Oxbridge Psychology Application

1

Hey everyone!

I want to study psychology undergrad at Cambridge but I don't do bio and maths. I do psychology, sociology and economics. Does anyone know which colleges in Cambridge don't need bio and math as a necessary entry requirement to apply? I got a high A in math and bio, them and physics in my IGCSEs so will that help? Will I still be able to produce a competitive application if I get the A* A* A entry requirements, I've done an EPQ as well?
I am on a gap year so will be applying in September with my actual grades. Any advice on this would help!

Thank you! :smile:

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by lonesome-chime

Hey everyone!

I want to study psychology undergrad at Cambridge but I don't do bio and maths. I do psychology, sociology and economics. Does anyone know which colleges in Cambridge don't need bio and math as a necessary entry requirement to apply? I got a high A in math and bio, them and physics in my IGCSEs so will that help? Will I still be able to produce a competitive application if I get the A* A* A entry requirements, I've done an EPQ as well?
I am on a gap year so will be applying in September with my actual grades. Any advice on this would help!

Thank you! :smile:

From https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/psychological-behavioural-sciences-ba-hons:

"To apply to any of our Colleges for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, you will need A levels/IB Higher Levels (or the equivalent) in:
• Mathematics OR Biology"

As you've done neither Mathematics nor Biology, you don't meet the entry criteria for any college (according to the above). Sorry. :frown:

Reply 2

barbed-surprise

1

Original post by lonesome-chime

Hey everyone!
I want to study psychology undergrad at Cambridge but I don't do bio and maths. I do psychology, sociology and economics. Does anyone know which colleges in Cambridge don't need bio and math as a necessary entry requirement to apply? I got a high A in math and bio, them and physics in my IGCSEs so will that help? Will I still be able to produce a competitive application if I get the A* A* A entry requirements, I've done an EPQ as well?
I am on a gap year so will be applying in September with my actual grades. Any advice on this would help!
Thank you! :smile:

Hey! I'm about to finish my gap year and start at Cambridge studying PBS this year. For 2024 entry there were some colleges that didn't require biology or maths (I applied to one of these as I hadn't studied either) but they've just changed the entry grades for 2025. I'd recommend emailing the director of studies for different colleges that didnt require bio or maths last year (off the top of my head downing, magdalane, st cats, pembroke, queens, selwyn) and see if you could be considered with economics instead of maths. Feel free to dm me! I was in your exact position last year xx

Reply 3

melancollege

Universities Forum Helper

18

Original post by barbed-surprise

Hey! I'm about to finish my gap year and start at Cambridge studying PBS this year. For 2024 entry there were some colleges that didn't require biology or maths (I applied to one of these as I hadn't studied either) but they've just changed the entry grades for 2025. I'd recommend emailing the director of studies for different colleges that didnt require bio or maths last year (off the top of my head downing, magdalane, st cats, pembroke, queens, selwyn) and see if you could be considered with economics instead of maths. Feel free to dm me! I was in your exact position last year xx

One caveat is that I would recommend emailing the admissions director(s) of any colleges rather than the directors of studies. It's not unheard of for directors of studies to not be familiar with any changes to entrance requirements. I've worked quite a few outreach events such as open days where the admissions directors have had to correct directors of studies. I think it was only fairly recently that for Natural Sciences the entry requirements changed to specifically require Maths and it took DoS's a while to get the memo.

Note one thing that influenced the change was the fact that almost all successful applicants had Maths and it was particularly useful to the degree. I don't know if that's the case with the change to PBS entry requirements.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 4

sophia.53653

4

Original post by lonesome-chime

Hey everyone!
I want to study psychology undergrad at Cambridge but I don't do bio and maths. I do psychology, sociology and economics. Does anyone know which colleges in Cambridge don't need bio and math as a necessary entry requirement to apply? I got a high A in math and bio, them and physics in my IGCSEs so will that help? Will I still be able to produce a competitive application if I get the A* A* A entry requirements, I've done an EPQ as well?
I am on a gap year so will be applying in September with my actual grades. Any advice on this would help!
Thank you! :smile:

all colleges require a-level bio or maths this year

Reply 5

Evanisstruggle

4

Would it be worthwhile taking a gap year to sit A-Level biology or maths? I'm currently in the same position and considering doing a gap year to study maths then applying...

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

Original post by Evanisstruggle

Would it be worthwhile taking a gap year to sit A-Level biology or maths? I'm currently in the same position and considering doing a gap year to study maths then applying...

i wouldn’t recommend cambridge psychology tbh, both ucl and kings have better departments, and many people end up declining for ucl. it’s not worth it for psychology unless you’re only there for the prestige

Reply 7

melancollege

Universities Forum Helper

18

Original post by Anonymous

i wouldn’t recommend cambridge psychology tbh, both ucl and kings have better departments, and many people end up declining for ucl. it’s not worth it for psychology unless you’re only there for the prestige

Do you have a source for the claim that many people decline for UCL? I haven't seen that before.

Reply 8

Anonymous #1

Original post by melancollege

Do you have a source for the claim that many people decline for UCL? I haven't seen that before.

i currently go to ucl and several people there have told me that they declined oxbridge. this is specifically in psychology due to the department being a lot bigger and having better recognition within the field. an tangible example of the difference in facilities are the fmri machines (i think cambridge/oxbridge have 1-2, whilst ucl has 8). we also have very established connections with research facilities such as the francis crick institute, gatsby etc, and actually i know of several cambridge academics who come up to london to do research with our facilities. i believe francis madden on youtube also has videos discussing the differences in studying at both those universities, and specifically how the cambridge course was less research intensive and more essay -writing compared to ucl, which is a big factor for a lot of people.
another reason that i declined cambridge for ucl is that cambridge doesn’t have a DClinPsych program, and because clinical psychology is so competitive, it really helps your application to already be in the department.
i think it depends on what you want to do with your degree, if you aim to go into a corportate/applied role such as marketing, id recommend cambridge as it is more prestigious outside the field, but if you want to stay in psychology i’d highly recommend ucl as it’s generally regarded as one of the best departments in the world for psychology/neuroscience (ranked 1st in europe and 2nd in the world for neuroscience and behaviour, based entirely on quantitative data relating to scientific papers - 2023 National Taiwan University report)

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