Will anything offset my 2.2 for a Cambridge application?

For an MPhil you want to have a research idea in mind and contact a potential supervisor before you put your application in. I understand that it is early to be submitting it now but soon a lot of the staff will be taking their holidays over summer. If you want to submit early in the cycle then just get that squared away as soon as you can.

Please stop. I repeat, you have no idea what you're talking about.

The MPhil at Cam is just a taught Master's, not a research degree. They call it an MPhil, the same way St Andrews call some of theirs an MLitt. They have only a short dissertation of 10-15k words and applicants should not be contacting potential supervisors.

Since most MPhils are research degrees it was a fair mistake - which has been corrected. And based upon the original information the OP was doing a Masters in Engineering - so the advice was not wrong. Not all Masters at Cambridge are categorised this way which is why the mistake was made. I do know what I am talking about when it comes to Masters - you are not the only one able to offer advice on a subject because you are not the only one to have completed a Masters. Everyone has a different experiences and mine is just as valid as your own.

The original information was the MPhil at Cambridge, which is a taught degree. It is alas no longer a "fair mistake" when you are repeatedly posting misinformation. You don't have the requisite knowledge on this topic -- "different experiences" are quite beside the point. The course does not require a 1st, is not a research degree, and, crucially, is sensitive to circumstances. We are on a public forum -- thousands of guests come to these threads from search engines looking for helpful advice. You ought to think twice before posting false and pessimistic 'advice'. But I'll leave you to it; I've said more than enough that readers will know to ignore your nonsense, and I too have at this point outstayed my welcome. All the best.

Drop the mock-legalese. Nothing you described is "universal" and your reply here is beside the point. It goes without saying that Cambridge, or any other university, is not going to formally assess mitigating cirumcstances from a prior university, but they may take them into account when considering an application, as I have experienced (and received an offer), and which was clearly my point above. Departments don't simply assume that the support received perfectly balanced the health issues; that would be quite silly. Many students do not even apply for support and the OP did not mention what support he received. But from the sounds of it, his grades were clearly affected by the surgeries yet he subsquently passed the tests with flying colours for a graduate scheme, so more than likely the support, if there was any, was insufficient and his result of 55% did not reflect his true, healthy ability.

I think it is best asking Oxford because no one on this site can really tell you what is going to happen with mitigation from the last couple of years.

Hi all,
I graduated from Imperial in 2019 with a 2.2 BEng (~55%) and am intending to apply to Cambridge for the MPhil in Manufacturing. Before dismissing me as delusional please hear me out:
I have a letter from my tutor outlining the fact that I had quite severe medical issues during my degree. Without going into too much detail I underwent a 3 hour long open bone reconstruction surgery on my writing shoulder in March, my arm was immobilised for 2 months after and I had a lengthy prescription of morphine that I ended up not taking as exams approached. Oh and this happened in both my 2nd and 3rd year so suffice to say I did not do (or feel) too well.
Also, since graduating I have been working at one of the top engineering companies internationally as a Manufacturing Engineer, I actually applied on the graduate scheme but was offered entry straight into a professional role following the Assessment Day. I am a member of the IET and am working towards professional registration, I have taken professional project management training and have had significant work experience in big budget manufacturing projects.
I have really tried to put my grades behind me, but I'm worried about how (if?) it'll affect my application. I intend to put all of the above in my application when I make it.
So to summarise, does anyone have any advice/experience on:
How much Cambridge will take into account medical circumstances affecting grades?
How much Cambridge will take into account relevant work experience (much more relevant to the Masters than my degree was fwiw) to offset bad grades?
Thanks for reading this spiel,
justanotherbloke