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How to apply

A brief overviewYoung woman filling in an application form

  1. Read the 'Study at King's' section of this website thoroughly.
  2. By 15 October:
    • Submit a UCAS form online (after applications open in mid-September).
    • If you do not attend a school or college in the UK or EU, please also submit a Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA) and a high school transcript (to reach us by the deadline). The COPA & UCAS deadline may be earlier than 15 October if you are applying to be interviewed overseas. Those applying with an earlier deadline must send a paper copy of the UCAS reference as well as the transcript.
    • For applicants from disadvantaged educational, personal or medical backgrounds, your school should submit an Extenuating Circumstances Form by post to reach us by 15 October.
  3. Within a week of the main application deadline (15 October) you will receive an email from King's Admissions Office giving you a link to the online Applicant Information.
  4. By 22 October: Submit the Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) online. You will receive an email with a link and your log-in details after submitting your UCAS form. You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of submitting your SAQ.
  5. By 30 October: All applicants who attend / attended schools in European Union countries outside the UK must submit a high school transcript (to reach us by the deadline).
  6. By 8 November: we must receive any written work required, the fee status questionnaire (all applicants) and your disability adjustments form (if relevant). All forms and details will be available on the Applicant Information page.
  7. You will find out by late November if you have been invited to an interview.
  8. Students invited for interviews in Cambridge only: Submit an interview confirmation if you will attend your interview(s). Details of how to do this will be sent with your invitation to interview.
  9. Come to the interview. Most of the interviews take place in the first two weeks of December so please keep these dates free.
  10. Decisions are sent out in early January.

Note: Further detail is given below. The deadlines above apply to standard applicants. Applicants for Organ Scholarships and for most overseas interviews may need to apply earlier.

The application

  1. Application deadlines: You must apply before the 15 October for entry the following October. You can also apply then for deferred entry in the October two years ahead. We do not consider late applications. Some students apply earlier: For Organ Awards the deadline is 1 September (please consult the Organ Scholarships page). Applicants who would like to be interviewed overseas have various deadlines in September depending on the country and should refer to the timetable on the University overseas application pages.

  2. UCAS Application:  You must apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The earliest you can submit a UCAS form is mid-September. Applicants with King's College [Institution name:CAM, Institution code:C05, College code:K] as their preference College will have their on-line application sent directly to King's. Your school/college will need you to submit your UCAS form well ahead of 15 October in order for them to complete the reference section in time. Application through UCAS is essential even for those resident outside the UK. It is crucial that you include an email address that you check regularly in your UCAS application unless there is a good reason why this is not possible.

    Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA) : This must be submitted by all candidates who attend schools outside of the UK/EU and by all organ award applicants. The link and further information is available on the Cambridge Undergraduate Admissions website. Please read the instructions with the form very carefully and email copahelp [at] cao [dot] cam [dot] ac [dot] uk if you have questions or problems with this form. The COPA page includes a coversheet for the transcript which must be sent to us by post. Students applying for an overseas interview with an application date before 15 October must also download a reference coversheet from the COPA page and include a paper copy of the UCAS reference with their transcript.

    Extenuating Circumstances form: For people from disadvantaged educational, personal or medical backgrounds this form must be submitted by your school/college by 15 October. Please pass on the form and information about the scheme to your school. All enquiries about your eligibility for the scheme should come from your school/college.
     
  3. Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ): Within a day or two of submitting your UCAS form you will receive an email giving you log in details for the Supplementary Application Questionnaire which you must submit online by 22 October. You have not submitted a valid application to Cambridge/King's if you fail to meet this deadline and we will not pursue your application any further. In addition, we can start working on your application as soon as we receive your SAQ and encourage you to submit it as soon as you are able (though please do not rush it). Within 24 hours of submitting your SAQ you will receive a confirmation email. Please ensure that you have received this.
     
  4. High School Transcript for EU students: If you attend/attended school in an EU country outside the UK, the SAQ will prompt you to send in a transcript (with a coversheet) to reach us by 30 October. If you can send it so that we receive it as early as possible, that would help us. Information and the coversheet is given on the SAQ page and King's provides detailed information about the High School Transcript.
     
  5. Applicant Information: Between 15 and 22 October you will receive an email from King's Admissions Office giving you a link to the Applicant Information page. This will contain information about the next stages of your application including written work which we must receive by 8 November (where relevant) and how interviews will work in each subject. It is essential that you read all the information on this page and the various documents linked from it very carefully. Please do not send any written work before you have received this email.

    The Applicant Information page will be the main source of information for you once you have submitted your UCAS form and will be updated as new information becomes available or if lots of applicants are asking the same questions. It is therefore important that you keep an eye on this page.

The interview

In November we assess applications and invite applicants for interview (we interview the vast majority of applicants). When you come for interview, we will encourage you to talk about your academic interests and ideas. We are looking for intellectual ability, aptitude for the subject, curiosity and commitment. So expect interviewers to ask a range of questions relating to the work or reading you have done, both at school and outside it. Do not be surprised if they ask you to justify or elaborate on what you say.

If they introduce issues that are new to you, they are not trying to catch you out, but to discover how you would deal with new ideas or an unfamiliar topic. They will not expect you to know all the answers: simply to think hard and have a go. Similarly, any test we ask you to take while here is designed to show us your academic potential and aptitude. Apart from the small number of subjects that require some preparatory reading, the interviews and tests require no specific preparation.

The offer

Offers of places are made in January. An offer may be 'conditional' (dependent on you achieving certain exam grades). Or, if you have already taken your final school exams, an offer may be 'firm' (without academic conditions attached).

The pool

If we are not able to make an offer to you, but think that you deserve a place at Cambridge, we place your application in the Pool. Here other colleges can consider your application. Sometimes other colleges make offers to Pool candidates immediately and sometimes they call candidates back for a second interview in early January.

King's works hard to support pooled candidates and we are often successful in placing them. Currently, after the workings of the Pool, King's applicants are statistically just as likely to gain a place at the University as any Cambridge applicant. Although King's has quite a lot of candidates, your chances of a place at Cambridge are not adversely affected by applying to King's.

What are we looking for?

At King's, we are looking for promise and potential. So although existing and predicted grades form one important criterion for admission, we are careful to interpret grades in light of your personal and educational background. We assess each application individually. We are interested to learn about your existing knowledge and skills, but we endeavour also to find out how you would deal with the new materials and ideas you would encounter at Cambridge. All candidates are considered strictly on the basis of their academic promise.

Since the 1960s, King's has been highly successful in encouraging applications from the state sector. We are pleased that many of our applicants continue to come from state schools. You should understand, however, that we judge all applicants on the same academic grounds. We welcome applications from strong candidates, regardless of their background, school type, or country of origin. The proportion of our offers made to privately and publicly educated candidates tends to correspond closely to the proportion of applications we receive.

Further Information

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