Key facts

Average number of students offered a place per year

7

Average number of applicants per year

26

Our standard conditional offer for this subject is usually A*AA at A level or 41 - 43 points overall and 7, 7, 6 at Higher Level in IB.  All Colleges may modify offers to take account of individual circumstances.  Further information can be found here.

Geography is one of the most exciting, challenging and relevant subjects you can study at university. Our first-year students take on topics as wide ranging as climate change, globalisation, biodiversity and colonial history.  In the second and third years, students begin to specialise in human or physical geography, although many prefer to keep a balance between the two.

Students attend lectures at the Geography Department and small group supervisions at the College. Supervisions in Human Geography are mostly done by Downing Fellows, and we have excellent arrangements with specialist supervisors in Physical Geography.

Professor Bill Adams is coordinator of the Society, Environment and Development research cluster at the Department of Geography. Bill specialises in environmental conservation and African rural development.

Dr Michael Bravo heads the Science and Development Group at the Scott Polar Research Institute, and studies environmental history and contemporary development in the Arctic Regions.

The subjects most relevant to Geography at Cambridge, apart from Geography which itself is not strictly essential, include Geology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Economics, Modern Languages and History.

At present, Geography applicants receive two interviews on the same day, each with two interviewers. Both interviews are largely subject based, although more general questions may also be asked.

Applicants will be given a written piece to study just before each interview, a discussion of which will form part of the interview. There is no requirement to sit a written test or to bring any material along to the interview.

Further advice about entry requirements and interviews for all subjects can be found in the Applying to Downing section of this site.

We don’t issue a reading list for prospective applicants, but suggest that they maintain a strong interest in an area of geography that appeals to them. This might come from a range of sources such as newspapers, current affairs journals, novels or magazines like:

  • New Scientist
  • The Economist
  • National Geographic
  • the Geographical Magazine
  • Geography Review.

More resources are available at www.discoverdowning.com/subjects/geography

Further details about the Geography course at the University of Cambridge can be found at the University of Cambridge site.

Love Your Subject: Geography