The Cambridge Mathematics course is one of the most successful in the world for producing mathematicians and theoretical physicists. It is intensive, demands systematic hard work, and is immensely rewarding.
Mathematics at Trinity Hall is notable for its added value: our students come from a variety of backgrounds, but they end up doing rather better than the University average, and our top students become among the top in the UK.
If you are prepared to work hard on lots of new mathematics and in three years want to be the best mathematician you have the potential to be, then this is the choice for you.
The Cambridge Mathematics course is often considered to be the most demanding undergraduate Mathematics course available in Britain and, correspondingly, one of the most rewarding.
Two aspects of the course that our students greatly appreciate are its flexibility and the breadth of subjects offered. The amount of choice increases each year, and after year 1 the workload isn’t fixed, so you can choose the number of options you study to suit your own work pattern. Some students take as many options as they can; others take fewer and study them very thoroughly.
In Year 1, you typically have 12 lectures and two supervisions each week. In the following years, the greater choice and flexibility means that the pattern of lectures and supervisions is more irregular, but the average load is roughly the same.
You sit four written examination papers each year in the first three years. In addition, there are optional computer projects in Years 2 and 3. In the fourth year, each course is examined individually, and you have the option of submitting an essay on a current research topic.
In the first year, there are two options to choose from:
You should state in your Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) which option you wish to take, though it’s possible to change when you start the course. You can still continue with Mathematics in the second year if you take Mathematics with Physics.
| Typical Offer Conditions | |
| A–Level: | A*A*A |
| IB: | 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level |
| Other: | See the University’s Entrance Requirements page |
| STEP: | All offers include certain grades in STEP Mathematics – this is most commonly 1,1 in Papers II and III. Depending on individual circumstances, we may make an A Level applicant an offer which will be met if they achieve either A*A*A with at least grade 1 in two STEP papers or A*A*A* with at least grade 1 in one of the two STEP papers taken. |
| Subject Requirements | |
| Pure & Applied Maths: | Mathematics and Further Mathematics, STEP |
| Maths with Physics: | Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics (or Mathematics and Further Mathematics, including the section on Mechanics), STEP |
None.
None.
A collection of free online STEP Preparation resources is available to help potential university applicants prepare for sitting STEP Mathematics examinations.
These resources have been designed as a series of linked modules for individual additional study. The programme is aimed at maths students who have completed the first year of A-level or equivalent study: students can start working on them from the summer after the end of Year 12 (past STEP candidates often say they wished they had started preparation early), but equally it is possible to start later and catch up.
Each module consists of problems, articles, worked examples, advice for STEP candidates and much more. By working through these modules, students will learn and practise the problem-solving skills and new mathematical techniques needed for STEP, and have a good idea of what to expect by the time they sit the exam at the end of Year 13.
Stephen Siklos’s Advanced Problems in Mathematics is a useful resource for teachers and students and is free to read online and download. The questions analysed in this book are all based on recent STEP questions selected to address the syllabus for Papers I and II, which is the A-level core (i.e. C1 to C4) with a few additions. Each question is followed by a comment and a full solution. The comments direct the reader’s attention to key points and put the question in its true mathematical context. The solutions point students to the methodology required to address advanced mathematical problems critically and independently. This book is recommended as preparation for any undergraduate mathematics course, even for students who do not plan to take the Sixth Term Examination Paper.
