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Since 2020, we now welcome students of all ages at Lucy Cavendish College. We have a long tradition of supporting mature students and you will feel at home in our diverse community.

 

FAQs

Mature students are students over the age of 21 years on 1st October in the year of entry.  Affiliated students are those who already hold a Bachelor’s degree and are pursuing a second undergraduate degree.

Yes, of course.  We will also consider other qualifications including:

  • HE Access Diplomas - the Access to Humanities & Social Sciences Diploma provides good grounding for many arts and humanities courses. We would expect a Distinction in all relevant modules.
  • Certificates of Higher Education - such as those offered by the Open University.

Unfortunately, Access to Science courses are not usually considered by the University to be suitable preparation on their own for science degrees. For more information, please contact our Admissions Office (admissions@lucy.cam.ac.uk).

University applications are made through UCAS. The general undergraduate pages of the University of Cambridge website offer a wealth of information on how to apply, including videos, interview advice and advice on course choices.  Other sources of information include:

  • Specific guidance for mature students is available on the University of Cambridge Mature Students and the Mature Student Applications web pages. You may also wish to see the video webinar Applying to Cambridge for Mature Students:

 

  • The Student Room has an 'over 21' thread where the Admissions Director of Lucy Cavendish will answer your questions.

Cambridge University has its own pages devoted to fees and funding for undergraduate students. Information on funding for mature students can be found on the gov.uk website and you can check if you are eligible for funding here. There are also additional grants and bursaries for adult learners which may include an Advanced Learner Loan. Further information on possible sources of funding for students aged 19+ can also be found on the Money Saving Expert website.

It may be useful to know that under our new admissions policy we are now accepting students of all ages and genders (previously we were a women’s mature College). This would mean your application would be assessed alongside candidates offering multiple A*s at A-level. We do not have a set number of affiliate versus non-affiliate places and we simply look to admit the most competitive candidates who have applied to us. This would mean that your application may therefore be more competitive at another College for solely mature students (Wolfson, St Edmund’s and Hughes Hall). You may therefore wish to contact the three Colleges for applicants solely of mature age to discuss your application, as you would be applying in a field solely of mature students offering similar qualifications. Of course, the admissions team would still be very happy to continue advising you in your application.

Our minimum entry requirements for affiliate entry Medicine are a 2.1 undergraduate degree result in any discipline (although in practice most successful applicants have done a science related degree), as well as passes in A-level Chemistry (or equivalent) plus at least one of Biology, Physics and Maths.

 

Last year there were only 21 places available for this degree, meaning that the application process is particularly competitive. 

Unfortunately, Lucy Cavendish College does not typically accept applications from students studying at another UK University, so it would not be possible to apply whilst still studying at your current institution. For more information, please visit https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-requirements/students-at-other-uk-universities

Applying to study in October 2020?

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