CAMBRIDGE JUDGE BUSINESS SCHOOL · MBA GUIDE
Cambridge Judge Business School’s MBA runs for 12 months, from mid-September to mid-September, and every student joins one of the University of Cambridge’s colleges. Start here to understand the program and prepare each part of your application.
September 2027 intake
GET TO KNOW THE PROGRAM
Core courses run through your first three terms, with three electives added in each of the second and third. The fourth, in summer, is for a project, a placement, or another option you choose.
MICHAELMAS TERM · AUTUMN
Core courses include corporate finance, business analytics, and organizational behavior. In the Cambridge Venture Project, your assigned team of five or six analyzes a market for a UK client, with a mentor.
LENT TERM · WINTER
You take more core courses, including marketing strategy, strategic operations, AI in business, and a negotiations lab. You also start your first three electives.
EASTER TERM · SPRING
The last core courses cover the global economy, governance and ethics, and sustainable enterprises. You also take three more electives.
SUMMER
Pick an individual project or a work placement, usually six to eight weeks, which you often find yourself. Other options include a study trip abroad, case writing, and a Lean Six Sigma or Scrum course.
Cambridge Judge plans about 50 electives for 2027/28. You choose your Lent electives during Michaelmas and your Easter electives during Lent, and the list and class sizes can change.
Concentrations: They include Creative Industries in the Digital Age; AI Transformation; Energy, Environment and Sustainability; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Healthcare Strategies; Marketing; and Strategy.
The Global Consulting Project: Your team ranks three projects or brings in its own client. The clients Cambridge Judge names on its site are examples, not projects it promises.
The summer options: Projects and placements usually run between July and September. A research project ends in a 4,000-word paper. The international business study trip is a week abroad, followed by a research paper over the rest of the summer, and you pay your own travel and some expenses.
How colleges are allocated: Admissions allocates colleges after your conditional offer. If you have a particular connection with a college, for example as a former student, tell Admissions.
Housing: Your college will normally offer you a room, on site or off site, but that isn’t guaranteed. The University Accommodation Service is another option.
With a partner or children: Family housing is especially limited. Cambridge Judge highlights Churchill College for families.
Outside class: MBA and Master of Finance special-interest groups and conferences, the Cambridge Business School Club, and more than 400 University societies.
Your visa: Unless your current UK immigration status already covers your studies, you’ll need a Student visa. It normally requires an offer from a licensed sponsor, proof of funds, and proof of English.
Your CAS: Cambridge normally issues your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, the reference your visa application needs) about three to four months before the course starts, once you’ve met every condition of your offer. From outside the UK, you can apply for the visa up to six months before the course starts, but you’ll need your CAS first.
Some passports: Since March 26, 2026, the UK refuses Student visa applications made from outside the UK on an Afghan, Cameroonian, Myanmar, or Sudanese passport, and Cambridge says it can’t issue a CAS to anyone affected. If you hold another nationality and apply on that passport, your application is considered in the usual way.
Health care: You pay the Immigration Health Surcharge with your visa, which gives you access to the NHS, the UK’s public health service. The amount depends on how long your visa lasts: the University currently lists £776 for each year of the visa and £1,164 for a 12-month master’s course.
Working during the course: Cambridge Judge says students on a one-year course normally can’t take paid work. A summer placement can be full-time, but a permanent full-time job can’t start before the course ends in mid-September.
Your family: Students on a taught course such as the MBA usually can’t bring dependents on a Student visa. The UK government’s website, GOV.UK, lists exceptions, such as government-sponsored study of more than six months, so check your own case.
After you graduate: GOV.UK gives 18 months, not two years, for Graduate visa applications made from January 1, 2027. You’d apply after the course ends in 2028, and the rules can change before then, so check again.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAMBRIDGE JUDGE LOOKS FOR
You normally need at least two years of full-time work, a strong degree, and a GMAT or GRE score. Beyond those, Cambridge Judge looks for a learning mindset, interpersonal skills, confidence, and ambition.
ACADEMIC READINESS
Cambridge Judge asks for a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a high UK 2:1 (upper second-class honours, the second-highest UK degree class). Lower grades need strong evidence elsewhere.
Letrado’s adviceYour first term includes corporate finance, business analytics, and managerial economics. If your grades are below a high 2:1, a strong test score and a recent course in statistics or finance can show you’re ready for them.
CAREER PROGRESSION
Cambridge Judge counts full-time work after your degree, up to the start of the course, and may make exceptions for caregiving or similar situations. You don’t need a business background, and there’s no upper age limit.
Letrado’s adviceThe class that started in September 2026 averaged six years of work. If you have two or three, show how fast your responsibility has grown, with one or two decisions that were clearly yours.
COLLABORATION AND RESILIENCE
Cambridge Judge says collaboration and resilience matter. Its three short answers ask about a mistake, your best team, and someone who had a positive impact on you.
Letrado’s adviceTreat those short answers as your evidence here. A real mistake, and what you’d change, shows resilience better than any claim to it.
WHAT CAMBRIDGE JUDGE DESCRIBES
Round 3 deadline
Round 3 virtual interview day
Round 3 interviews
If you’re invited, you’ll talk online with Cambridge Judge faculty or senior leaders about your experience, your motivations, your goals, and what you’d contribute. They can explore anything in the application you submitted. The virtual interview day is a separate date from your own interview.
CLASS OF 2026 · STARTED SEPTEMBER 2026
Cambridge Judge sets no minimum GMAT or GRE score and offers no test waiver. Its apply page gives average GMAT scores of about 635 on the current Focus Edition and about 710 on the previous edition.
WHAT CAMBRIDGE JUDGE DESCRIBES
If you can’t ask your current supervisor, a former supervisor can write it. If you’re self-employed, a customer, a supplier, or a professional adviser can. Academics, relatives, peers, and colleagues don’t qualify.
Once you enter your referee’s details in the application, Cambridge Judge sends them the request automatically.
EMPLOYMENT REPORT 2026 · THE 2024/25 CLASS
By sector, 55% went into industry, 23% into finance, and 19% into consulting. Cambridge Judge names Google, Model ML, PwC, and TikTok among the top recruiters.
These figures come from Cambridge Judge’s 2026 report on the class that studied in 2024/25. They aren’t a promise of your results. The full report is available through a form on its site.
WHAT CAMBRIDGE SAYS
Cambridge Judge’s apply page, and the University policy it links, say your application will be withdrawn if it contains fake documents or false information, even when an agent submitted them in your name without your knowledge.
The University of Cambridge’s policy for postgraduate applications says “AI must not be used when writing personal statements and CVs.”
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Cambridge Judge reviews applications for the September 2027 intake in five rounds, with deadlines from August 24, 2026 to May 4, 2027. It advises applying early if you’ll rely on funding. Several awards stay open in all five rounds, and rolling awards can run out.
Round 1
Aug 24, 2026Round 2
Oct 5, 2026Round 3
Jan 4, 2027Round 4
Mar 22, 2027Round 5
May 4, 2027The virtual interview day is separate from your own interview. Cambridge Judge doesn’t publish decision dates. If you’re admitted, your conditional offer usually comes within three weeks of your interview, sometimes later. Deadlines are at 23:59, and Cambridge Judge doesn’t name the time zone, so submit a day early.
A career objectives essay of up to 500 words and three short answers of up to 200 words each, in Cambridge Judge’s online application. The fee is £165.
Required, with no waiver and no minimum score. Send a GMAT or GRE score from the last five years, taken online or at a test center. Scores from the previous GMAT edition count too.
Uploaded with your application. Don’t post originals. If you’re admitted, your qualifications are verified, either by a checking service, which may charge a fee, or by your university directly.
Ideally from your current supervisor. Cambridge Judge sends your referee the request automatically once you enter their details.
A virtual conversation with Cambridge Judge faculty or senior leaders.
Cambridge Judge’s MBA English language policy sets the tests and scores it accepts and who’s exempt. It’s linked under “Tests and degrees” below.
Answering an offer: You normally have three weeks to respond, but your offer letter sets your own deadline.
Conditions of the offer: Your offer is conditional on a £7,950 reservation fee, which is non-refundable and credited against tuition. You also need a financial undertaking showing you can fund your studies, with proof by the deadline in your offer letter.
Your college and the next payment: Colleges are normally confirmed two to three weeks after you accept. A second commitment fee of £5,300, also credited to tuition, is due within three weeks of that confirmation, and the rest of your tuition about four weeks before the course starts. Check your offer terms to see whether the second fee is refundable.
Which tests: The GMAT or the GRE. Both GMAT editions count: the current Focus Edition and the previous one. Cambridge Judge doesn’t list the Executive Assessment.
Sending scores: Report your scores in the application, upload your score report, and let Cambridge Judge check it online. Cambridge Judge’s codes are WF1-T3-68 for the GMAT and 0832 for the GRE.
Without a degree: You can still be considered in exceptional cases, after discussing your eligibility with Admissions.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
500 words, plus three answers of 200 words eachThe career objectives essay allows up to 500 words, and each of the three short answers up to 200.
All four answers are required. The Forté and ROMBA (Reaching Out MBA) fellowships ask their shortlisted candidates for a video, with details after an interview invitation.
Letrado’s adviceBefore you draft the career essay, talk to two or three people doing the job you want, where you want to do it. The question asks what employers expect and how you’re preparing, and those conversations give you specific answers.
Set out your short- and long-term goals and how Cambridge will support them. Show your research into recruiting for your industry, role, and location. Then say what employers expect, how confident you are in your skills, and how you’re preparing now.
Pick one specific mistake rather than a general lesson about failure. Say what went wrong and what you would do differently now.
Explain what made the team work, and name your own part in it, not only the result.
Say what they did and what you learned from them. The answer should show as much about you as about them.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Tuition for the September 2027 intake is £86,250, the same for UK and international students. Living costs come on top. Distinction Awards consider every offer holder automatically. For the others, you select your interest or apply separately, and most are decided after your interview.
CONSIDERED AUTOMATICALLY
Every offer holder is considered, in all five rounds. The Admissions Committee weighs academic merit, professional contribution, and leadership. Values vary, and any award comes with your offer.
UP TO 50% OF TUITION
Five awards, open in all five rounds, for applicants from nontraditional MBA sectors, such as the arts and media, energy, healthcare, nonprofits, social enterprise, sport, sustainability, and family business. You write a supporting statement, reviewed after your interview.
ROUNDS 1 TO 3 ONLY
Three awards of up to £15,000 for outstanding academic achievement. Select your interest in the application. A supporting statement is encouraged.
Scholarships aren’t guaranteed, and several of the awards below are decided on a rolling basis.
Cambridge MBA scholarships and loans (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED TUITION · SEPTEMBER 2027 INTAKE
£86,250Paid in three parts: a reservation fee as a condition of your offer, a second commitment fee once your college is confirmed, and the rest about four weeks before the course starts.
This is the 2027 tuition. On top of that, Cambridge Judge estimates £20,700 in living costs for one student. Check the current figure on its fees page. If you choose the summer study trip, you also pay your own travel and some expenses.
Cambridge MBA fees and living costs (opens in a new tab)
AI illustrationLetrado’s adviceDecide which awards you’ll go for before you choose a round, and write each supporting statement with the same care as your essays.
ADMITTED TO CAMBRIDGE JUDGE · S.K.
She was an Indian professional with six years in education operations and a moderate test score. She also supported a parent, so cost and distance were real concerns. We helped her show her own judgment and weigh studying abroad against her family’s needs.
It looked efficient centrally but ignored local travel conditions. She consulted regional teams and accepted lower capacity on paper in exchange for better attendance. Her application didn’t claim a direct change in student learning.
After one more attempt and a modest improvement, she moved her attention to the rest of her application.
She weighed one- and two-year formats, global mobility, recruiting in India, cost, scholarships, and family logistics. She also tested whether a global program offered anything she couldn’t get through the regional network of the Indian School of Business (ISB).
Cambridge Judge’s career objectives essay (opens in a new tab) asks how you’re preparing for the role you want. S.K.’s plan named a realistic next step, operations and growth in education services, rather than founding a new company straight away.
AI illustrationHER CAMBRIDGE JUDGE OUTCOME
Offered a place in the Cambridge Judge MBA
HER CHOICE: ISBIndian School of Business, Hyderabad · Photo: Curtis Palmer / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped.
Cambridge Judge offered a concentrated international year, and INSEAD exceptional global mobility. Her scholarship, family plans, and recruiting in India pointed to ISB. She saw it as a positive choice, not a compromise.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
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