What is a mature college?
St Edmund’s is one of three Cambridge colleges that only admits students who are aged 21 or over when their course starts. These are known as ‘mature’ colleges.
I am over 21. Why should I choose a mature college?
Good question. St Edmund’s, or ‘Eddies’, as we’re affectionately known, is home to around 850 students, from over 80 countries, aged between 21 and 75. This breadth of age and background creates a genuinely diverse and welcoming community.
Unlike many colleges, our postgraduate and undergraduate students live and socialise together, fostering a strong sense of connection. Conversations are richer, perspectives are broader, and students benefit from sharing a wide range of life experiences.
Our community is something students consistently value. It gives Eddies a relaxed, inclusive and distinctly grown-up atmosphere, where most people have lived away from home before and bring a greater sense of independence to College life.
For students with partners and/or young children, we can provide family-friendly accommodation – two and three-bed flats – on site.
Our Admissions Team is well-practised in assessing applications from students with a diverse range of different entry profiles and qualifications, including international qualifications.
I didn’t go to university when I was 18, should I consider going to university now I’m older?
There are many advantages to coming to university later in life. You could study a degree which will enable you to further or change your career or you could study a subject simply because you have always been really interested in it. At St Edmund’s, our students are at different stages of their lives. We have students with young children whose degrees will be used to boost their careers once their children are older, whilst some students have older children who have now left home allowing them to focus more on themselves and their studies. Some of our students started a degree at 18 but decided they hadn’t made the right choice and took more time to consider their options before applying to us. Many of our students find that being older means they are better placed to choose what to study. Their increased self-awareness and life experience allows them to form good study habits and to make the most of the opportunities which being at university offers. No matter what your age, you will fit in with our mature student community.
Subjects include:
- Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
- Archaeology
- Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- Classics
- Education
- English
- Geography
- History
- History and Modern Languages
- History and Politics
- History of Art
- Human, Social and Political Sciences
- Land Economy
- Law
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Modern and Medieval Languages
- Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
- Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion
In many of these subjects, we accept applications from those who already have an undergraduate degree and wish to study a second as an affiliate student (where you complete the course in one year less).
Visit our subjects page to discover more.
