We welcome applicants from Hong Kong who would like to apply for a place here at Christ's College.
- Qualification requirements
- English Language requirements
- Application process
- Interviews in Hong Kong
- Student profiles
- Finance
- Where can I find out more?
| News |
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| We recommend registering interest for the Christ's International Webinars later in the year and we also run a regular webinar on the grounds and facilities here at Christ's College. See the events page for a list of what's coming up. |
"Being taught by the people you look up to, the ones who wrote the books you’re reading and studying is such a unique and amazing experience."
Qualification requirements
- The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE)
- International Baccalaureate
- Additional requirements
The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE)
| Typical grade requirement in your core subjects | Cambridge course |
|---|---|
|
Grades of 5 in all core subjects, and grades of 5* in one or two relevant core subjects. |
All courses |
If the course you are applying for requires A-Levels in Mathematics and Further Mathematics, you must take Extended Module 2 (Algebra and Calculus) Mathematics as part of your core. If you are applying for a course that requires Mathematics A Level only, we advise you to take either Extended Module 1 (Calculus and Statistics) or Extended Module 2 (Algebra and Calculus) Mathematics as part of your core. For some courses, A-Level Further Mathematics and/or Mathematics is desirable but not a requirement. In this case you might want to consider taking the appropriate Mathematics Extended Module.
| Grade requirements in your electives | Cambridge course |
|---|---|
|
5*55 Applicants may sometimes be asked to achieve 5** in a subject from your electives or the core. |
Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Archaeology, Architecture, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Classics, Education, English, Geography, History, History and Modern Languages, History and Politics, History of Art, Human, Social and Political Sciences, Land Economy, Law, Linguistics, Modern and Medieval Languages, Music, Philosophy, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion |
|
5*5*5 Applicants may sometimes be asked to achieve 5** in a subject from your electives or the core. |
Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Natual Sciences |
When choosing electives, prospective applicants should consult the Christ's subject pages as well as the relevant university course page to identify close subject matches.
Combined Science can provide appropriate preparation, but for many courses we will want you to take Biology, Chemistry and/or Physics as individual electives.
‘Applied’ Category A electives (such as Health Management and Social Care, Integrated Science Technology and Living, Tourism and Hospitality Studies) and Category B electives don’t provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. However, if required/highly desirable subjects are covered by the Core and other Electives, applicants taking such electives as their seventh or eighth HKDSE subject would be considered.
Category C electives can form part of a Cambridge offer, especially where there is a language element to the course. The typical offer level for these courses would be an ‘A’.
International Baccalaureate
Our typical entry requirement for students taking the International Baccalaureate is 42, with 776 at Higher Level.
Additional requirements
Offers for Mathematics include STEP II and III. Further information about STEP and preparation support is available on the Maths page.
Many courses also require an Admissions Assessment which, depending on the course, you sit on a specific date in late October / early November or at the time of your interview.
English Language requirements
If English is not your native language, in most cases students from Hong Kong will need to take an English Language qualification such as IELTS Academic or TOEFL and achieve scores as specified on the University website.
If you have already taken an English language qualification when you apply, please include this in your UCAS application, and include the certificate in your transcript. It is not a problem if you are not able to take an English Language qualification by the time you apply. In this case you may be asked to achieve the specified scores in one of these qualifications if we make you an offer, as part of the offer conditions . You would have from January (when you receive your offer) until August to take the test and send us the results.
Do bear in mind that for non-native English speakers who will need a visa to study in the UK, specific certificates are normally needed (e.g. IELTS Academic, TOEFL).
Application process
The application deadline is 18:00 UK time on 15 October each year for students who would like to be interviewed in Hong Kong.
We encourage all applicants to read the information about applying on the relevant subject page, as well as the how to apply page and the additional application support well in advance of 15 October, as there are a number of parts to the application procedure which may take time to organise and complete:
- For students from Hong Kong, there is more than one application form.
- You will need a referee who can provide a reference and predicted grades for any exams that you have not yet taken.
- You will also need to arrange for your school to provide a transcript
- If you have a late October / early November Admissions Assessment (needed for some of the courses), you will need to make sure you are registered for this by the deadline. See details on the Admissions Assessments page.
- There are also some smaller details that it is worth being aware of, such as the need to upload a photo.
On 20 September Christ's publishes the current applicants section, which will then support you once you have submitted a valid application.
Interviews in Hong Kong
We interview the majority of applicants, though not every applicant is selected for interview.
Most of our applicants from Hong Kong choose to be interviewed in Hong Kong, and this works well. In most subjects, there is no disadvantage to being seen by our Overseas Interview team; we receive reports from this team, and if a report suggests that some aspect of your application requires urgent clarification, we will arrange to talk to you ourselves by Skype. If you are applying for a subject that requires an 'at-interview' assessment, this will also be organised for you when you go for interview, and details of the time and place of your admissions assessment will be sent with your invitation to interview.
We do, however, prefer to see applicants for Architecture, Classics, History of Art and Music in person and so we ask applicants for these subjects to apply for interview in Cambridge,UK.
You will be asked about your preferred interview location when you complete the additional questionnaire(s). Interview dates, once available, will be published at the bottom of the overseas interviews page.
Student profiles
Belinda and Oscar are from Hong Kong and have written about studying at Christ's in their student profiles:
"If I were to give one piece of advice, it would be to just be yourself (even if that sounds clichéd)."
Finance
In addition to the Christ’s College International Awards, at Christ's we currently offer the Li Ka Shing Foundation Lord Sandberg Memorial Scholarship for offer holders resident in Hong Kong.
There are also university-wide Prince Philip Scholarships for permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (details are on the Prince Philip Scholarship website), and offer-holders from Hong Kong who are in financial need may apply for support from the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust.
Where can I find out more?
Do explore the international students section in particular, and make sure you read the relevant subject page. We encourage you to register your interest for the Christ's Interational Webinars so that you get an email when we open booking, and you may like to also attend other online events.
Please also feel free to email Kristy, Jan and Ellie in Christ's Admissions Office (admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk) with any questions. We'll be pleased to hear from you!
"I found the College to be visually beautiful but also quite cosy and shielded away from the busy streets outside, which meant that it felt like my "home away from home" much sooner than I had expected."