Skip navigation
You are viewing our beta course page.

Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

  • CertHE
  • 1 Years
  • Full-time
  • 09/2026
  • Undergraduate
Open application
More about University of Cambridge

Course options

2025-20262026-2027
Apply

Course summary

A free and fully-funded one-year residential course designed to offer a stepping stone to Cambridge for those who have experienced educational disadvantage. If you want to study courses in the Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences, are ordinarily resident in the UK, and circumstances have prevented you from realising your academic potential, this is an opportunity not to miss.

On the Foundation Year, you can expect a challenging academic curriculum in the arts, humanities and social sciences. This offers the best possible preparation for the rigours of a Cambridge degree course by broadening and deepening your knowledge and understanding as well as introducing you to the ways students learn at Cambridge. Foundation Year students will also benefit from being part of the University, including being part of a College community and having full access to all the University’s societies and facilities to pursue your interests.

Finally, you will gain a nationally recognised Certificate of Higher Education on finishing the course and have the option to continue to a number of suitable undergraduate degree courses at Cambridge.

This course is not accepting applications at this time. Please contact the provider to find out more.

This course is not accepting applications for deferred entry.

Ways to study this course

Campuses

  • Open application

Study options

  • CertHE • Full-time • 1 Years

Start dates

  • 09/2026

Apply by
14 January

This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.

Application codes

Course code:
FYC1
Institution code:
C05
Campus name:
Open application
Campus Code:
9
Points of Entry:
Foundation

University of Cambridge has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?

How to apply

This course is not accepting applications at this time. Please contact the provider to find out more.

Apply by
14 January

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
FYC1
Institution code:
C05
Campus name:
Open application
Campus Code:
9

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Foundation

International applicants

This course is not open to international applicants. Please see website for eligibility: https://www.cam.ac.uk/foundationyear.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

UCAS Tariff - 120 points

Academic points only.

This course has eligibility restrictions. Please find these on our website.

Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.

Additional entry requirements

Admission tests
Institutions Own Test (IOT)
Applicants will be required to take a written assessment if they are shortlisted for interview. Please check the website for further details (www.cam.ac.uk/foundationyear).

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

We adopt a balanced and holistic approach to admissions. We assess all applicants individually, meaning we can adjust our offers to take account of individual circumstances. You can find out more about the minimum offer level for each course on the course pages. Many offers will be made at this level, but sometimes we make an offer that is more challenging to achieve. This is to better ensure that you will be able to cope with the academic level of the course and really thrive at Cambridge.

Learn more on the University of Cambridge website

Historical entry grades data BETA

This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Data from:
This course
Date range:
2022-2024

Grades held by accepted students

For University of Cambridge, the top and bottom 5% of student grades have been removed from these calculations. This change helps to remove any extraordinary circumstances that could impact the data. Learn more here .
ABB Most common
  1. A*AA
  2. Highest grades
  3. BBC
  4. Lowest grades

Offer rate for UK school & college leavers

22% Students aged 17/18 who applied to this course were offered a place.

How do you compare?

See how students with your grades have been accepted onto this course in the past.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

You will not be charged tuition fees for the Foundation Year. However, if you continue to study at Cambridge by progressing to a degree course, you will need to pay the tuition fee for that course.

Like this page