Undergraduate Admissions

Our BA immerses you in the best of Global English literature, from the Middle Ages to today. Multidisciplinary and critically adventurous, it allows you to continue interests in history, languages, philosophy or science, as well as offering exciting options such as the Ethical Imagination, Material Renaissance, Love, Gender and Sexuality, Literatures of the Global South and Visual Culture. You will learn to be a perceptive, interrogative and persuasive thinker and writer, gaining powerful, flexible skills for your future career. 
BA Course Details
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There is no typical English student at Cambridge. We warmly encourage applications from talented students from every educational and social background. If you are among the brightest students in your school or college, if you are really interested in literature, and if you are on course to achieve top grades in your forthcoming exams, you should definitely consider applying. You will be a serious candidate. 

The Practicalities

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The Course
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How we teach
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Entry Requirements
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How to Apply
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No Admissions Test
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Open Days
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The Course

You will be taught by field-leading researchers who are also talented teachers. Lectures and seminars, combined with weekly supervisions give you exceptional personalised support to grow intellectually.  
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How we teach

The Cambridge system is unique. Supervisions with just two students and a supervisor are central to our students' experiences, but we teach in many ways, so you benefit from a rich combination of methods. 
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Entry Requirements

We warmly welcome applications from talented students from every educational and social background. For 2027 entry, you’ll need A*AA at A level or equivalent, plus curiosity and a love of reading.
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How to Apply

In Cambridge, admissions are handled by individual Colleges, so you should consult the webpage of the College to which you would like to apply. Colleges will usually ask to see written work and interview you. 
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There is no Admissions Assessment

There is no admissions assessment for this course for the majority of Cambridge Colleges. Check the College admissions assessments page for exceptions to this.
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Visit us

The best time to visit is on one of our annual open days in early July, when you can learn about the course, tour the Faculty and its Library, speak to lecturers and go to sample lectures. You can also attend our online subject-specific Masterclasses.
Book an Open Day
Book a Subject Masterclass

Advice on Applying

In Cambridge, admissions are handled by individual Colleges, so you should consult the webpage of the College to which you would like to apply (or are assigned, if you make an Open Application) for details of the likely format of the interview. For specific admissions queries contact admissions@cam.ac.uk.

UCAS

The UCAS personal statement allows you an opportunity to tell us what you find most interesting about your chosen subject, and why you want to continue to study it at university. We hope you will tell us about the literature you have studied and read outside school, and what you thought of it.
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What do we look for in an UCAS application?

We often use the UCAS personal statement as a starting point for discussion at interview, but not always. There are many ways of demonstrating an interest in the subject, but the most important is showing evidence of further reading in your spare time. Rather than listing titles you've read, try describing why you enjoyed reading these books, and what you thought of them. We look for good written English, and for what and how you think.

Written Work

You don't need to write something specially. It's a good idea to send in something you enjoyed writing and would be happy to discuss at interview. When we read these essays, we are looking for evidence of good written English, coherent structure, and full and effective analysis and argument.
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What written work should you submit?

The College that assesses your application will let you know if you need to submit written work. They'll explain how you need to send it to them, and the deadline for doing this. Check what the College is asking you to submit. For example, is it an essay or a portfolio. Make sure your work is:

  • marked by your teacher, with their comments included.
  • something you’re happy to discuss in an interview. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of it so you can read it again before your interview
  • written in English. If you didn’t originally write it in English, you can translate it into English and have it verified by your school or a suitable third party.

Interview

We encourage you to read widely in advance, and think about what you read. In a lot of interviews, the applicant is given a poem or short passage to read ‘unseen’ and asked what she or he thinks of it. The interviewers love to read and talk about literature, and they look forward to hearing what you have to say.
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What will we talk about at interview?

Books! This encompasses the literature you have studied and read for pleasure in the last year or so, the books you have written about in your submitted essays, and anything you have told us about your reading in your personal statement. It is a good idea to read pre-twentieth century works as well as more contemporary writing, and to read poetry and drama as well as prose. But this is not essential: what matters is ambitious reading and thinking outside school, showing your curiousity and enthusiasm. If you regularly read poems independently, without your teacher instructing you, this ‘unseen’ exercise will soon be not daunting but delighting, a chance to exercise your intelligence, creativity, and literary insight. A good anthology of poetry from all periods is one place to start. While it is a myth that there are no wrong answers in English, there are certainly many ways of reading and thinking. So do not be shy to share your thoughts: describe precisely what you see; ask yourself why it matters; consider connections between what you know already and what you are only just discovering; support your analyses with careful evidence. 

Resources to support your studies

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Darkness Visible

A resource by Christ's College for students reading Milton’s Paradise Lost for the first or second time. Learn about the poet, his work and his themes.

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Student Critics Award

Four of our lecturers talk about ways of reading Sansom’s short story ‘The Wall’ to help younger readers think about how and why we read.

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Studying here

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Learn more about our students' experiences

The Cambridge system is unique, and we teach in many ways, so you benefit from a rich combination of methods. Here you can discover more about the ways we teach and what our students say about the course
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Course details

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Learn more about our BA

The Cambridge English course is designed to help you become an independent and persuasive thinker, reader and writer. It is an exhilarating course offering unparalleled intellectual freedom within a structured framework. 
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Widening Participation

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Get support in applying

The University as a whole is committed to widening access to the University and to higher education in general. Find out about some of the events and initiatives with which the English Faculty is particularly involved and ways you can find support to apply. 
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