Why Study Chemical Engineering at Christ's?

Christ's usually welcomes a small, close-knit cohort of undergraduates, which means each student benefits from plenty of personalised guidance and individual attention.

Our graduates pursue further study or move into in various sectors, ranging from classical chemical engineering with major oil companies and public utilities, to financial services and management consulting. Some have opted to work in the food industry (for companies such as Mars), in consumer products (Unilever, P&G) or for well-known cosmetics companies.
 

Course content and structure (Oct 2023 entry)

The Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology course (or ‘tripos’) will be offered for the first time to October 2023 entrants.

Students applying in Oct 2022 will be able to apply directly for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (unlike in previous years where your entered Chemical Engineering in the second year via either Engineering or Physical Natural Sciences).

Please check the Department of Chemical Engineering website for more detail, once available.
 

Teaching

Christ’s College Director of Studies in Chemical Engineering is Dr Zachariah Bond. He can advise you on choosing options and arranges your twice-weekly ‘supervisions’. During these small tutorial teaching sessions (usually in groups of two) you receive support and tuition tailored to your personal work. As other universities usually tutor in much larger groups, this approach is a real advantage of a Cambridge education.

If you’d like to pursue interests beyond Chemical Engineering, you can attend almost any other lecture at the University. Many students take advantage of this to learn or improve a foreign language. And there are plenty of academic societies which hold interesting events and talks – look out for the Cambridge University Chemical Engineering Society (CUCES)
 

Student Q&A film
  Watch the Christ's student Q&A film

What do our students think?

Obviously we don't have any students on the new course yet, but Dave studies Chemical Engineering in the old format here at Christ's College. He has written about his experiences in his student profile.

There are also useful profiles to read by students studying

If you would like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.

 

How to apply

Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.

In your UCAS application, you should apply for:

  • Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (UCAS code to be announced at a later date)


Subjects: what do you need?

Required subjects for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology are Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics at A-level, IB Higher Level or equivalent. For applicants taking the International Baccalareate the Mathematics option should be Higher Level 'Analysis and Approaches'

  • If you’re doing A-levels, you can take Further Mathematics in place of Physics, as the FM mechanics modules offer better preparation for our course than most Physics modules. We recommend you opt for Further Mathematics modules in mechanics and pure maths rather than statistics and decision theory.

Want to study Further Mathematics but your school/college doesn't offer it? You might be able to get support through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme.
 

Pre-interview admissions assessment

All applicants for Chemical Engineering at Cambridge must sit a pre-interview admissions assessment.

  • Chemical Engineering applicants will sit the Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA)

The assessment takes places in your school, college or local testing centre, and you do the same assessment regardless of which college you apply to.

The NSAA assessments form part of our holistic admissions process and examine your academic abilities, knowledge-base and potential, rather than looking for any set score. When applying, please be aware of the registration and assessment dates.

All Chemical Engineering applicants applying in 2022 must:

  • Register to take the Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment (NSAA) by 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2022. How to be registered
    Please note that open centres may set an earlier deadline for accepting entries, and it is your responsibility to check if this applies at your centre.
     
  • Sit the relevant assessment in early November.

Information about the assessment, including sample papers and subject content, is available on the University Admissions website from March each year.

Interviews

If we invite you for interviews, these usually take place in late November or early December. Those invited for Cambridge interviews are normally interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with subject-relevant academics.

During the interviews we might ask you about topics you’re not familiar with. Our aim is to assess your innate engineering and/or scientific ability when working through unprepared questions and see how quickly you absorb new ideas. It’s not about catching you out. We help you work through unseen problems and ask you to think out loud as you tackle them, so we understand your individual approach.

For an idea of what to expect, please read the information and watch the short films on Cambridge admissions interviews. We also hold interviews in various locations overseas for international students

Offers

At Christ's we don’t have fixed quotas for places, so the number of students we admit in any year depends on the strengths of the applicants. In Chemical Engineering, we aim to admit at least two students each year.

We define the terms of each offer individually, but a typical offer for Chemical Engineering is:

  • A*A*A at A-level (you must pass any practical assessments for science subjects)
  • 42 points overall in the International Baccalaureate with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects
  • If you're taking another qualification, we expect you to be working at or close to the top of the mark range i.e.
    • Option Internationale du Baccalaureat: at least 17/20 overall, with 17 or 18 in relevant subjects
    • European Baccalaureate: at least 85% overall, with 9/10 in relevant subjects

Read about offer levels in other exam systems and international entrance requirements.

We require A-level students to complete and pass the practical assessment in science subjects.

If you will have finished school when you apply, read about post-qualification applications.
 

Helpful resources

Study at home resources MEI (Maths Education) resources for students studying at home; NRICH Maths at home
Advanced Mathematics Support Programme Support for A-level Maths and Further Maths material. See in particular A level Mathematics resources and A level Further Mathematics resources. If you are studying independently, Integral offers an online Further Mathematics course.
NRICH Mathematics and Advanced STEM NRICH Maths and Science material
I want to study Engineering Cambridge Engineering Department resource to help you to develop and practice problem-solving skills for Engineering-based courses at competitive universities. 
Isaac Physics  Website to help you develop problem-solving skills in Physics from GCSE to A-level through to the transition to university. See A-level resources and student support. There is also a mentoring scheme.
Nuffield Research Placements Year 12 opportunity to work on a summer research project. Strict eligibility criteria apply.
CamGuides Introducing the academic and information skills that you will need during your studies, as well as how and where you be working.

 

Come to an Open Day or Online Event

Online events: Our open days and events page advertises online opportunities as well as events you can attend in Cambridge (in normal times). These include our regular webinars from February until August, and our College Open Days in October, February and September.

Coming to a Christ's College Open Day is a good way to find out more about the College. You can get a feel for the place and ask current students and staff all about studying Chemical Engineering here.

 

Want to know more?

For a fuller picture of what the course involves, please take a look at Undergraduate Chemical Engineering admissions on the University website and visit the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology too.

If you have any other queries, please send them to admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll help however we can.

 

Undergraduate Admissions main page / Back to the subject list / How to apply / Why choose Christ's?