For information on offer levels, see here.

Provided that applicants have a clear plan for how they will spend their time, and intend to do something personally and academically beneficial, we are happy to consider applicants who wish to take a gap year (i.e. applying for deferred entry before the gap year) or who are applying post-qualification (i.e. during a gap year). Including information on how your gap year fits into your academic plans can be beneficial.

Examples of beneficial activities might be for linguists to spend time abroad immersing themselves in the language and culture of a place whose language they will go on to study; anthropologists travelling to experience previously unfamiliar cultures; or engineers taking part in the Year in Industry scheme. We also understand that some students may wish to spend a year out of full-time education for more personal reasons, for example if they would otherwise be significantly younger than the rest of their year-group on arrival in Cambridge.

We do not expect that the entirety of the gap year will be dedicated to subject-related activities, especially where the time is being taken for other personal reasons, but we would in most cases wish to see some evidence of a plan to sustain subject-related skills and awareness if there is to be significant time spent out of formal education.

We do not operate quotas on types of application. Applicants for deferred entry should note that, to be successful, an application would have to be of sufficient strength that it would be a highly competitive application for the subject in any given year.

There are no courses for which it is mandatory to have more than three A-level qualifications. Successfully taking a fourth A-level where your school offers the possibility may provide extra evidence of your ability to thrive in the intense academic environment of Cambridge University. However, we recognise that not all schools offer this possibility and will ensure that all applications are assessed in context.

Quantity of A-levels does not in itself confer an advantage. We generally advise applicants that maximising the number of A* grades is preferable to having more A-level results below A* grade.

When setting offer levels, we consider all examinations being undertaken: if you are taking additional A-levels, these are likely to be included in your offer conditions.

In certain subjects (Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics) taking both Mathematics and Further Mathematics is strongly encouraged and the vast majority of successful home applicants have this profile. We understand that some schools do not offer Further Mathematics as an option; if this applies to you then it is important to include this information in your application. In such cases a strong performance on any admissions assessment is essential.

For candidates taking four or more A-levels, including both Mathematics and Further Mathematics, it is not uncommon to complete the Mathematics A-Level in Y12 and take the full Further Mathematics A-Level in Y13. This confers neither advantage nor disadvantage compared to taking the two together at the end of Y13. If you have already completed Mathematics A-Level at the time of application, your module scores may be taken into account in the assessment of your application.

Offers are generally made on the assumption that at least three A-levels will be taken simultaneously in Y13. If you are taking three A-levels including both Mathematics and Further Mathematics, completing the Mathematics A-Level in Y12 and taking only two A-Levels in Y13 is likely to result in a less competitive application than taking the three A-levels together in Y13.

In most cases, it is expected that the primary examinations forming part of the entry requirements are taken simultaneously, and at most within a two-year period. For some international qualifications, such as Advanced Placement tests (APs), it is common for exams to be spread over more than one year, but it is expected that sufficiently many examinations to satisfy the entry requirements are taken within a two-year period.

Each application is assessed based on all information provided, and this includes consideration of GCSEs. However, we regard more recent examinations, such as admissions assessments or AS modular exams, as a better indicator of future performance than GCSEs. Successful applicants have attained on average eight or more GCSEs at level 8/9/A*.

We accept applications from candidates who are planning to re-sit an exam you have already taken, or have already sat the same examination more than once in the past. It is important that your application includes as much information as possible on any context that may have affected your performance in the first sitting of the examination. Such context can be provided by yourself or by your referee. Unless there were serious extenuating circumstances affecting your performance in the first sitting of an exam or exams which are being re-taken, results and predictions for re-sat exams will in general be viewed less favourably than equivalent results or predictions obtained at the first sitting.

We normally do not consider applications from students enrolled on a degree course at another UK university: see here for further details.

Selwyn will only consider applications from students enrolled in a degree course at another university in exceptional circumstances. Any application to move to Cambridge would need strong support from your course director or other academic tutor at your current university. A reference or letter of recommendation from that person to the college would be required in advance of any application, and only then could the college consider an application. All such applications are still subject to the same academic assessment as any other application, including scrutiny of past performance in school examinations.

We recognise that there may be good reasons for students from outside the UK to be undertaking an initial period of study at a local university before applying to Cambridge. In such cases we strongly recommend that the application includes information on why a direct application to Cambridge was not an option and how the initial period of study at another university prepares you for study at Cambridge.

It is not possible for a student to transfer to Cambridge to pursue only part of a degree course (sometimes called 'advanced standing'). All students must start in the first year of our three or four-year undergraduate programmes.

Please see: University of Cambridge age requirement.

If your application is unsuccessful, it is possible to reapply to Cambridge in a subsequent year. It is strongly recommended that an application is made to a different college than the college which assessed your application on the first attempt.

Selwyn College participates in University exchange programmes like ERASMUS, Turing and the Ecole Centrale Paris, MIT and NUS schemes when in operation. Apart from these we do not take visiting or Junior Year Abroad students.