Candidates for some subjects are required to submit written work as part of the application process. We will provide full information and guidance about how to send it to us after you have applied to us.
The deadline for submitting written work in 2024 is 4th November.
Please upload your written work on the Qualtrics form, which we will email to you. Please follow the size, format and naming conventions outlined in the form. We may otherwise not be able to connect your work to your application.
Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
Applicants to all Colleges are required to submit 2 pieces of written work prior to interview
Archaeology
Architecture
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Classics
Computer Science
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Design
Economics
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Engineering
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
English
Geography
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
History
History and Modern Languages
History and Politics
History of Art
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Human, Social and Political Sciences
Law
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application to King's.
Linguistics
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Mathematics
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Medicine
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Modern and Medieval Languages
Music
Following your UCAS application you are required to submit a harmony or counterpoint exercise, and / or an original composition; and an historical or analytical essay - preferably on music, but another subject is acceptable. We will provide information on how to submit this to all applicants.
Natural Sciences
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application to King's.
Philosophy
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application.
Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
You will not be asked to submit any written work as part of your application to King's.
Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion
Unless the subject matter is specified for your subject, any piece of work written for the subjects you study / studied at school or college will be fine, even if the work is not linked to the subject that you propose to study at Cambridge. In general, we would like to see work that best reflects your interests and abilities. We are deliberately flexible about the exact content so that you are free to select pieces that you would like us to read. You can submit work that is also being examined officially as coursework if you want to.
It is best to submit recent work; however, the essays you submit do not have to have been written in your final year at school. Essays written last academic year would be fine if you have not yet produced anything suitable this year. We do not expect gap-year students to produce new work - if you are on a gap year, please send essays from your final year at school.
We prefer essays to be marked by a member of your school staff. If submitting marked work is not possible for any reason, please add a brief explanatory note on the coversheet. School work must be original work, not re-written or corrected for Cambridge.
Unless specified in the information for your subject, essays may be either handwritten or typed. We prefer you to submit your work exactly as you produced it at school or college. Accordingly, please do not worry about such details as formatting or whether or not you included a bibliography.
Any essays you send should be pieces of work that you would feel happy to discuss in an interview. Your interviewers then decide whether or not to ask you about your written work.
There is no word limit. As a guide, and unless otherwise specified in your subject paragraph, most candidates submit essays that are between 1,000 and 3,000 words long. When selecting work, please note that we are looking for quality rather than quantity. If you submit work that is longer than 3,000 words, we are happy to receive it but do not guarantee that the interviewers will read all of it.
All essays must be written in English, unless we have requested them to be written in a foreign language that you are applying to study at Cambridge. It is best to submit work that was originally written in English, however we are happy to accept translations (either official translations or a translation by you) if you want to submit work originally written in another language. We are aware of differences in syllabus and methodology in different countries so you will not be disadvantaged if your essays are not written in the same style as those we receive from UK applicants.
If, for any reason, you are unable to submit any written work, it is in your interest to write to us before the deadline and to explain your circumstances.
Each piece of written work MUST be accompanied by a signed coversheet - available at the bottom of this page. If you are at school or able to be in contact with your previous school, a member of your school staff must certify the pieces you submit as your own work on the coversheet.
Please write on the coversheet any information about the context in which you wrote each essay which may be useful for the person reading it. For example, how long you were given to do it (1 hour / 3 days / 3 weeks etc.), whether or not you were allowed to use a dictionary (say, in the case of foreign language essays) or other resources. Anything else that you feel needs explaining about the work that you are sending can be explained in a note on the coversheet.
Please ensure that you keep a copy of your written work for your own reference.
Please number the pages and ensure that you have scanned them in the right order.
How to prepare your written work for submission:
1. Save and fill in a separate cover sheet for each piece of work you plan to submit. (You can find the coversheet below.)
2. Create a single PDF that has your cover sheet as the first page, then your written work.
3. Make sure you create a separate PDF for each piece of work you plan to submit.
4. Check the size of your files and reduce them if you need to. Files need to be up to 100MB or 15MB if you’re submitting an Architecture portfolio.
5. Name your PDF file following this format: Lastname_Firstname_UCAS ID_WrittenWork1. For example, Wilkinson_Joe_0123456789_WrittenWork1
How to create PDF files
If you need help creating your PDF file, instructions can be found on the internet. We've included some useful examples below (please note these sources are external to the University):
How to create a PDF file in Windows 10 (via How-to Geek)
How to scan to PDF on an Android phone (via Android Police)
How to create a PDF on a Mac (via How-to Geek)
How to scan to PDF on an iPhone or iPad (via Macworld)
We are asking for written work to be submitted digitally via an online form. We will provide a link to this form in an email to all applicants after 15th October.
We are unable to provide technical help with combining and compressing pdfs, please ask a parent/guardian/teacher/friend for help or use the links above. We only accept written work after the UCAS deadline 15th October 2024 and via our online upload form. If you send us written work before that deadline, we may ask you to send it again once the UCAS deadline has passed.
