17.12.24
St Catharine's is a welcoming and supportive environment for students from outside the UK. If you are applying to Cambridge from the European Union or beyond, there are a few additional things you will need to consider when making your application. Please feel free to get in touch directly with the Admissions Office if you have any unanswered questions.
A unique educational opportunity
St Catharine's welcomes applications from candidates from outside the UK. There are no limits on numbers (maximum or minimum) of such applicants we can admit, so you would be assessed solely on you academic potential alongside all other applicants. (The only exception to this is Medicine - for which the University has an overall maximum non-UK quota. Please see the our Medicine subject page for details,)
We are used to assessing applicants who have taken, or are soon to take, exams in a wide range of examination systems. In general, should we decide to make you a conditional offer, we would usually set this with reference to the University's typical offer levels listed here. If you are unclear about what qualifications we accept, you should contact the College Admissions Office for advice.
At St Catharine's we interview all our applicants - UK and International - online. International students who are made an offer of a place will need to produce evidence of their ability to pay the fees for the course, before their place can be confirmed.
In addition, you should read the University's website for guidance on how to apply.
What academic qualifications do we accept?
St Catharine's is happy to consider applications from candidates taking any of the academic qualifications listed on the University's main website. Especially useful are the A-Z list of qualifications by country and the general entry requirements pages. We would usually require applicants to meet the levels suggested in those pages.
English language requirements
During the admissions process (especially the interview and admissions assessment), we will assess the English language proficiency (reading, writing, speaking, listening) of international applicants whose first language is not English. We will then decide whether any additional qualification in English is required. We may also need to do this for visa reasons. If an English language requirement is set, it will be one of the University's typical requirements - see this link. We try to be flexible - for example, if you are taking two relevant qualifications (e.g. IELTS and IB English HL) then we would ask you to achieve your offer in either of teh two.
You do not need to have achieved this qualification by the time you apply, and indeed many have not - for many international applicants it is made part of their conditional offer, so must be completed by the August after they apply. Having the qualification when you apply will not affect your chances of being called for interview.
Applicants who wish to defer entry to undertake national service in their home country
In certain circumstances we will consider applicants who wish to defer for two years - in the past this has usually, but not always, been applicants from Singapore who are expected to undertake national service. If you are in this situation, then you should apply via UCAS to defer for one year, but also email the St Catharine's Admissions Office to advise us of your intentions. Then, if you are successful, we would make you an offer deferred for one year in the first instance, but then move your entry year one further year into the future once this becomes possible in the UCAS system.
