Univerisity of Cambridge: Admission 2026-27, Fee, Courses and Scholarship

Popular Courses and Fees at University of Cambridge 2027

Cambridge University sets tuition through the University Composition Fee (UCF), which varies by course group and level. Overseas postgraduate students also pay an annual College Fee of £11,500 to £14,500 (₹14.9 to ₹18.8 Lakh). Cambridge MPhil taught masters run 9 to 12 months full-time. The Cambridge Judge MBA runs 12 months and is one of the flagship MBA universities in UK pathways for Indian applicants.

Below are the top 10 postgraduate programmes Indian applicants target for the 2027 intake. Total fee reflects one full year of UCF at overseas rate; 2027-28 UCF is confirmed on each course finance page by October 2026.

Below are the top 5 undergraduate courses for Indian applicants. Total fee uses 2026 entry annual UCF multiplied by programme duration; 2027 undergraduate fees confirm by 1 October 2026 and may rise 3 to 5%. Add annual College Fee of £11,500 to £14,500 per year across the whole programme.

[Source: University of Cambridge official international fees pages; 2027 undergraduate fees confirm by 1 October 2026]

Insider note: Cambridge’s MPhil in Machine Learning and Machine Intelligence and MPhil in Advanced Computer Science are the two courses Indian applicants target most, both as a one-year gateway to a US PhD or a research role at DeepMind, Google Research or Microsoft.

Read More: University of Cambridge Fees and Cost of Living Guide

University of Cambridge Admission 2027

Cambridge offers a single primary intake, Michaelmas (October), for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. A small number of MPhil courses also admit for Lent (January) or Easter (April) starts. Indian applicants apply through the Applicant Portal for postgraduate courses and UCAS for undergraduate, part of the wider study in UK guide route.

University of Cambridge UG Admission Dates 2027

Undergraduate applications for October 2027 entry follow the UCAS calendar with a fixed Oxbridge deadline in mid-October.

University of Cambridge PG Admission Dates 2027

Postgraduate applications for October 2027 entry are expected to open in early September 2026 and close in early December 2026, based on the prior Michaelmas 2026 cycle.

[Source: University of Cambridge Postgraduate Admissions and Cambridge Judge MBA official pages]

Planning note: Apply to Cambridge by the Gates Cambridge deadline of 3 December 2026 even if you are not applying for Gates. Most Cambridge Trust, departmental and college funding use the same or an earlier deadline for Indian applicants.

Read More: University of Cambridge Admissions Guide for Indian Students

University of Cambridge Admission Requirements for Indian Applicants 2027

Cambridge assesses Indian applicants against the same academic bar as UK First-Class Honours for competitive postgraduate courses. Undergraduate admission adds a course-specific pre-interview assessment.

Postgraduate requirements for Indian applicants:

• Academic: Bachelor’s degree with 75% or CGPA 8.0/10 (First-Class equivalent) for most MPhil and research masters courses; 70% or CGPA 7.3/10 (2:1 equivalent) accepted for the MBA and select taught masters, per the Cambridge International Qualifications page for India (recommended).
• English test: IELTS Academic 7.5 overall with 7.0 in each element for most PG courses; individual course pages may specify a higher or lower minimum.
• Additional accepted English tests: IELTS UKVI, IELTS Online, IELTS One Skill Retake, Cambridge C1 Advanced and Cambridge C2 Proficiency for selected courses; TOEFL iBT accepted only if taken on or before 21 January 2026, with a Cambridge Language Centre supplementary assessment required for post-January 2026 scores.
• Standardised tests: Cambridge Judge MBA requires GMAT or GRE; most MPhil taught masters do not require GRE.

Undergraduate requirements for Indian applicants:

• Academic: Class 12 with 90% aggregate for STEM (Engineering, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, Medicine) and 85% for humanities and social sciences (recommended).
• Admission assessment: ESAT (Engineering and Sciences), TMUA (Mathematics), LNAT (Law) or subject-specific assessment, taken at Cambridge Assessment centres in India.
• English test: IELTS Academic 7.5 overall with 7.0 in each element for most UG courses.

Key insight: Cambridge does not require SAT for undergraduate Indian applicants. Class 12 predicted or actual marks combined with the pre-interview assessment (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT) form the interview shortlist.

University of Cambridge Acceptance Rate 2027

Cambridge runs one of the toughest admissions filters in the UK. The overall Cambridge University acceptance rate is 21%. For international applicants including Indians, the rate drops to 15.4%. These figures come from Cambridge’s official admissions statistics.

Cambridge received over 22,000 undergraduate applications in the 2024-25 cycle and made roughly 4,700 offers. For Indian applicants specifically, competition sits highest in Computer Science, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Economics and Medicine, courses that draw both UK and international top scorers.

Reality check: The 15.4% international acceptance rate does not translate to a 1-in-7 chance from India. Applicants from top Indian institutions with 90% Class 12 marks, strong ESAT or TMUA scores, and a clear research fit see materially higher offer rates.

Read More: University of Cambridge Acceptance Rate Analysis

University of Cambridge Fees and Cost of Living for Indian Students 2027

Cambridge University fees for international postgraduate students run £43,000 to £86,250 (₹55.7 to ₹111.7 Lakh) per year based on course group. Living costs add £19,860 (₹25.7 Lakh) per year at Cambridge’s official maintenance estimate. Total annual outlay including tuition and living costs sits between £65,000 and £110,000 (₹84 to ₹142 Lakh).

University of Cambridge Tuition Fees for Indian Students 2027

Cambridge splits international tuition into the University Composition Fee (UCF) plus an annual College Fee. UCF varies by subject group; the College Fee is a standard supplement all overseas postgraduate students pay.

[Source: University of Cambridge International Fees and Costs, Cambridge Judge MBA Fees and Funding official pages]

University of Cambridge Living Costs for Indian Students 2027

Cambridge University publishes an official annual maintenance estimate of £19,860 (₹25.7 Lakh) for a single postgraduate student. This works out to £1,655 (₹2.14 Lakh) per month. The estimate is based on a detailed survey of Cambridge postgraduate students and their spending habits.

[Source: University of Cambridge official maintenance estimate 2026-27]

Insider note: The official £19,860 annual estimate excludes the Student visa fee of £524, Immigration Health Surcharge of £776 per year, and airfare. Add £2,000 to £3,000 (₹2.6 to ₹3.9 Lakh) to the annual budget for these mandatory international costs.

Read More: UK Universities Fees Comparison for Indian Students

University of Cambridge Campus, Facilities and Student Life

Cambridge University sits 60 miles north of London in the historic city of Cambridge, population around 145,000. The university is fully collegiate, with 31 colleges spread across the city. Students live, dine and study within their college for most of their programme.

• Location and transit: Trains from London Kings Cross take 50 minutes; nearest airport is London Stansted (30-minute train), London Heathrow reachable in 2 hours by coach or train.
• Accommodation: All 31 colleges guarantee campus accommodation to postgraduate students for the first year; single ensuite college rooms cost £750 to £1,200 (₹97,100 to ₹1,55,400) per month, rent only.
• Facilities: Cambridge University Library holds over 9 million books across 100 college libraries; the University Botanic Garden and 8 Cambridge Museums are open to students at no cost.
• Indian community: The Cambridge University India Society (CUIS) hosts an annual India Week each October; Trinity, King’s, St John’s, Clare and Wolfson colleges have the largest Indian postgraduate cohorts.
• Sport and culture: Over 700 student clubs run at Cambridge; the May Bumps regatta, University Boat Race, Cambridge Union debates and 250 college concert societies define the wider Cambridge experience.

What Indian students say: The college you nominate on the application shapes your entire Cambridge experience. Trinity, King’s, St John’s, Clare and Wolfson tend to have the largest Indian postgraduate cohorts and the deepest college scholarship pools reserved for Indian nationals.

University of Cambridge Scholarships 2027

Cambridge University runs three major funding pools for Indian applicants: the Cambridge Trust (International and country-specific), Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Cambridge Scholarship. All decisions come post-admission through the single application portal.

[Source: Cambridge Trust and Gates Cambridge Trust official pages]

Planning note: All three Cambridge funding routes are decided post-admission; you cannot apply for a scholarship separately from admission. Submit your Cambridge application by the course’s funding deadline, typically 3 December 2026 for 2027-28 entry, to remain scholarship-eligible.

Read More: University of Cambridge Scholarships Guide

University of Cambridge Rankings 2027

Cambridge University holds top-6 positions across every major world ranking table for 2026-2027. It sits at #6 in QS World 2027, #3 (tied) in THE World 2026, #5 in US News Best Global Universities 2026-2027 and #4 in ARWU 2025.

Cambridge ranks #1 globally in Archaeology and English Language and Literature (QS 2026). It holds #1 in Psychology and #2 in Computer Science, Life Sciences and Medical & Health Sciences (THE 2026). The Cambridge Judge MBA is ranked #17 in the FT Global MBA Ranking 2026, up from #35 in 2025.

Key insight: Cambridge’s top-6 QS, THE and US News position makes it visa-favourable at the UK Student route and unambiguously recognised by every Indian employer, PSU hiring panel, IIM or ISB comparison bench and US doctoral admissions committee.

Read More: University of Cambridge Rankings Analysis

University of Cambridge Placements and Career Outcomes 2027

Cambridge University does not run a central campus placement cell. Postgraduate career outcomes cluster around the Cambridge Judge MBA employment report, departmental research pipelines and the Cambridge Careers Service that supports all students across sectors.

• Cambridge Judge MBA average base salary (Class of 2025): £76,138 (₹98.6 Lakh); total compensation average £93,085 (₹120.5 Lakh).
• Cambridge Judge MBA 3-month offer rate: 79% of the Class of 2025 received job offers within three months of graduation.
• MBA industry mix (Class of 2025): Finance 26%, Technology 23%, Consulting 14%, Healthcare and Pharma 6%, Consumer and FMCG 6%.
• Global mobility: The Cambridge Judge MBA Class of 2025 had 217 students from 43 nationalities; 51% were country switchers, moving country between pre-MBA and post-MBA roles.
• Post-study work visa: Graduate Route allows 2 years of UK work after any Cambridge PG programme (3 years for PhD graduates) without employer sponsorship.

Insider note: Cambridge MPhil taught-masters graduates most often land at a Cambridge or Oxford PhD, a top US PhD such as MIT or Stanford, a DeepMind or Google Research role, or a UK or EU consulting or finance role using the Graduate Route visa.

University of Cambridge vs Peer Universities

Cambridge University is most often benchmarked against Oxford, Imperial, LSE and UCL in the UK. The peer set below focuses on QS World 2026 rank, average annual PG overseas fee and the one-line differentiator relative to Cambridge.

Cambridge stands out on two data-backed axes: top-6 across every world ranking body for 2026-2027, and a one-year MPhil format that Oxford matches but Imperial, UCL and LSE run mostly as 12-to-15 month taught programmes with different research structure. It costs £65,000 to £110,000 per year all-in, on the higher end for UK PG study.

Note: Applicants with borderline profiles should apply to Imperial College London as the strongest UK-tier backup and to a Group of Eight Australian university (Australia’s top eight research universities) as a safe second option.

Cambridge University fits Indian applicants with a first-class Indian bachelor’s, targeting research-intensive MPhil, PhD or the Judge MBA. It works best as a springboard to a Cambridge or US PhD, DeepMind research role or global consulting exit. Total investment of ₹84 to ₹142 Lakh returns a year-one Cambridge MBA base salary of ₹98.6 Lakh. All Cambridge programmes unlock the Graduate Route for post-study work in the United Kingdom.

Cambridge University does not suit applicants seeking two-year US-style masters or guaranteed employer sponsorship. It also does not fit Class 12 profiles averaged below 85%. Imperial College London offers stronger applicant-fit outcomes for pure STEM aspirants at similar cost.