Undergraduate Study
Choosing what and where to study as an undergraduate can be a complicated business. You’re investing a lot of time and effort in your university degree so wherever you go you want to be sure that your chosen university offers you the teaching and resources that will allow you to succeed at the highest level. These pages tell you about undergraduate study at the University of Cambridge in general, and at Caius in particular. We are confident that we can offer you the very best.
There are 29 Colleges which admit undergraduates in the University of Cambridge. The Colleges are responsible for admitting undergraduates to the University and no student can take University courses without being admitted by a College. A College is where you live when studying at the University of Cambridge, but it is much more than a hall of residence; it's also where you'll do a lot of your studying and socialising. Your College community will include undergraduate and research students, lecturers ad other senior research staff. You're sure to make friends with students from other Colleges as well. Beyond the Colleges, the University has departments and faculties which arrange lectures and provide facilities (such as laboratories and libraries) for all students, regardless of the college to which they belong. The University also sets examinations and awards degrees.
Cambridge is a fantastic place to be a student. If you have an image of Cambridge, it’s probably one of ancient buildings, immaculate green lawns and people punting down a willow-fringed river. To an extent this is an accurate image – the city is stunningly beautiful – but there’s a lot more to it than that. Cambridge is a fascinating mix: a medieval town that is the birthplace of some of the modern world's most significant scientific advances; a place with high-technology science parks and world-renowned libraries and museums; a bustling city scattered with tranquil green spaces. It’s small enough for you not to have to waste time and money on getting around, but large enough to offer you all the benefits of city life: pubs and clubs, music venues which attract big-name bands, multiplex cinemas, cafés and restaurants, a thriving central market and a good range of shops. It’s a vibrant and exciting city with a friendly and welcoming feel.
When you do want to escape you can choose between the big city and the countryside. Central London is just 45 minutes on a direct non-stop train service which runs every half hour. Alternatively, the countryside is very close with pleasant walking and cycle routes from the city centre to villages like Coton and Madingley, and along the river to the pubs and Orchard Tea Gardens at Grantchester. Most students make at least one visit to neighbouring Ely to see the magnificent Norman cathedral and to experience the famous fenland landscape.
Three tiers of library provision – University, department and College – put extensive resources at your disposal. Your College library contains many of the most commonly used books in all subjects. We think that Caius has the finest College library in Cambridge and Oxford. Your department or faculty library provides a more specialist collection for particular subjects. And if you still can’t find what you need, the University Library is one of the country's six legal deposit libraries which receive a copy of every book published in the UK. It also has enormous holdings of material published overseas. The University Library contains around seven million books, plus thousands of current periodicals, maps, manuscripts and other documents, and provides access to an extensive range of electronic sources of information.
All undergraduates have access to the computing resources they need for their academic work. All Colleges and many departments have their own computer suites, and nearly all student rooms are connected to the University Data Network, linking departments, Colleges and central services to each other and to the internet. In addition, wireless hotspots are available throughout the University and Colleges. If you want to gain or upgrade your IT skills, the Computing Service offers a year-round programme of free courses ranging from introductory to advanced level. See here for more details.
Whatever degree you are doing, you can also learn a language from scratch or improve your existing skills at the University's Language Centre. Self-study resources are available in over 150 languages and taught courses are also run in several languages each year. A team of advisers can help you to plan your learning path. You can also join additional programmes, such as the Conversation Exchange scheme. Browse our language resources website to find out more about how the Centre can help all Cambridge students fulfil their language-learning goals and needs. Diploma and Certificate courses in languages are also available to all students. More information can be found in the Modern & Medieval Languages pages.
Cambridge is extraordinarily fortunate in having eight specialist museums and collections, as well as the University Botanic Garden, all of which are open to the public. These provide extensive resources for study and research, or simply for enjoyment. Most of the fascinating collections, ranging from dinosaurs to modern art, rock samples to Rembrandt, were pioneered in the nineteenth century and have developed and expanded since then. Even if none of them relates directly to your course, a look at the whale skeletons, classical sculpture or the totem poles from Vancouver has to add something to your university experience! Details of the University museums are available here.
One of the most exciting things about Cambridge is that you will be taught by people who are experts in their fields. But it won’t just be a case of sitting and listening to them in huge lecture theatres: the Cambridge teaching system and the College way of life mean that you will come into contact with these world-class authorities on a regular and informal basis: at the coffee break, over lunch and in supervisions. Your Director of Studies, a senior member of your College, is there to arrange this small-group teaching which enables you to explore your subject with experts, in depth. That’s what the community of scholars is all about.
The skills and talents you develop during your degree course will help you in employment after you graduate. If as a student you want to be sure you’re making the most of the opportunities on offer at Cambridge, there’s a specially designed interactive guide on our website that identifies the skills you need, and the resources available to you to develop them.
Cambridge graduates of all disciplines are faced with numerous opportunities after completing their studies. In fact Cambridge has one of the highest proportions of graduates entering graduate-level employment or further study in the country. See our careers pages for more information.
Our graduates are highly employable and sought after by employers: large and small, local and international, conventional and unconventional. The Careers Service promotes more vacancies each year than there are Cambridge graduates seeking employment. Opportunities after Cambridge are wide and numerous and over a third of first degree graduates continue with some form of postgraduate study or vocational qualification either in this country or abroad.
Don’t worry that the degree you choose to study at university might limit you to one career path. Any good degree from a world-class university opens doors to many different careers. Law students can, and do, become journalists, musicians become bankers, historians become lawyers, economists become civil servants, and engineers become teachers. The majority of employers will recruit students with any degree discipline. Destination statistics and details of the employment sectors our recent graduates have entered are available here.
Cambridge courses are challenging, rigorous and respected all over the world. The flexibility, teaching style and demands of your degree course are of interest to employers. Employers also value all your other achievements such as the extra transferable skills gained through involvement in clubs and societies, sporting teams and vacation employment.