Tripos data
This page provides data about the Tripos cohort as a whole, including:
- applications, offers and admissions
- entry qualifications
- examination results
- destinations of graduating students
For details of a particular Tripos please choose from the list below.
Information about the structure of undergraduate courses at Cambridge (the Tripos system) is provided.
More detailed applications and admissions statistics are available on the Undergraduate Admissions website, including statistics by College and an outline of the applications process.
Applications, offers and admissions
Applications, offers and admissions summarised by Tripos and year
Offers and admissions are expressed as percentages of the number of applications for each Tripos. Data is shown for the academic year of application and not the academic year of course entry.
| 2007-8 | 2008-9 | 2009-10 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tripos | Applications | Offers % | Admissions % | Applications | Offers % | Admissions % | Applications | Offers % | Admissions % |
| Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Tripos | 51 | 43.1 % | 37.3 % | 52 | 55.8 % | 48.1 % | 47 | 48.9 % | 44.7 % |
| Archaeological and Anthropological Tripos | 163 | 55.8 % | 49.7 % | 163 | 52.8 % | 42.3 % | 181 | 49.2 % | 36.5 % |
| Architecture Tripos | 388 | 11.6 % | 10.3 % | 499 | 10.4 % | 8.6 % | 464 | 9.5 % | 8.0 % |
| Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Tripos | None | None | None | 188 | 35.1 % | 32.4 % | 149 | 38.3 % | 32.2 % |
| Classical Tripos (3 year course) | 158 | 55.7 % | 51.3 % | 173 | 56.6 % | 50.9 % | 148 | 55.4 % | 48.0 % |
| Classical Tripos (4 year course) | 37 | 40.5 % | 35.1 % | 34 | 32.4 % | 32.4 % | 33 | 45.5 % | 39.4 % |
| Computer Science Tripos | 225 | 37.8 % | 32.4 % | 329 | 28.0 % | 21.0 % | 272 | 30.1 % | 27.9 % |
| Economics Tripos | 1,256 | 16.1 % | 14.7 % | 1,396 | 14.4 % | 12.8 % | 1,342 | 14.8 % | 12.6 % |
| Education Tripos | 106 | 52.8 % | 40.6 % | 98 | 51.0 % | 42.9 % | 103 | 46.6 % | 42.7 % |
| Engineering Tripos | 1,353 | 27.7 % | 24.6 % | 1,546 | 22.4 % | 19.9 % | 1,798 | 21.6 % | 18.7 % |
| English Tripos | 879 | 24.9 % | 23.1 % | 1,035 | 22.9 % | 21.4 % | 875 | 25.4 % | 23.2 % |
| Geographical Tripos | 356 | 35.7 % | 33.7 % | 332 | 34.3 % | 29.8 % | 337 | 35.9 % | 30.0 % |
| Historical Tripos | 758 | 31.1 % | 29.0 % | 772 | 29.5 % | 27.2 % | 731 | 30.1 % | 27.2 % |
| History of Art Tripos | 110 | 30.0 % | 27.3 % | 126 | 31.0 % | 27.0 % | 139 | 22.3 % | 22.3 % |
| Land Economy Tripos | 259 | 24.3 % | 23.2 % | 261 | 24.1 % | 21.5 % | 230 | 28.3 % | 24.3 % |
| Law Tripos | 1,068 | 22.8 % | 20.6 % | 1,062 | 23.2 % | 20.6 % | 1,143 | 21.1 % | 18.6 % |
| Linguistics Tripos | None | None | None | None | None | None | 86 | 40.7 % | 26.7 % |
| Mathematical Tripos | 1,172 | 39.2 % | 21.9 % | 1,177 | 36.8 % | 20.7 % | 1,196 | 36.9 % | 19.4 % |
| Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (Preclinical medical course) | 1,520 | 19.7 % | 18.9 % | 1,702 | 17.0 % | 16.2 % | 1,742 | 16.9 % | 16.1 % |
| Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (Preclinical veterinary course) | 375 | 23.5 % | 20.3 % | 414 | 20.3 % | 18.1 % | 446 | 20.2 % | 17.5 % |
| Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos | 564 | 35.6 % | 33.3 % | 605 | 33.4 % | 31.6 % | 580 | 32.8 % | 28.3 % |
| Music Tripos | 165 | 43.6 % | 40.0 % | 182 | 42.3 % | 39.0 % | 157 | 40.8 % | 36.3 % |
| Natural Sciences Tripos | 2,109 | 32.8 % | 30.3 % | 2,278 | 30.9 % | 28.4 % | 2,378 | 29.4 % | 26.8 % |
| Philosophy Tripos | 240 | 20.8 % | 19.6 % | 312 | 17.9 % | 16.7 % | 254 | 21.3 % | 17.7 % |
| Politics, Psychology and Sociology Tripos | 636 | 20.1 % | 17.6 % | 689 | 17.9 % | 16.0 % | 798 | 18.2 % | 15.5 % |
| Theological and Religious Studies Tripos | 155 | 41.3 % | 35.5 % | 124 | 48.4 % | 46.8 % | 111 | 46.8 % | 41.4 % |
Admissions information is not available for all courses. Please refer to course pages for further details.
Please note that:
- the 'Oriental Studies Tripos' has been replaced by the 'Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Tripos';
- the 'Politics, Psychology and Sociology Tripos' was formerly known as the 'Social and Political Sciences Tripos';
- the 'Linguistics Tripos was introduced as a full Tripos from 2010-11. Before then it was a single Part Tripos taken after Part I of another Tripos.
Applications, offers and admissions summarised by year
Offers and admissions are expressed as percentages of the number of applications. Data is shown for the academic year of application and not the academic year of course entry.
| Year | Applications | Offers % | Offers through winter pool % | Admissions through summer pool % | All admissions % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | 10,177 | 26.1 % | 0.0 % | TBA | TBA |
| 2010-11 | 15,966 | 21.3 % | 0.0 % | TBA | TBA |
| 2009-10 | 15,966 | 25.2 % | 4.7 % | 0.3 % | 21.3 % |
More detailed information on student admissions and an explanation of the "pool system" can be found on the applications process webpage.
Entry qualifications
Applicants' A-level tariff scores summarised by year
Applications are expressed as a percentage of the number of applicants who have a particular A-level tariff. Acceptances are expressed as a percentage of the number of applicants accepted by the University. Data is shown for the academic year of application and not the academic year of course entry.
| 2007-8 | 2008-9 | 2009-10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Applications % | Acceptances % | Applications % | Acceptances % | Applications % | Acceptances % |
| 360+ | 81.2 % | 98.3 % | 80.0 % | 98.4 % | 87.1 % | 99.5 % |
| 340 | 10.9 % | 1.6 % | 11.6 % | 1.4 % | 6.7 % | 0.3 % |
| 320 | 4.6 % | 0.1 % | 4.6 % | <0.1 % | 3.4 % | 0.1 % |
| 300 | 1.7 % | None | 1.9 % | None | 1.4 % | <0.1 % |
| 280 | 0.7 % | None | 0.9 % | 0.1 % | 0.7 % | <0.1 % |
| 260 | 0.4 % | None | 0.5 % | <0.1 % | 0.4 % | None |
| 240 | 0.2 % | None | 0.2 % | None | 0.3 % | None |
| 220 | 0.1 % | None | 0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None |
| 200 | <0.1 % | None | 0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None |
| 180 | 0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None |
| 160 | <0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None |
| 140 | None | None | <0.1 % | None | None | None |
| 120 | <0.1 % | None | <0.1 % | None | None | None |
| 100 | None | None | None | None | None | None |
More information about the UCAS tariff is available on the UCAS website.
Examination results
Most Triposes award a divided second class, i.e. an upper or lower second, commonly referred to as "2.1" or "2.2". However, several Triposes award an undivided second class. Please refer to the individual Tripos page to determine the type of second class offered.
Unlike many universities no official class is assigned to the overall degree issued by the University of Cambridge. Instead, each Part of a Tripos is self-contained and students obtain separate results for each one: there is no averaging out for a final degree. See the explanatory note for further information.
In the tables below the "other" category includes students who have failed, those who have been deemed to have passed the course but did not obtain honours, and those who have been given dispensation to pass the examination with honours.
Results for Tripos examinations with a divided second class summarised by year
Percentage of students achieving a particular class.
| Year | Students | First class % | Upper second % | Lower second % | Third % | Other % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 9,320 | 22.9 % | 57.6 % | 15.5 % | 2.8 % | 1.3 % |
| 2008-9 | 9,130 | 22.5 % | 55.9 % | 17.9 % | 2.5 % | 1.2 % |
| 2007-8 | 9,080 | 22.9 % | 56.4 % | 17.2 % | 2.5 % | 0.9 % |
Results for Tripos examinations with an undivided second class summarised by year
Percentage of students achieving a particular class.
| Year | Students | First class % | Second % | Third % | Other % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 1,084 | 21.1 % | 73.7 % | 4.6 % | 0.6 % |
| 2008-9 | 1,072 | 21.6 % | 73.4 % | 4.4 % | 0.6 % |
| 2007-8 | 1,015 | 23.3 % | 70.9 % | 5.1 % | 0.7 % |
Destinations of graduating students
Destination data is derived from the national "Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey" undertaken by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
More information about student destinations after graduation is available on the Careers Service website.
Known destinations
Percentage of graduating students responding to the survey.
| Year | Graduating students | Respondents | Respondents % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 3,171 | 2,532 | 79.8 % |
| 2008-9 | 3,170 | 2,596 | 81.9 % |
| 2007-8 | 3,409 | 2,715 | 79.6 % |
Destinations summarised by destination and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating students that responded.
| 2007-8 | 2008-9 | 2009-10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Employment | 1,403 | 51.7 % | 1,390 | 53.5 % | 1,381 | 54.5 % |
| Further study | 1,014 | 37.3 % | 974 | 37.5 % | 921 | 36.4 % |
| Still seeking employment or work | 147 | 5.4 % | 81 | 3.1 % | 122 | 4.8 % |
| Travelling or unavailable for work | 151 | 5.6 % | 151 | 5.8 % | 108 | 4.3 % |
Further study destinations summarised by type of study and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they were undertaking further study.
| 2007-8 | 2008-9 | 2009-10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Further study - degree by research | 236 | 23.3 % | 306 | 31.4 % | 323 | 35.1 % |
| Further study - degree by taught course | 570 | 56.2 % | 465 | 47.7 % | 430 | 46.7 % |
| Further study - legal training | 142 | 14.0 % | 128 | 13.1 % | 128 | 13.9 % |
| Further study - teacher training | 66 | 6.5 % | 75 | 7.7 % | 40 | 4.3 % |
Employment destinations summarised by employment sector and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they had entered employment.
| 2007-8 | 2008-9 | 2009-10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment sector | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Accountancy and tax | 46 | 3.3 % | 51 | 3.7 % | 47 | 3.4 % |
| Actuarial and insurance | 18 | 1.3 % | 17 | 1.2 % | 17 | 1.2 % |
| Arts and recreation | 40 | 2.9 % | 54 | 3.9 % | 43 | 3.1 % |
| Banking and investment | 102 | 7.3 % | 118 | 8.5 % | 127 | 9.2 % |
| Communications business | 13 | 0.9 % | 31 | 2.2 % | 41 | 3.0 % |
| Health | 163 | 11.6 % | 153 | 11.0 % | 138 | 10.0 % |
| IT sector | 52 | 3.7 % | 58 | 4.2 % | 70 | 5.1 % |
| Legal | 21 | 1.5 % | 17 | 1.2 % | 17 | 1.2 % |
| Management consulting | 81 | 5.8 % | 34 | 2.4 % | 57 | 4.1 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: business | 42 | 3.0 % | 41 | 2.9 % | 41 | 3.0 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: technical | 31 | 2.2 % | 65 | 4.7 % | 48 | 3.5 % |
| Other service industries | 169 | 12.0 % | 161 | 11.6 % | 125 | 9.1 % |
| Other/insufficient data | 224 | 16.0 % | 191 | 13.7 % | 244 | 17.7 % |
| Public service | 82 | 5.8 % | 93 | 6.7 % | 79 | 5.7 % |
| Publishing and media | 69 | 4.9 % | 32 | 2.3 % | 67 | 4.9 % |
| Research - science | 29 | 2.1 % | 52 | 3.7 % | 21 | 1.5 % |
| Research - social science/humanities | 12 | 0.9 % | 14 | 1.0 % | 15 | 1.1 % |
| Social, community and charity | 85 | 6.1 % | 87 | 6.3 % | 77 | 5.6 % |
| Teaching/lecturing | 124 | 8.8 % | 121 | 8.7 % | 107 | 7.7 % |