UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · POSTGRADUATE STUDY GUIDE
At Cambridge, your department or faculty decides on your application, and every postgraduate student belongs to a College. Start here, then check your course page for its deadlines and documents.
2027–28 entry
GET TO KNOW THE UNIVERSITY
Cambridge offers more than 300 postgraduate courses, run by over 100 faculties and departments. Your department or faculty assesses your application, and every postgraduate student is also a member of one of 31 Colleges.
MASTER’S COURSES
An MPhil typically takes 9 to 12 months full-time, with taught elements or by research alone. The LLM is a nine-month taught course in law.
RESEARCH
A PhD takes three to four years full-time, including a probationary first year, and ends with a thesis and an oral exam.
YOUR COLLEGE
You can name up to two preferred Colleges or none. Your preferences don’t affect the admission decision, and you may join a College you didn’t choose.
Each course needs its own application and documents, and each master’s application has its own fee. The Faculty of Economics asks you not to apply to more than one of its MPhils.
English: Nationals of majority English-speaking countries, such as the U.S., who were educated there usually don’t need a test. Most courses ask for proof only after an offer, but the LLM needs it when you apply, with no waivers. Both the LLM and the MPhil in Economics ask for IELTS 7.5 with 7.0 in each part, or TOEFL iBT 110 with 25 in each.
Test dates: Scores must be no more than two years old when your course starts. A TOEFL taken after January 21, 2026, needs an extra assessment by Cambridge, which the LLM doesn’t allow, so check with the Faculty or take IELTS.
GRE: The MPhil in Economics requires the GRE if you studied outside the UK, and an application without it can be withdrawn.
Your degree: Cambridge’s minimum is an upper second-class UK degree, known as a 2:1. For a U.S. degree, it treats a 3.5 GPA out of 4.0 as a 2:1, 3.6 as a high 2:1, and 3.7 as a First.
Your visa: Without a UK or Irish passport, you’ll usually need a Student visa, applied for after you meet your offer conditions. Some science and technology courses also need a UK clearance called ATAS.
Visa costs: The Student visa costs £558 from outside the UK, plus an immigration health surcharge of £776 for each year of your visa, paid with your application.
Four nationalities: Since March 26, 2026, the UK has refused Student visa applications made from outside the UK by nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan.
U.S. loans: Cambridge says students starting from autumn 2026 can borrow up to $20,500 a year in U.S. federal Stafford loans, and Grad PLUS loans are no longer available.
After you graduate: Master’s graduates who apply for the UK Graduate visa from January 1, 2027, can stay for 18 months.
Before a PhD: Most PhD applicants have done at least a year of postgraduate study, and some subjects require an MPhil first.
Supervisors: Some research courses ask you to find a supervisor before applying, while others appoint one after an offer. If you need one, Cambridge suggests a short, formal email about your proposal to a few academics near your topic, well ahead. If an academic agrees to supervise you, name them in your application, though their interest alone won’t secure a place.
UNDERSTAND WHAT CAMBRIDGE LOOKS FOR
Your department or faculty considers your academic record and potential, whether it has places and supervision available, and how well your interests fit its work. It may also interview you.
YOUR RECORD
The LLM expects a first-class law degree or its equivalent, and successful applicants are typically well within the top 10% in their country. The MPhil in Economics asks for a high 2:1, or a U.S. GPA of at least 3.6.
Letrado’s adviceInclude your class ranking if you can. The Faculty of Economics encourages it.
YOUR PREPARATION
The MPhil in Economics expects intermediate micro, macro, and econometrics, and says business, accounting, or management degrees aren’t enough. The LLM asks for a law degree.
Letrado’s advicePoint readers to the courses where you met each requirement, so they don’t have to search your transcript.
YOUR REASONS
Statements are short: 5,000 characters for the LLM, and just 1,000 for the MPhil in Economics.
Letrado’s adviceChoose one question your study or work has actually raised, and connect it to specific parts of the course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
LLM (9 months): one deadline, December 8, 2026, for both admission and funding. A 5,000-character Reasons for Applying statement, a CV, a transcript, two references, and English scores when you apply. Applications are compared together after the deadline, and the Faculty of Law aims to decide by March 1, 2027.
MPhil in Economics (9 months): December 8, 2026, for funding, and February 2, 2027, as the final deadline, though the course may close earlier. A 1,000-character statement, the Faculty’s template on your previous study, a CV, and, if you studied outside the UK, the GRE. There’s no thesis, and the Faculty says the course isn’t mainly designed as a route to a PhD.
CAMBRIDGE POSTGRADUATE ADMISSIONS
In 2024–25, 20.4% of doctoral and 28.3% of non-doctoral applications received offers.
Cambridge doesn’t publish admission figures for individual courses. Its latest report covers 2024–25 entry.
WHAT CAMBRIDGE DESCRIBES
Reads your application, checks that a supervisor is available, may interview you, and decides whether to recommend you.
A Degree Committee and then the Postgraduate Admissions Office each take about 10 days to review it. Only that office issues offers.
Interviews may be online or in person, sometimes with your proposed supervisor. Cambridge says they’re usually conversational, and you should expect to confirm you aren’t using AI.
SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION
Departments nominate a small number of applicants who meet all four Gates criteria to a very high level.
Nominees are then interviewed for 25 to 30 minutes, in person or online.
The criteria are academic excellence, your reasons for choosing the course, a commitment to improving the lives of others, and a capacity for leadership.
Most Cambridge Trust scholarships also look for financial need. The Trust won’t fund a degree at or below the level of one you already hold, unless a department requires a second MPhil before a PhD.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Applications for 2027–28 opened on September 9, 2026. Deadlines are at 11:59 p.m. UK time, and to be considered for funding you must meet your course deadline or its funding deadline, whichever comes first.
Gates Cambridge, U.S. round
Oct 14, 2026LLM, and the first funding deadline
Dec 8, 2026Second funding deadline
Jan 6, 2027MPhil in Economics, final deadline
Feb 2, 2027Your application, including both references, must be complete by the deadline, or it will be withdrawn. If you need a visa or a fee waiver, apply well before the deadline. Applying for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program? You can request a waiver by November 20, 2026, before you submit.
£85 for each master’s application, paid online before you submit. PhD applicants pay £20 per year of entry, covering up to seven applications. Fees are waived automatically for nationals of certain listed countries who have lived there since birth. Some UK applicants can request a waiver before paying, as can people with refugee, asylum seeker, or humanitarian protection status in the UK.
Usually academic. If you’ve left university, the LLM and the MPhil in Economics accept one professional reference alongside one academic. Gates Cambridge asks for a third.
A transcript for each degree, which can be interim or unofficial if you’re still studying, and a CV, which every application needs. Translations must come from a registered translator.
A personal statement or Reasons for Applying, with a character limit set by your course. Some courses also ask for samples of your written work.
The GRE for the MPhil in Economics if you studied outside the UK. English scores when you apply for the LLM, and usually after an offer for other courses.
Submit it yourself: You must complete and submit your application yourself. Cambridge doesn’t accept applications from agents.
English and Latin script: Your application must be in English and use Latin script throughout, including names of people and institutions.
Colleges: You can change your College preferences once, before an offer. You’ll usually hear which College you’ll join within three weeks of a conditional offer.
Interviews and feedback: Most departments interview applicants they’re considering, and they usually can’t give individual feedback.
Decisions: If you apply by a December or January funding deadline, Cambridge says you should hear by the end of March.
Conditions: Every offer is conditional. For an October start, the deadline for meeting all your conditions, such as final grades, English scores, and a form confirming you can pay, is July 31, 2027. Many Colleges won’t offer housing until you’ve met them.
Accepting: You can accept while you still wait for a funding decision, and withdraw before your course starts without owing course fees.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
1,000 to 5,000 charactersThe MPhil in Economics allows 1,000 characters, roughly 150 words. The LLM allows 5,000.
Your statement should describe your relevant skills, experience, academic achievements, and motivation for the course. Cambridge doesn’t allow AI in personal statements or CVs, even to improve your English, and it mustn’t help you in an interview.
Letrado’s adviceCambridge’s AI rules are stricter than ours, so don’t use AI for ideas or grammar in your statement or CV. If personal circumstances affected your results, explain them here: you can’t appeal on that basis later.
Describe the skills, experience, and academic achievements that prepared you, and why this course fits the questions you want to pursue.
The MPhil in Economics requires its own template describing your previous study, alongside a 1,000-character statement.
Say how your project extends existing work and why it matters. AI may support a proposal if you use it appropriately and acknowledge it. Our own rule still applies: write every sentence yourself.
Both references must arrive by your deadline. Referees need an institutional email address, and PhD students can’t act as referees.
Each question matches one Gates criterion and allows up to 1,400 or 2,100 characters. Gates says there’s no right answer.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Tuition depends on your course and fee status. Cambridge estimates living costs of about £20,700 a year for a single student in 2027–28, or £15,525 for a nine-month course.
UNIVERSITY FUNDING
Tick the funding box in your application to be considered for most University, Trust, College, and department awards.
GATES CAMBRIDGE
Full-cost scholarships for applicants from outside the UK, chosen for ability, leadership, and commitment to improving others’ lives.
CAMBRIDGE TRUST
The Trust’s awards a year. Most consider academic achievement and financial need, and require a conditional offer.
Funding offers run from February to late June, peaking in March and April. If you have no funding offer by July, assume you weren’t successful.
Funding at Cambridge (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED 2027–28 COSTS · LLM, OVERSEAS
£63,777Tuition of £48,252 plus £15,525 in living costs for nine months. Home students pay £27,666 in tuition.
Travel, visa costs, and the immigration health surcharge aren’t included.
LLM costs (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceA one-year master’s is a large expense. Ask what it will change in your work afterward, not only what it adds to your CV.
The Gates Cambridge U.S. round’s deadline is October 14, 2026, and it needs your complete course application, including references.
Gates Cambridge timeline (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO CAMBRIDGE · C.S.
She had three years of broad legal practice in Italy, no landmark case, and strict confidentiality rules. We helped her find one question her work had actually raised, and describe only work she could properly claim.
A cross-border vendor agreement with conflicting contractual and regulatory definitions gave her a focused comparative question.
Her summaries covered her research question, sources, and analysis, without naming a client or presenting a partner’s decisions as hers.
She discussed with her supervisors whether the degree would lead to more responsibility when she returned.
Cambridge’s LLM (opens in a new tab) is taught over nine months through four courses chosen from about 30, which suited one focused comparative question.
HER CAMBRIDGE OUTCOME
Offered a place on Cambridge’s LLM
HER CHOICE: CAMBRIDGEKing’s College Chapel · Photo: Andreas Praefcke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Cropped.
Its one-year comparative program matched the question at the center of her application. Columbia offered New York practice and Berkeley a strong technology setting, but Cambridge led most clearly back to her work in Europe.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
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