and chosen Christ's College in your UCAS application.

Further detail on aspects of the application process

We have additional help pages for international students for aspects of the application process such as UCAS personal statements, UCAS references, Admissions Tests and interviews. See the additional application support for international applicants.

Do read these details carefully, as it's important to understand what you will be assessed on and what we are looking for. It is worth bearing in mind, for example, that a Cambridge interview is not a straightforward academic “examination” of what you know: it is a way of finding out how you handle and apply new information, and whether you would thrive within the supervision (tutorial) system. See the interviews page for the detail.

Finance

Do have a look at our finance section for details of the costs and financial support available. In addition to the university-wide awards from the Cambridge, Commonwealth, European and International Trusts, you'll see that at Christ's we have Christ’s College International Awards and Christ's Awards.

The Christ's College International Awards awards are worth £10,000 a year and may be accompanied by a full or partial waiver of the College Fee (currently £11,300 a year).

More information is available on our page on international financial support and do also read the notes for EU students.

Where can I find out more?

We encourage you to explore the college online as there are lots of pictures to help you to get a sense of it. We have a College map and there are picture pages for First Court, Second Court, Third Court, New Court and the Fellows' Garden, as well as a section on Christ's facilities including pages on the Hall, Canteen, Working Library, Old Library, Law Library, Chapel, Theatre, Common Rooms, Café and Bar, Swimming Pool, Gym, Squash Court, Function Room, Sports Fields and Boathouse. There's a page on accommodation, and 360 degree photography of First Court, The Fellows' Garden, and Third Court.

Do explore the undergraduate admissions section, and the international students section plus the relevant subject page in particular. If you read through some of the student profiles and the student life section, you'll also pick up lots of detail about College life.

For your course research we recommend reading the Christ's subject page (and following links from it to the university pages too). It is essential to read this page before making your application as it also has any subject-specific requirements, advice and resources.

We hope that you will feel free to email the Christ's Admissions Office: admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk with any questions. We'll be pleased to hear from you!

If you would like to visit Cambridge, you are welcome to Visit Christ's (and there are a number of options for this on the page). We also have events (including online events) through the year, so don't worry if you can't travel. We recommend reading this website, and it would be particularly helpful to sign up for our international webinar.

International Students / Should I apply? / How to apply / Subjects at Christ's / Application support for International Students