Key Facts · Cambridge
Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge is a three-year BA (Hons), UCAS code V600, with an A*AA A-level offer and no admissions assessment for 2027 entry. Applicants should plan for 2 pieces of written work, College-dependent interviews, and a course that moves from broad foundations to specialist papers or dissertation.
Section 01
Cambridge lists this course as Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion, BA (Hons), and the current official course page uses the current BA (Hons) course URL as the canonical page.
The official course page gives Cambridge a Complete University Guide 2026 subject rank of #2. In the peer comparison used for this guide, Cambridge sits alongside Durham, Oxford, St Andrews, Bristol, and Edinburgh; the Guardian and Times peer-table values remain caveated as partial until separately captured from official tables.
The course is built around breadth in the first year, increasing choice in the second year, and advanced specialisation or dissertation work in the third year. Strong applicants tend to show that they can move between textual, historical, philosophical, ethical, and social-scientific ways of thinking.
How It Ranks Against Peers
| University | Guardian UK | CUG UK | Times UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham University | #1 | #1 | #1 |
| University of Cambridge | #3 | #2 | #2 |
| University of Oxford | #2 | #4 | #4 |
| University of St Andrews | — | #3 | #5 |
| University of Bristol | #8 | #6 | #6= |
| University of Edinburgh | #5 | #11 | #13 |
Durham University
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
University of St Andrews
University of Bristol
University of Edinburgh
Ranks shown are UK subject-table positions from the three major UK guides. World rankings are not included — UK applicants compare using UK-focused sources.
Section 02
International Applicants
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Select a highlighted country to see the admissions-test, score, and English-language requirements that apply specifically to applicants from that country.
Section 03
| Qualification | Typical Offer | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| A-Level | A*AA; no specific subjects required. | |
| IB Diploma | 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level; no specific subjects required. | |
| Advanced Placement (AP) | Minimum five AP Tests at score 5 in subjects relevant to the course, plus strong SAT or ACT results and high High School Diploma performance. |
Section 04
YEAR 12
Use Year 12 to read across theology, religion, ethics, philosophy, history, literature, languages, and social-scientific approaches to religion. Keep short notes on arguments, texts, and questions that could later shape your personal statement, submitted work choices, and interview discussion.
Tip:Prioritise depth over name-dropping: be ready to explain what you thought about a text, not just that you read it.
12 MAY
UCAS applications for 2027 entry open on 12 May 2026, although completed applications cannot be submitted until 1 September. Use this period to confirm the course code V600, choose a College or open application, and draft the personal statement.
Tip:Ask your referee early so the reference is ready before the October deadline.
1 SEP
Completed UCAS applications can be submitted from 1 September 2026. Cambridge applicants should aim to submit well before the final October deadline so there is time to resolve school-reference, payment, or technical issues.
Tip:Check that the institution code is C05 and the UCAS course code is V600 before submission.
15 OCT
The UCAS deadline for Cambridge 2027 entry is 15 October 2026 at 6pm UK time. Late applications to Cambridge are not normally treated as equal-consideration applications.
Tip:Do not leave submission to the final hour; school or college applications may need internal approval before UCAS receives them.
22 OCT
Most applicants must complete My Cambridge Application by 22 October 2026 at 6pm UK time. This supplementary form is sent after UCAS submission and is part of Cambridge's application process.
Tip:Prepare qualification details, high-school topics, and any transcript information in advance, especially if applying internationally.
NOV — DEC
Cambridge's course page states: "You will need to submit 2 pieces of written work." The Faculty page says applicants to all Colleges except Hughes Hall and St Edmund's are required to submit one or two School/college essays as examples of written work prior to interview. Follow the exact instructions from your College. Most interview invitations are sent in November, with some in early December. Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion interviews are academic conversations that may ask you to discuss your interests, school topics, personal statement, submitted work, and unfamiliar stimulus material.
Tip:Use the College written-work instructions, then practise thinking aloud about short extracts, images, ethical claims, or philosophical arguments rather than memorising model answers.
7—18 DEC
The main Cambridge interview period for 2027 entry is 7 to 18 December 2026. Exact arrangements are College-dependent; Cambridge centrally says most applicants have 1 or 2 interviews lasting 35 minutes to an hour in total, while Trinity Hall gives two interviews of around 25 minutes as a College example.
Tip:Keep the interview period free; Cambridge says interviews are not normally rescheduled except in exceptional circumstances.
27 JAN
Applicants interviewed in the main December 2026 period receive the outcome on 27 January 2027. Outcomes may include an offer from the original College or, through pooling, a different College.
Tip:Check both email and UCAS Hub during the day; Cambridge says Colleges send decisions by email in the morning and UCAS Hub updates by mid-afternoon.
MAY — AUG
Most offer holders take A level, IB, or other examinations in May to June 2027, with results and final Cambridge confirmation in August 2027. If holding a conditional offer, Cambridge will confirm whether the conditions have been met once relevant results are available.
Tip:Track your personal UCAS reply deadline and make Cambridge your firm or insurance choice only after comparing all offers.
YEAR 12
Use Year 12 to read across theology, religion, ethics, philosophy, history, literature, languages, and social-scientific approaches to religion. Keep short notes on arguments, texts, and questions that could later shape your personal statement, submitted work choices, and interview discussion.
Tip:Prioritise depth over name-dropping: be ready to explain what you thought about a text, not just that you read it.
12 MAY
UCAS applications for 2027 entry open on 12 May 2026, although completed applications cannot be submitted until 1 September. Use this period to confirm the course code V600, choose a College or open application, and draft the personal statement.
Tip:Ask your referee early so the reference is ready before the October deadline.
1 SEP
Completed UCAS applications can be submitted from 1 September 2026. Cambridge applicants should aim to submit well before the final October deadline so there is time to resolve school-reference, payment, or technical issues.
Tip:Check that the institution code is C05 and the UCAS course code is V600 before submission.
15 OCT
The UCAS deadline for Cambridge 2027 entry is 15 October 2026 at 6pm UK time. Late applications to Cambridge are not normally treated as equal-consideration applications.
Tip:Do not leave submission to the final hour; school or college applications may need internal approval before UCAS receives them.
22 OCT
Most applicants must complete My Cambridge Application by 22 October 2026 at 6pm UK time. This supplementary form is sent after UCAS submission and is part of Cambridge's application process.
Tip:Prepare qualification details, high-school topics, and any transcript information in advance, especially if applying internationally.
NOV — DEC
Cambridge's course page states: "You will need to submit 2 pieces of written work." The Faculty page says applicants to all Colleges except Hughes Hall and St Edmund's are required to submit one or two School/college essays as examples of written work prior to interview. Follow the exact instructions from your College. Most interview invitations are sent in November, with some in early December. Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion interviews are academic conversations that may ask you to discuss your interests, school topics, personal statement, submitted work, and unfamiliar stimulus material.
Tip:Use the College written-work instructions, then practise thinking aloud about short extracts, images, ethical claims, or philosophical arguments rather than memorising model answers.
7—18 DEC
The main Cambridge interview period for 2027 entry is 7 to 18 December 2026. Exact arrangements are College-dependent; Cambridge centrally says most applicants have 1 or 2 interviews lasting 35 minutes to an hour in total, while Trinity Hall gives two interviews of around 25 minutes as a College example.
Tip:Keep the interview period free; Cambridge says interviews are not normally rescheduled except in exceptional circumstances.
27 JAN
Applicants interviewed in the main December 2026 period receive the outcome on 27 January 2027. Outcomes may include an offer from the original College or, through pooling, a different College.
Tip:Check both email and UCAS Hub during the day; Cambridge says Colleges send decisions by email in the morning and UCAS Hub updates by mid-afternoon.
MAY — AUG
Most offer holders take A level, IB, or other examinations in May to June 2027, with results and final Cambridge confirmation in August 2027. If holding a conditional offer, Cambridge will confirm whether the conditions have been met once relevant results are available.
Tip:Track your personal UCAS reply deadline and make Cambridge your firm or insurance choice only after comparing all offers.
Section 05
There is no admissions assessment for Cambridge Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion. The official course page states this directly. Source: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/theology-religion-philosophy-of-religion-ba-hons
Applicants should focus instead on the evidence Cambridge will read: academic record, reference, personal statement, two pieces of written work and interview performance. Preparation should therefore prioritise careful reading, argument analysis and the ability to discuss your written work and wider reading.
Section 06
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
Question Types You’ll See
The interview is a supervision-style academic conversation, and exact arrangements are confirmed by the assessing College.
Expect to discuss your personal statement, submitted work, recent school topics, and unfamiliar material such as a short text, quotation, image, or other stimulus.
Preparation should focus on the movement from observation to argument. Read a short passage, define the problem, make a provisional claim, then test it against an objection.
The aim is not to recite a perfect answer. It helps to show how you clarify terms, revise a view, and use evidence when the interviewer pushes the discussion further.
Practise with realistic questions from our free Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion mock interview bank.
Free Mock Questions →Section 07
Weighting of Admission Factors
100%
Indicative — exact balance varies by college and year.
The decision is College-led and holistic, using academic record, predicted achievement, reference, personal statement, submitted written work where requested, contextual information, and interview performance if interviewed.
For this course, Cambridge states that there is no admissions assessment and that applicants need to submit 2 pieces of written work.
In reality, the application has to cohere. Strong grades help, but the file is more persuasive when essays, reading, written work, and interview discussion all point to the same intellectual seriousness.
Section 08
Use the personal statement to show how you think about religion, theology, ethics, scripture, and philosophical argument. Do not turn it into a list of books.
In our experience, a strong paragraph normally has four parts: a text or problem, the question it raised, your answer so far, and what you still find difficult. That structure is useful because the interview may return to personal-statement material.
For this course, it helps to connect at least two modes of study. For example, you might compare philosophical reasoning about evil with a historical or scriptural treatment of suffering.
Avoid broad claims about being fascinated by religion in general. Make the claim smaller, sharper, and easier to discuss under pressure.
See a full annotated example with line-by-line expert commentary.
Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion PS Example →Section 09
Projects are useful because they turn reading into an argument.
Choose one question and keep the scope tight. A project should show that you can handle sources, compare methods, and revise your view when the evidence becomes more complicated.
How to present a Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion project:
Other activities work best when they build method, not just volume. Use them to practise close reading, argument, listening, and interpretation.
These are support, not substitute.
Competitions are not required, but they can stretch your writing and help you test an argument against a demanding prompt.
None are required; one or two done well beats five half-attempted.
Section 10
The first year introduces core concepts, knowledge and skills. Students take five papers: one scriptural language from scratch, one biblical studies paper, and three further papers chosen from a set of introductory options.
A scriptural language studied from scratch is a distinctive compulsory first-year element.
The second year builds on the knowledge and skills developed in Part I. Students choose four papers from a wider list of around 17 options, with the opportunity to pursue more specialised interests and, if they wish, continue or add a scriptural language.
Students can take selected papers from Social Anthropology and may also take the first-year Meaning paper from Philosophy.
The final year gives students the widest scope to develop specialist interests. Students choose four papers from advanced topics and may replace one paper with a guided 10,000-word dissertation.
The dissertation option allows students to pursue a guided research project on a topic of their choice.
Section 11
Start with a short philosophy text such as Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction by Tim Bayne, then pair it with a broader theology introduction such as Theology: A Very Short Introduction by David F. Ford. These are candidate resources for preparation, not official Cambridge recommendations.
For scripture and historical context, Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature give structured lecture routes into Hebrew Bible and New Testament study.
To broaden across traditions, the HarvardX courses Christianity Through Its Scriptures, Buddhism Through Its Scriptures, and Islam Through Its Scriptures are useful because the Cambridge course can move between scriptural, historical, philosophical, and comparative approaches.
For method and argument, use The Religious Studies Project, Philosophy Bites, and In Our Time: Religion to hear academic disagreement handled in a precise way.
For video, the University of Cambridge channel is useful for official Cambridge material, while Wireless Philosophy helps applicants practise philosophy-style argument analysis.
Keep a reading log with three columns: claim, evidence, and objection. That is especially useful for this course because interviews may involve an unfamiliar extract, image, quotation, or other stimulus that you need to analyse immediately.
Section 12
29 colleges offer this subject. ~19% of places come through the pool.
For this course, Cambridge's course page says it is available at all undergraduate Colleges except Churchill, and an open application is possible if you do not have a strong College preference.
College choice affects accommodation, community, location, facilities, some interview logistics, and sometimes qualification policies. It should not be treated as a back-door admissions strategy.
The relevant reallocation system is the Winter Pool, and Cambridge reports that about 19% of October 2024 applications were placed in the pool.
Section 13
Where graduates of this course head after leaving — by sector, as reported in the university’s destinations survey.
Full employer lists, median salary bands, and sector notes live on the careers data page.
Cambridge Careers Service describes graduates moving into further study and professional routes including teaching, welfare professions, business, public service, the Civil Service, law, international development, the arts, banking, investment, media, and communications.
The most useful employability story is not that the degree trains for one job. It is that it builds careful reading, argument, interpretation, intercultural literacy, and research habits that transfer across several professional settings.
Section 14
Cambridge uses contextual information as part of a holistic admissions process and says it helps admissions staff interpret achievement in context.
Contextual information may include school or college context, individual circumstances, care experience, refugee or humanitarian protection status, estrangement, free school meals, and serious disruption to education.
For this course, lack of access to Religious Studies or Philosophy at school should not be treated as disqualifying because there are no required subjects.
Applicants can explain subject availability plainly and then show preparation through essay-based subjects, independent philosophical reading, close reading of texts in translation, public lectures, or careful engagement with religious or interfaith contexts where access has been possible.
Watch & Learn
Student vlogs, mock interviews, lecture tasters, and admissions advice.
Official Faculty of Divinity introduction to the Cambridge course and its breadth.
Cambridge Open Day-style introduction to the subject and how it is studied at Cambridge.
Cambridge-focused overview of philosophy of religion as the study of God, arguments, and belief.
Short argument-focused introduction to a central philosophy of religion problem.
Accessible religious-studies introduction to the difficulty of defining religion.
All videos are the property of their respective creators.
Further Reading
Super-curricular reading, websites, and tools recommended by our expert tutors.
by University of Cambridge
Primary source for current entry requirements, course structure, assessment, and application details.
by University of Cambridge
Explains what Cambridge interviews are for, how they work, and how applicants should prepare.
by University of Cambridge
Country-by-country qualification guidance for international applicants.
by Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge
Useful for exploring the academic home of the course, staff interests, events, and subject culture.
by Open Yale Courses
A free lecture course using historical-critical and literary approaches to scripture.
by Open Yale Courses
A free lecture course on early Christian texts, context, and historical interpretation.
by The Religious Studies Project
A broad academic podcast for exploring methods, theories, and traditions in religious studies.
by Tim Bayne
A concise first book for building vocabulary around theism, atheism, evil, faith, and reason.
Free Resource
Free Admissions Newsletter
Weekly tips on Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion admissions, application deadlines, and interview prep — straight from Cambridge graduates.