Colleges of the University of Cambridge facts for kids

Arms of the University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 different colleges, along with the main university departments. For a long time, Cambridge and Oxford were mostly just groups of colleges with a small central office. Cambridge's colleges are like small communities where students, teachers, and staff live and learn together. This mix of different ages and subjects helps everyone experience the university's great learning in a close-knit way.

Cambridge colleges offer most of the places for students to live, both for those starting their degrees (called undergraduates) and those doing advanced studies (called postgraduates). For undergraduates, colleges help admit students, offer support, and organize some teaching. However, the main lectures and exams are handled by the university's departments. All degrees are given by the university, not the colleges. Students study the same courses, no matter which college they attend. For postgraduate students, research happens in the university's main departments, but colleges provide a social and intellectual home.

Colleges also offer many things to their members, like food, libraries, clubs, and sports teams. A lot of the sports at Cambridge happen through college teams and competitions between colleges. Student activities are usually run by special common rooms for undergraduates and postgraduates. Another important part of college life is "formal hall," which is a special dinner that happens often during term time.

Colleges also help pay for some of the teaching jobs at the university. Most Cambridge teachers are also members of a college. They might have college jobs like Tutor (who helps with student well-being) or Director of Studies (who guides students in their subjects). Colleges are like their own independent charities with their own money and buildings.

Old and New Colleges

The University of Cambridge has 31 colleges. They were founded over many centuries, from the 1200s to the 1900s. No new colleges were started between 1596 and 1800. This means we can divide them into two groups:

• The 16 "old" colleges, founded between 1284 and 1596.
• The 15 "new" colleges, founded between 1800 and 1977.

The oldest college is Peterhouse, which started in 1284. The newest is Robinson, founded in 1977. Homerton was first set up in the 1700s as a different kind of school. It became a full college in 2010.

Who Can Join?

Most of the colleges (all 16 "old" ones and 7 "new" ones) accept both male and female students. They welcome both undergraduates and postgraduates, and there are no age limits. However, eight colleges have some special rules about who can join:

• King's used to only accept boys from Eton College until 1865.
• Murray Edwards and Newnham only accept women. Lucy Cavendish used to only accept women until 2021.
• Lucy Cavendish used to only accept older students (aged 21 or more) and postgraduates until 2021.
• Clare Hall and Darwin only accept postgraduate students.
• Hughes Hall, St Edmund's and Wolfson only accept older students and postgraduates.

No colleges are only for men now, even though most of them started that way. Darwin, founded in 1964, was the first college to accept both men and women. In 1972, Churchill, Clare and King's were the first all-male colleges to start accepting women. The last all-male college to become mixed was Magdalene, in 1988. In 1973, Hughes Hall was the first all-female college to accept men. Girton first accepted men in 1979.

Newnham College also has rules about its staff, only allowing women to be full members (fellows) of the college. Murray Edwards does not have this rule for its fellows.

College Buildings and Design

The buildings of Cambridge and Oxford colleges have inspired a style of architecture called Collegiate Gothic. This style has been used by many American universities, like Princeton University and Cornell University, since the late 1800s.

List of Colleges

College (with arms and scarf colours)	Founded	Head of House	Undergraduates	Postgraduates	Total	Abbreviation (and short form)	Notes
Christ's	1505	Lord McDonald of Salford Master since 2022	433	256	689	CHR	Re-foundation of Gods­house (est. 1439)
Churchill	1960 (1966)	Dame Athene Donald Master since 2014	499	346	845	CHU
Clare	1326 (1336)	Loretta Minghella Master since 2021	519	289	808	CL	Formerly University Hall, then Clare Hall.
Clare Hall	1966 (1984)	C. Alan Short President since 2020	0	249	249	CLH	Post­graduate-only.
Corpus Christi	1352	Christopher Kelly Master since 2018	294	259	553	CC (Corpus)	Formerly St Benet's College.
Darwin	1964 (1976)	Mike Rands Master since 2018	0	755	755	DAR	Post­graduate-only.
Downing	1800	Graham Virgo Master since 2023	463	382	845	DOW
Emmanuel	1584	Doug Chalmers Master since 2021	512	206	718	EM (Emma)
Fitzwilliam	1869 (1966)	Baroness Morgan of Huyton Master since 2019	486	413	899	F (Fitz)
Girton	1869 (1924) (1948)	Elisabeth Kendall Mistress since 2022	516	292	808	G	Formerly female-only; mixed from 1976.
Gonville and Caius	1348 (1557)	Pippa Rogerson Master since 2018	602	247	849	CAI (Caius)	Caius, pro­nounced "keys". Formerly Gonville Hall.
Homerton	1768 (1976) (2010)	Lord Woolley of Woodford Principal since 2021	615	577	1192	HO	Originally mixed, then became women-only on move to Cambridge; returned to mixed from 1976.
Hughes Hall	1885 (1949) (2006)	Sir Laurie Bristow President since 2022	150	711	861	HH	Mature-only.
Jesus No scarf found for Jesus 2-sided	1496	Sonita Alleyne Master since 2019	513	411	924	JE
King's	1441	Gillian Tett Provost since 2023	442	284	726	K
Lucy Cavendish	1965 (1997)	Dame Madeleine Atkins President since 2018	385	544	929	LC (Lucy Cav)	Formerly mature-only, and female-only; all-age from 2020, mixed from 2021.
Magdalene	1428 (1542)	Sir Christopher Greenwood Master since 2020	382	190	572	M	Magdalene, pro­nounced "maudlin". Formerly Bucking­ham College.
Murray Edwards	1954 (1972) (2011)	Dorothy Byrne President since 2021	376	189	565	MUR (Medwards)	Female students-only, mixed fellowship. Formerly New Hall.
Newnham	1871 (1917) (1957)	Alison Rose Principal since 2019	416	290	706	N	Female-only.
Pembroke	1347	Lord Smith of Finsbury Master since 2015	475	285	760	PEM	Formerly Pembroke Hall.
Peterhouse	1284	Andy Parker Master since 2023	292	178	470	PET
Queens'	1448 (1465)	Mohamed A. El‑Erian President since 2020	521	500	1021	Q
Robinson	1977 (1984)	Sir Richard Heaton Warden since 2021	412	252	664	R
St Catharine's	1473	Sir Mark Welland Master since 2016	481	287	768	CTH (Catz)	Formerly Catharine Hall.
St Edmund's	1896 (1965) (1998)	Catherine Arnold Master since 2019	121	452	573	ED (Eddie's)	Mature-only.
St John's	1511	Heather Hancock Master since 2020	658	319	977	JN
Selwyn	1882 (1883) (1958)	Roger Mosey Master since 2013	419	249	668	SE
Sidney Sussex	1596	Martin Burton Master since 2023	380	247	627	SID (Sidney)
Trinity	1546	Dame Sally Davies Master since 2019	722	332	1054	T	Founded by merger of King's Hall (est. 1317) and Michael­house (est. 1324).
Trinity Hall	1350	Mary Hockaday Master since 2022	376	226	602	TH (Tit Hall)
Wolfson	1965 (1977)	Jane Clarke President since 2017	180	832	1012	W	Mature-only. Formerly University College.
Totals:			12,354	10,893	23,247

There are also some religious colleges in Cambridge, like Ridley Hall and Westcott House. These colleges are connected to the university through the Cambridge Theological Federation. They offer programs that are approved by or taught for the university or other universities.

Timeline of the colleges in the order their students are presented for graduation, compared with some events in British history.

Heads of Colleges

Most colleges are led by someone called a Master. This is true even if the Master is a woman. However, there are a few exceptions:

• Mistress: Girton College
• President: Clare Hall, Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish College, Murray Edwards College, Queens' College, Wolfson College
• Principal: Homerton College, Newnham College
• Provost: King's College
• Warden: Robinson College

You can find a full list of the current heads of all Cambridge colleges here: List of current heads of University of Cambridge colleges.

Colleges That No Longer Exist

The list above only includes colleges that are still open today. Over time, some colleges have closed or changed their names. Here are a few examples:

• Ayerst Hostel: Founded in 1884, but closed in 1896. Its buildings are now used by St Edmund's College.
• Buckingham College: Started in 1428, it was later re-founded as Magdalene in 1542.
• Cavendish College: Founded in 1873 to help poorer students, its buildings were bought by Homerton in 1895.
• "Clare Hall" was the name of Clare College for a long time. A new college called Clare Hall was founded in 1966.
• God's House: Started in 1437, it was re-founded as Christ's College in 1505.
• King's Hall (founded 1317) and Michaelhouse (founded 1324) joined together to form Trinity College in 1546.
• New Hall: Founded in 1954, it was re-founded as Murray Edwards College in 2008.
• University College: Started in 1965, it was re-founded as Wolfson College in 1972.

Images for kids

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  Timeline of the colleges in the order their students are presented for graduation, compared with some events in British history.

See also

• Colleges of Durham University
• Colleges of the University of Oxford
• Colleges of the University of York
• List of current heads of University of Cambridge colleges
• List of fictional Cambridge colleges
• List of Oxbridge sister colleges