International Applicant FAQs

A transcript is a record of your performance in internal high school assessments over the years you have studied there. Your school should be able to provide you with an official transcript on request. You should use the flowchart here to determine whether or not you need to provide one.

We are able to accept a wide range of international qualifications. Some school leaving qualifications, however, are not considered adequate preparation for the standard of study required at Cambridge, or for study in particular subjects. Applicants who have taken these qualifications will need to supplement them with others, such as A-levels, the International Baccalaureate, APs, or a suitable combination of these.

Please see this page here for details about the usual Cambridge entrance requirements for different international examination systems (scroll down the page and click on the name of the country in which you took or are taking your school leaving qualifications).

If you are still unsure whether your qualifications are sufficient for a valid application for your chosen subject, or if your qualifications are not listed here, then please contact the Academic Office for advice.

If you are currently studying at a university outside the UK, then you are eligible to apply to Cambridge. It is important to note, however, that it is not possible to transfer credits from your current course to Cambridge; if you are successful in making an undergraduate application to Cambridge then you will have to start here at the beginning of the course and complete the full three or four years (depending on subject) in order to graduate.

If you are currently studying at a UK university (and not expecting to complete your degree this year), then we will not normally accept an application from you in the current round.

If you have already completed an undergraduate degree, or expect to have completed one by the end of the current academic year, then you may be eligible to apply to Magdalene as an affiliated student.

You do not need to have completed an English language qualification (such as IELTS or TOEFL) before you make your application.

A good standard in spoken and written English is expected at the time of interview and, to be competitive, overseas applicants should be able comfortably to achieve the minimum English language requirements at the time of interview. Formal certification of English language ability, however, is not required at that stage.

Most overseas students for whom English is not their first language may be asked to achieve a certain grade in an acceptable English language assessment as part of their offer conditions. Typically this will be IELTS or TOEFL. The usual IELTS condition is 7.5 overall with at least 7.0 in each section. The usual TOEFL Internet Based Test (IBT) condition is an overall score of at least 110, including at least 25 or above in each element. Occasionally a slightly higher level may be required.

The University’s minimum English language requirements are detailed here.

If you are applying for a subject with a pre-registration required assessment, then it is essential that you are registered with an authorised test centre by the respective deadline. Please visit the Cambridge Admissions Office page for further information.

There are authorised test centres worldwide. Please note there may be an administration fee charged by the authorised centre in your country.

Please also check the start time of your pre-registration required assessment with your test centre, as this can vary slightly depending on location.

If you are applying for a subject with a Cambridge College registered assessment, then there is no need to register. Arrangements will be made by the College for you to sit the assessment.

Applicants for interview in Cambridge should consult this page to see if they need to submit additional written work. The requirement varies from subject to subject.

Magdalene currently accepts 2-3 incoming exchange students from partner institutions as part of successor schemes to the Erasmus+ programme. We usually have two students in residence studying Modern and Medieval Languages, and sometimes one studying History and Modern Languages or Law. Queries about such opportunities should be directed to the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics in the first instance.

Tuition fees for overseas students depend on the course you’re studying.

For information please see the Undergraduate Study International fees and costs webpage.

See Tuition fee status if you're unsure whether you're classed as Home or overseas for fee purposes. More information can also be found on the UKCISA website and in the main finance section.

College Fee

The Magdalene College fees for 2024-2025 are £11,745.

Living Costs

Your living expenses may be higher than for a UK student (e.g. if you stay in Cambridge/the UK during vacations). In 2024-25, the minimum resources needed each year (excluding tuition and College fees) are estimated to be approximately £10,950 for 9 months in Cambridge (£14,600 for 12 months in Cambridge) depending on lifestyle (you should allow for increases in future years).

Please note that all students should ordinarily be available to live and study in Cambridge for the full duration of their course (with the exception of the year abroad where part of the course).

Please see the information on the Sources of Funding webpage.

Admissions interviews at Magdalene are currently held virtually. For further information please visit the University’s webpage on interviews.

We may attach an IELTS or TOEFL condition to offers made to people who are likely to require a student visa to study at Cambridge. As part of the visa process we will need to attest to your English language ability (even if you have routinely spoken perfect English for years), and setting the IELTS/TOEFL condition now means that we can be reassured that the language condition is unlikely to hold up your visa application in the month before you start your studies.

We may also attach an IELTS or TOEFL condition to offers made to people whose first language is not English. Whilst this might be an inconvenience in the short term, it is ultimately to the student's benefit. The standard of English required to study at Cambridge is high and you need to be comfortable with it from the first day of your course. The IELTS/TOEFL condition helps reassure us and you that you have the level of English language fluency required to flourish at Cambridge. We do this because highly intelligent students have come unstuck in the past because their English language ability has been less than that required, and that has affected both their grades and their enjoyment of the course.

IELTS Academic and TOEFL Internet Based Test (IBT) are our preferred English language qualifications at Magdalene, but we may, at our discretion, accept one of the qualifications listed here.

Using IELTS Academic and TOEFL Internet Based test (IBT) means we are testing everybody to the same standard.

Information about applying for a student visa to study at Cambridge can be found on the International Students website by following this link.