Overview
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.
Why study Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge?
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.
Section 01
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International Applicants
Pick a highlighted country to see the admissions-test, score, and English-language requirements that apply for applicants from that country.
Section 02
| Qualification | Typical Offer | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| A-Level | A*AA | Religious Studies, Philosophy, History, A modern or classical language recommended. |
| IB Diploma | 40–42 with 776 at HL | |
| 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 03
Jun–Jul 2026
Open days & shortlist colleges
Visit Cambridge in person if you can. Open days run in late June and early July. Begin narrowing your college list and reading first-year reading lists.
Sep 2026
Draft your personal statement
Write for the subject, not the institution. Cambridge admissions tutors look for ~80% academic content and genuine super-curricular engagement.
15 Oct 2026
UCAS deadline
Submit your UCAS application by 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2026.
22 Oct 2026
My Cambridge Application deadline
Complete the My Cambridge Application supplementary questionnaire by 18:00 UK time on 22 October 2026. This replaced the old SAQ.
10 Nov 2026
Submitted written work deadline
Most arts and humanities courses ask for one or two pieces of marked school work. Each college confirms its exact deadline; 10 November is the standard date.
Dec 2026
Interviews
Around three-quarters of applicants are interviewed. Typically 1–2 interviews of 25–45 minutes each at your chosen or allocated college.
27 Jan 2027
Main decisions released
Cambridge releases its main decisions on 27 January 2027. Around a quarter of offers are made through the Winter Pool, strong applicants reconsidered by colleges with remaining places.
Jun–Jul 2026
Open days & shortlist colleges
Visit Cambridge in person if you can. Open days run in late June and early July. Begin narrowing your college list and reading first-year reading lists.
Sep 2026
Draft your personal statement
Write for the subject, not the institution. Cambridge admissions tutors look for ~80% academic content and genuine super-curricular engagement.
15 Oct 2026
UCAS deadline
Submit your UCAS application by 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2026.
22 Oct 2026
My Cambridge Application deadline
Complete the My Cambridge Application supplementary questionnaire by 18:00 UK time on 22 October 2026. This replaced the old SAQ.
10 Nov 2026
Submitted written work deadline
Most arts and humanities courses ask for one or two pieces of marked school work. Each college confirms its exact deadline; 10 November is the standard date.
Dec 2026
Interviews
Around three-quarters of applicants are interviewed. Typically 1–2 interviews of 25–45 minutes each at your chosen or allocated college.
27 Jan 2027
Main decisions released
Cambridge releases its main decisions on 27 January 2027. Around a quarter of offers are made through the Winter Pool, strong applicants reconsidered by colleges with remaining places.
Section 04
Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion at University of Cambridge does not require a written admissions test for 2027 entry. Applications are assessed on academic record, personal statement, submitted written work (where requested), and interview performance.
Always verify on the official Oxford admissions tests page.
Section 05
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 mock interview question bank.
Free Mock Questions →
Section 06
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.
Our recommendation · weighting of admission factors
Oxbridge Mentors recommendation, drawn from observed offer patterns. University of Cambridge does not publish official weightings — exact balance varies by college, course and year.
Section 07
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 08
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.
Section 08
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.
Primary text reading:
Read short, carefully chosen passages from scripture, theology, philosophy, or religious history, then write notes on context, interpretation, and ambiguity rather than simply summarising.
Academic lectures and podcasts:
Use university lectures, public talks, and scholarly podcasts to encounter multiple methods: textual, historical, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and ethical.
Essay practice:
Write timed and untimed essays that defend a clear position, consider objections, and use examples precisely. This is especially valuable because Cambridge interviews mirror supervision-style discussion and submitted written work is required.
Language and textual awareness:
Beginner-level exposure to Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Latin, or another relevant language can help applicants understand translation, interpretation, and textual tradition, but it is not required.
Museums, places of worship, and ethical observation:
Use visits to museums, exhibitions, religious sites, or public events to ask analytical questions about practice, material culture, authority, ritual, and identity. Avoid treating lived communities as interview material without consent.
Discussion groups:
Join or create a reading group where participants disagree productively. Practise listening, clarifying definitions, and revising arguments in response to challenge.
Section 08
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 09
Year
01 / 03
1
Foundations across theology, religion and philosophy of religion
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.
Year
02 / 03
2
Breadth and early tailoring
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.
Year
03 / 03
3
Advanced specialisation and optional dissertation
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.
Section 10
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 11
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 12
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 13
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.
