Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences at Cambridge lets you study a wide range of subjects before you go on to specialise in a single topic in the later years. This means you get to explore a broad spectrum of interests as well as develop expertise in one aspect of science, which can be a real advantage for your future career.

The Natural Sciences course (or ‘tripos’) is a three or four-year degree. Please visit the University website for full details of the Natural Sciences course content and structure and then look at Natural Sciences course website. For detailed paper information you may find the individual subject information pages particularly helpful. If you have further questions about the course content please contact [email protected].

Christ’s central location is very handy for Natural Scientists, as most of your lectures take place a short walk or bike ride away. As well as lectures, practical classes and field trips organised by the University, you have weekly ‘supervisions’ here at College. These small-group tutorial sessions give you the advantage of personally-tailored tuition from active scientists researching a diverse range of subjects.

You have the chance to work in a real research laboratory and pursue exciting discoveries of your own. And if your work is very high quality, your name might end up listed on a published paper.

Directors of Studies 

> Prof Tom Monie Director of Studies for Biological Natural Sciences 
> Dr Mike Housden Director of Studies for Chemical Sciences 
> Prof Gareth Rees Director of Studies for Physical Natural Sciences

Christ's fellows in Natural Sciences

> Prof Richard Batley (Physics) 
> Dr Anthony Coyne (Chemistry) 
> Dr Daniel Field (Earth Sciences) 
> Prof Nicholas Gay (Biochemistry) 
> Prof Jonathan Gillard (Anatomy) 
> Dr Chiara Giorio (Chemistry) 
> Dr Mike Housden (Chemistry) 
> Prof Hrvoje Jasak (Physics) 
> Prof Martin Johnson (Physiology) 
> Dr Miles Kempton (Biological Sciences) 
> Prof David Klenerman (Chemistry)
> Dr Tom Matthams (Materials Science) 
> Prof Tom Monie (Biology of Cells & Physiology) 
> Prof David Norman (Earth Sciences) 
> Dr Anna Protasio (Pathology) 
> Prof Christopher Pickard (Materials Science) 
> Prof Gareth Rees (Physics) 
> Dr Lucas Sa (Physics) 
> Dr Christoph Schran (Physics) 
> Prof Margaret Stanley (Pathology) 
> Prof Simon Tavaré (Cancer Research) 
> Prof Christopher Thomas (Mathematical Biology & Mathematics A & B)

Read about the experiences of students who are studying Natural Sciences here at Christ’s - there's a lot of info in these student pages:

Natural Sciences (Biological): Rachel, Sudina, James, Charlotte, Arqum, Adam, Imogen, Ryan, Xin-Yi and Hannah.

Natural Sciences (Physical): Emily, Lucy, Elisavet, Eddie, Shadab, Ellie and Stratis.

If you’d like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.

We are looking for enthusiastic, motivated, gifted science students from all backgrounds. The admissions process is designed to provide all applicants with a level playing field. While we do expect you to have a good understanding of the syllabus you are studying, we are more interested in your enthusiasm and your ability to reason and think for yourselves.

You should select Natural Sciences on your UCAS form (code BCF0). You’ll then be asked in the My Cambridge Application form which option you wish to study: 

> Biological Natural Sciences 
> Physical Natural Sciences

Read more about these choices at Undergraduate Natural Sciences admission information.

Please note that both Biological and Physical Sciences students can choose from the full range of first year options. If you intend to specialise in Chemistry, you can follow either the Biological or Physical Sciences pathway as long as you meet the subject requirements below.

For both Biological and Physical sciences, we require students taking science A-levels to complete and pass the practical assessment.

If you are taking Scottish Advanced Highers please see the Natural Sciences page in our Scotland section. 

We also welcome applicants with a range of other qualifications - see our international entrance requirements page and do not hesitate to contact the Admissions Office for advice on the subject combinations to take.

All applicants for Natural Sciences at Cambridge must sit a computer-based assessment called the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) as part of the application process. This is the same at all Cambridge Colleges.  

You take the ESAT in person at a Pearson Vue Test Centre. There are test centres in countries all over the world. Please read the ESAT summary and then look at the ESAT-TMUA website for full details, including preparation information, how to register and book your test, and details for UK applicants in financial need and students who have access requirements for a disability.

There is no set score that we are looking for and we don't expect you to get every question right. The ESAT forms part of our holistic admissions process, which means that we will look at your scores in the context of your whole application.

In late November you will receive an email letting you know whether or not you have been selected for interview. Interviews take place online in early December. The selected students are normally interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ’s, we usually split the time into two interviews with subject-relevant academics, and you can choose to have your interviews at home (most applicants do this) or at school if easier. 

The aim of the interviews is to determine applicants' potential to benefit from the Natural Sciences course. This is not the same as factual knowledge, or even necessarily past scholastic achievement: interviewers are more concerned to identify motivation and intellectual potential.

Natural Sciences interviews have no fixed format but might include, for example, discussion of aspects of school coursework, or being presented with a science question in an unfamiliar guise and being encouraged to think it through. 

Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student.

Christ's College does not have fixed quotas of places for different subjects and the exact numbers admitted in any one year will depend upon the strengths of the fields of applicants in various subjects. However, Christ's aim is to admit around 24 to 30 students each year in Natural Sciences.

We define the terms of each offer individually and you will need to be academically ambitious: conditional offers are likely to be minimum A*A*A at A-level, and for IB candidates 42 points overall, with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects, but the majority of Christ’s students arrive with higher grades. Please note that we require A-level students to complete and pass the practical assessment in science subjects.

If you are applying for Natural Sciences (Physical), we would normally ask you to achieve an A* in A-level Mathematics, or a Grade 7 in Higher Level Mathematics (Analysis and Approaches) if you are doing the IB. Almost all successful NSP applicants who take A level Further Mathematics also achieve an A* in this subject.

You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.

If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, applying from a university.

Reading suggestions
Book / resource suggestions for all areas of the Natural Sciences course. Some of the student profiles also recommend books or say what they read. See for example Stratis, Charlotte, Arqum

ESAT preparation materials
Including specification and sample tests with explained answers. There is also an archive of old NSAA papers that contain questions of the kind found in the ESAT.

Biology websites
Yourgenome, Big Picture Biology collection, IntoBiology website, iBiology

Biology podcasts
Teach Me Biology (revision podcast), The Infinite Monkey Cage, Genetics unzipped; Big Biology, The Natural Selection; Bio eats World

Cambridge Chemistry Race
Chemistry Competition for teams of Sixth Form students

Royal Society of Chemistry materials including Periodic table resources, interactive table, app, articles, teacher view and A future in Chemistry

Isaac Physics 
Website to help you develop problem-solving skills in Physics from GCSE to A-level through to the transition to university. See A-level resources and student support. There is also a mentoring scheme, events and opportunity to earn a summer school place. See also Isaac Physics video lesson archive - these lessons cover the core syllabus for A level Physics.

Physics websites: Physics.org, NASA STEM Engagement website, CERN Resources

Advanced Mathematics Support Programme
See in particular A level Mathematics resources and A level Further Mathematics resources. If you are studying independently, Integral offers an online Further Mathematics course. See studying an Advanced Maths option independently, and there are also free Further Maths videos.

Imperial College London A level Further Maths skills course
This is to support students taking Further Maths A level (so you can use the free version) - it does not replace the A level Further Maths qualification.

NRICH Mathematics
Free online resources to help you to develop the advanced applied mathematical skills needed to make the most of the study of sciences at university. See in particular BioNRICH, ChemNRICH, PhysNRICH, Advanced Scientific Mathematics and prepare for university, and live problems

HE+ Mathematics; Resources for students who would like to explore Maths beyond the school curriculum.

Earth Sciences introduction; Earth Sciences is one of the new sciences that you can study in first year - worth a look!

History and Philosophy of Science introduction; Another of the course options  - you can take this from second year if you want to (see routes).

Zoology: Collections in the Cambridge Museum of Zoology and highlights from the collections
Zoology podcasts (ZSL Wild Science)

Watch Cambridge Festival recordings. You can see a selection on Youtube including ones on organoids, developing Medicines in the pandemic, what we've learned about science communication in the pandemic and Marine Biology. There are also podcasts available from previous festivals

Gresham College Science lectures. Free lectures online including individual lectures such as Covid-19 and series such as
Cosmic Concepts; The Unexpected Universe, The Nature of Reality, or Cancer: A fight we are steadily winning. You can search by topics e.g. Biology, Genetics, Immunology, Astronomy or Physics.

Oxford Physics public lectures

Competitions e.g. Quantum on the clock; Big Bang Competition; Schools' Analyst Competition; Newnham College Biological Sciences prize

Crest (Gold) Awards (Complete a project that makes an original contribution to a STEM field of study and submit your findings)

HE+ Biology, HE+ Chemistry, HE+ Physics. Webpages for secondary school students who would like to explore science.

Finding out about research after the undergraduate degree. Hear from students from different departments. See ZooCasts series 1 & ZooCasts series 2; Life Sciences - a day in our lives PhD students & a young person's guide to life sciences (aimed at younger children, but worth a watch by all!)

Darwin resources: Explore the HMS Beagle online, Darwin correspondence project, Christ's Darwin & Evolution website - made by Christ's students a few years ago

CamGuides - Introducing the academic and information skills that you will need during your studies, as well as how and where you would be working.

For more detail of what the course involves, read Undergraduate Natural Sciences admissions on the University website, and look at the Natural Sciences Tripos website and overview booklet for prospective students too.

If you have any other queries, please send them to [email protected] and we’ll help however we can.