Our College

Founded in 1965 as 'University College', ÐÔÊӽ紫ýwas initially only for postgraduate students, and was located in a single house with just a dozen rooms and a long, narrow garden that ran from Selwyn Gardens to Barton Road. From these humble beginnings, we have since grown to welcome mature undergraduates as well as postgraduates, and we are now the academic and physical home to more than 800 students, with over 400 accommodation rooms, a conference centre, performance venue, library, and lovingly tended gardens spread over a ten-acre site.

Like our students, our Fellowship spans many disciplines. Our President is a nanoscientist, our Senior Tutor is a geoarchaeologist, and our Bursar is a lawyer. We have 13 Tutors devoted to the pastoral care of our students, including two Tutors for our sizeable part-time student population, and Directors of Studies to guide students through their specific discipline.

Our Fellowship includes professors, researchers, authors, medics, scientists and more, from across the humanities and sciences. We provide one-on-one mentorship for nearly 200 PhD students. Our Junior Research Fellows share their cutting-edge work with us at seminars, lectures and our popular annual ÐÔÊӽ紫ýResearch Event.

We are inclusive and diverse, and our student body is drawn from 99 different countries. And because we are a mature and postgraduate College, our students come from interesting and often non-traditional backgrounds, with varied experiences in both academia and their professions. Our student association (WCSA) is actively engaged with College life and governance, sitting on committees, organising events, and even helping to refurbish our interiors.

Through our Tutorial Office, we provide support to our students who have earned a place at Cambridge with the means to take it up, giving just short of £1 million in student funding in the 2023-2024 academic year with the assistance of external partners.

We have dozens of academic visitors staying with us at any given time, as well as a large membership that includes alumni, academics, and those from the worlds of commerce, law, scientific research, medicine, and the humanities. Our Fine Arts Committee arranges contemporary art exhibitions year-round, and our music society holds concerts during term times, many featuring student musicians from the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Music Society.

Take a look around this website to find out more about us, follow us on social media, or better yet – come and visit, enjoy a lecture or a concert, dine with us, and learn about studying here as a Cambridge University postgraduate or undergraduate.