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How to Apply

The Application Procedure for entry in October 2013, or deferred entry in 2014

 

The Application Process

All applicants to Cambridge must submit their UCAS forms by October 15th. Earlier deadlines apply for some applicants from overseas and applicants for choral or organ awards.       

Shortly after submitting your UCAS application, you will be asked by e-mail to complete an online Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ).

For admission to the University of Cambridge, it is necessary to be accepted by a College. You cannot apply to more than one Cambridge College, but you can make an open application if you cannot decide on a college.

Timetable for UK/EU applicants

For entry in October 2013, or deferred entry in 2014,  you must submit a UCAS form before the closing date of 15th October 2012. This early date for Cambridge applications is necessary due to both the intensive scrutiny each application receives, setting academic achievement within context, and the organisation entailed in holding interviews for more than 12,000 applicants in December, prior to offers being made in January

UCAS: Rosehill, New Barn Lane, Cheltenham, Glos GL52 3LZ, or on-line at www.ucas.com or by email: app.req@ucas.ac.uk

For application purposes the Clare College Campus Code is C, the Institution Name is CAM, and the Institution Code is CO5.

The Extenuating Circumstances Form has replaced the Cambridge Special Access Scheme.  A ECF form should be submitted by 15th October 2012.

Choral or Organ applications

• If you wish to apply for a Choral or Organ Award you will need to complete a Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA) as well as submitting a UCAS application.

Please note: The deadline for entry in 2011 and deferred entry in 2012 for a Choral Award application is Monday 5th September 2011. And, the deadline for entry in 2012 and deferred entry in 2013 for an Organ Award application is 1st September 2011. Late applications will not be considered.

For applicants living outside the EU

• If you are living outside the EU, you should complete a Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA) as well as the UCAS application in the same way as a UK/EU applicant has to. This applies to all applicants who are living outside the EU and is regardless of fee status or nationality.

Please note: Applicants from outside the EU wishing to be interviewed overseas must submit their application by the earlier date of Monday 19th September 2011. An application fee will be retained for applicants outside the EU in order to meet the additional costs associated with interviewing applicants in a number of overseas countries.

When we have received your application....

• Clare College Admissions Office will write to you; in addition to interviews, we may ask candidates to take a short test and/or to send in examples of school or college work. We will write to candidates in good time before the interviews to ask them to send in their material - please do not send in anything before it is requested.

• Clare College interviews will likely take place from Monday 3rd December through to Wednesday 12th December. (In some cases, we may feel that it is NOT appropriate to carry a candidate's application through to the interview stage). It is very important that candidates keep themselves available during the interview period. If you have other commitments during that time, you should inform the College at least a month in advance. We will try, but cannot guarantee, to accommodate them. We will notify candidate's about interviews by post and via email. Although we are extremely busy at this time, and generally request that candidates do not contact us, in the exceptional circumstance that you have not heard from us by 26th November 2012, please do get in touch to make sure that no letters or emails have gone astray.

• In the first week of January 2013, we will write to candidates who have been interviewed to tell them whether or not we have been able to make them an offer.

• For those candidates who were unsuccessful at interview, we will send to their school/college (with their permission only) a brief report and breakdown of their performance at interview. This report should reach the school/college towards the end of January.

• Some good candidates to whom we are unable to make an offer will have their applications placed in the Inter-collegiate Pool. This is where they will be available to other Colleges still seeking candidates. Those thus placed in the Pool may be called for interview by one or more Colleges. Only one journey will be necessary at this time, but candidates should try to make themselves available if called. Pooled candidates will usually know the final outcome of their applications by late January.

• Any candidate whose offer of a place is conditional upon STEP grades (Mathematics only) must be entered by their examination centre (school) by the official deadline, which is given in the Undergraduate Prospectus.

• Finally, in mid-August 2013, when most A2 level and other final school examination results have been published, we will write to all candidates who have met their conditional offers to confirm their places.