Can you get into Cambridge for Maths without an offer?

So I am a year 13 studying Maths, Further Maths and Physics. I intend to do Maths at university and applied to Oxford, Warwick and a few AAA universities. However, I made a few fatal errors on the MAT test, so I was not given an Oxford offer.

So I have been practicing STEP questions (As my Warwick offer could depend on it) and I am actually not finding it too bad, I even did a timed mock of 2017 STEP 3 paper and found my self relatively capable of working through the questions and managed to get a mid grade 2.

So I was wondering, if I were to get A*A*A* (which I need for Warwick anyway) and then get grade 1s or Ss on STEP 2 and 3. Would contacting Cambridge be worth it. Someone from my school didn't even apply to Cambridge or even to do Maths, but he got full marks on his Maths and Further Maths A level and offered him a place.

*Just wanna make it clear that I in no way assume I will make those grades, this is all hypothetical.... unless things go really well in the summer

So I am a year 13 studying Maths, Further Maths and Physics. I intend to do Maths at university and applied to Oxford, Warwick and a few AAA universities. However, I made a few fatal errors on the MAT test, so I was not given an Oxford offer.

So I have been practicing STEP questions (As my Warwick offer could depend on it) and I am actually not finding it too bad, I even did a timed mock of 2017 STEP 3 paper and found my self relatively capable of working through the questions and managed to get a mid grade 2.

So I was wondering, if I were to get A*A*A* (which I need for Warwick anyway) and then get grade 1s or Ss on STEP 2 and 3. Would contacting Cambridge be worth it. Someone from my school didn't even apply to Cambridge or even to do Maths, but he got full marks on his Maths and Further Maths A level and offered him a place.

*Just wanna make it clear that I in no way assume I will make those grades, this is all hypothetical.... unless things go really well in the summer

Someone from my school didn't even apply to Cambridge or even to do Maths, but he got full marks on his Maths and Further Maths A level and offered him a place.

When I applied for uni (2017 entry) there was the possibility of something similar happening. On results day Cambridge college let our school know that they had spare places, and if anyone was interested in going there but didn't apply first time round, they could come for an interview with the possibility of an offer. I don't know if they've done it before this or are likely to do it again, but it is similar to what you'd like.

Given that the number of acceptances is usually about half the number of offers given, it's entirely possible for there to be some space left if the STEP paper was particularly hard.
That said, that involves getting at least a 1,1 in STEP on a hard year.

No, this didn't happen. It's absolutely not a thing.



No, they can and do allow people with near misses to take up their place. And there's the summer pool too.

There will be no "places left over".


Posted from TSR Mobile

No, this didn't happen. It's absolutely not a thing.



No, they can and do allow people with near misses to take up their place. And there's the summer pool too.

There will be no "places left over".


Posted from TSR Mobile

In all fairness, this did happen a while ago (6-8 years), but I have been told by teachers of multiple cases where Cambridge have contacted someone on results day due to exceptional results. I don't mean A*A*A* good, I mean like full marks good.

When I applied for uni (2017 entry) there was the possibility of something similar happening. On results day Cambridge college let our school know that they had spare places, and if anyone was interested in going there but didn't apply first time round, they could come for an interview with the possibility of an offer. I don't know if they've done it before this or are likely to do it again, but it is similar to what you'd like.

Alternatively, you may consider taking a gap year and applying again with results if you want to go to Cambridge. But you still risk not getting in, and you would need to reject your existing offers.

No, this didn't happen. It's absolutely not a thing.



No, they can and do allow people with near misses to take up their place. And there's the summer pool too.

There will be no "places left over".


Posted from TSR Mobile

If someone were to get A*A*A* and grade S or 1 in STEP 2 and 3, would that be a high likeliness of an offer, or would the reapplication not take into account your A level results at all?

Well A*A*A* exceeds the typical offer, as does S,1 so such a reapplicant would of course be very competitive.

Or if they could guarantee an offer.

Alright thanks, I feel like I'm bombarding you with questions, but one final question, if you already sat your A levels, already had your results, then applied. Would that be on an unconditional, ask you to sit A levels and STEP again, or ask you to sit only STEP again.

It can depend. I know someone who applied with S,S,S and their offer required another S. They achieved it...

Posted from TSR Mobile

In all fairness, this did happen a while ago (6-8 years), but I have been told by teachers of multiple cases where Cambridge have contacted someone on results day due to exceptional results such as full marks across the board (could have been exaggerating for story telling purposes though).

It's either people misunderstanding situations, or it's people plain making up stories