Applications come to the College through UCAS. Applicants to Cambridge must apply through UCAS and complete the My Cambridge Application form. An overview of this process can be found on the University website. Please take note of the deadlines as late applications will not be considered. Decisions on inviting candidates to interview are made primarily using information supplied on the UCAS form and My Cambridge Application, and Extenuating Circumstances Form (if submitted) along with performance in Admissions Assessments. In subjects where submitted written work is requested, please note that this is not used as part of the process of deciding which applicants to invite to interview, but rather to guide discussion at interview. After these discussions at interview, submitted work may be used in decisions relating to the making of offers.

We assess every candidate on the basis of their application form, referees’ reports, any tests or assessments that we ask you to sit, and interviews. At every stage in the admissions process, our Admissions Tutors take a holistic view of a candidate’s achievements, ability and potential using all available information. We aim to give all applicants the best possible opportunity to demonstrate their ability and potential. The principal aim of the admissions process is to identify applicants who will thrive intellectually at Cambridge. Applicants who have been disadvantaged by circumstances outside of their control are encouraged to submit an Extenuating Circumstances Form so that their achievements can be assessed fairly, in the appropriate context. You will be advised about exactly what is required after you have applied through UCAS. More details of course-specific requirements can be found on the individual course pages.

Interview Format for 2024

In 2024/5, interviews for candidates based in the United Kingdom will take place in Cambridge, in person, as a default, with the option for candidates to request to be interviewed online (via Zoom) if they consider that they have a good reason for this (e.g. illness or inability to travel).

Accommodation will be provided free of charge to candidates whose interview schedule would require them to travel outside the hours of 7.30am- 10.30pm. We are only able to offer accommodation to applicants and not to any accompanying parents, supporters or friends. 

Peterhouse will be able to cover the cost of travel for UK applicants who are invited to an in-person interview who are currently in receipt of Free School Meals or who are in care. Other candidates for whom purchasing travel would cause financial hardship are advised to contact the Admissions Office about the possibility of reimbursement. You will be asked to submit appropriate evidence, which will be kept confidential from your interviewers throughout the admissions process. Candidates must then send us an online or paper receipt, along with their bank details, and we will reimburse them as soon as possible. 

The type of questions you will be asked and the level of assessment will be the same whether you are interviewed in person or online. Please see further details on the University Interviews page.

Please note that the University will only consider applications from students currently enrolled in the same (or a similar) course at another UK university in rare and exceptional circumstances. Any such application should have the full support of your current course director, who will be required to write a reference or letter of recommendation in support of your application, detailing the ways your academic needs cannot be met as part of your current course. All such applications are subject to the same deadlines and means of assessment as other applications to the University. Note that Peterhouse will consider applicants who are already studying the same course at a non-UK university, except in Medicine.