The University started as a group of scholars in the city of Cambridge. This may have started in 1209, when scholars left Oxford after a fight with local people. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are often called "Oxbridge". This is not a different university. It is a way of saying Oxford and Cambridge together. Cambridge University and Oxford University are both very important to the history of England.
Cambridge is usually ranked in the world's top five universities. UK rankings and tests on the quality of its research also rate it very highly. Cambridge has more than 18,000 students and many sport clubs and societies.
Many important people studied at the University of Cambridge, including scientists, poets, artists, politicians and members of the British Royal Family. 121 former students and staff from Cambridge later won a Nobel Prize.
The official creation of the University was in 1231, when King Henry III of England gave people the right to teach students and lower taxes. A letter from Pope Gregory IX in 1233 also gave the right to everyone who got a degree from Cambridge to teach in any place in the Christian world.
In 1290, Pope Nicholas IV called Cambridge a "studium generale" (name for a university in Medieval times). From that point many researchers and teachers from other European universities started to come to Cambridge to work or give lessons.
Colleges started as places for students and teachers to live. They were called hostels at first. The students paid money to build and run these hostels. All colleges were formed after the beginning of the University. Over the years, colleges bought all of these hostels back. However, some old names still resist today, such as Garret Hostel Lane which was named after Garret Hostel.
Peterhouse was the first official college to be created in 1284. Many followed over the centuries and today there are 31. The last one, Robinson, was built in the 1970s. Many of these have a chapel because the members should have prayed for the soul of the founders (the people who created the college).
The University was one of the most important places where the Protestant Reformation began. The Protestant Reformation was a movement in Europe where people started disagreeing with certain teachings of the Catholic Church In fact, people started talking about Lutheranism - a type of Protestantism - very early in Cambridge. Thomas Cranmer, who became a central figure for reform, studied at Cambridge.
A century later, some people in Cambridge started to think that the Church of England was still too much like the Catholic church. They started the Puritan movement. This produced more than 20,000 people who left for New England around 1620 in search for a place with better religious beliefs. Oliver Cromwell, a very important member of this movement, was a student at Sidney Sussex during this time.
Cambridge has been strong in applied mathematics since Isaac Newton was a student here in the 17th century. Every student had to study maths in order to obtain a degree. The degree was awarded as a "Bachelor of Arts" which mixed both arts and science subjects. Several important early physicists studied at Cambridge. They include James Clerk Maxwell, Lord Kelvin and Lord Rayleigh. Pure mathematics was slower to catch up, but Cambridge is still famous for it thanks to people like G.H. Hardy.
Six maths graduates from Cambridge won Fields Medals and one got an Abel Prize. These are the world's highest awards for mathematicians. Four other researchers at Cambridge also won Fields Medals.
People at the University of Cambridge have made many important scientific discoveries. These are some of the best known ones:
For many years only men were allowed to study at Cambridge. In 1869 Girton, the first college for women, was built. Women could take exams from 1882, but only in 1948 did they start to be considered full members of the university. For a certain time they even received "ad eundem" degrees (degrees from a University you have not studied at, but you deserve) from the University of Dublin.
Over the years, more women-only colleges were built, until in 1972 Churchill was the first one to become mixed. Many others followed, and in 1988 Magdalene was the last men-only college to open to women. However, there are still some colleges for women only. Cambridge is the only university that still has this characteristic. All other universities in the UK, including Oxford, now have only mixed colleges.
Since it is very old, the University has many legends and traditions. These are often passed on by older students to the younger ones. Tour guides also tell these stories to tourists.
The wooden spoon tradition was to give this type of spoon to the student who was the worst in the year for mathematics but still passed the exams. This was because the students used to be ranked in order of their result. After 1909 this was changed and so the wooden spoon cannot be given anymore. However, still today in many sport competitions a wooden spoon is given to the last person in the rankings.
Many legends exist about places in Cambridge. For example, there is a story about the "Mathematical Bridge" in Queen's College. Newton built it without using any bolts or screws. Some people then took it down to see how it was made. When they tried to put it up again they could not do it, so they had to insert many bolts.
Another tradition is that the King's College choir sings the Nine Lessons and Carols church service. This is recorded by the BBC and sent around the world since 1928 by radio. From 1954 it can also be seen on television. Many people watch it on Christmas Eve in Great Britain.
The University of Cambridge is a "collegiate" university. This means it is divided into the colleges, and every student and teacher joins one college only. Every one of these colleges has its own property and money. They all have many Fellows who can teach all the subjects between them. Then there are Departments and Faculties, which are buildings where only one subject is studied. There are also Schools that bring different Departments and Faculties together. The overall head of the University is called the Vice-Chancellor. They are head of the Senate and Regent House which make decisions for the whole University.
There are 31 colleges in Cambridge:
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Only for women
†Only for PhD studends
‡Only for students older than 21 years
There are also 3 smaller affiliated colleges: Westcott House, Westminster College and Ridley Hall. These are not part of Cambridge University, but students there can follow the University's lessons. They are only for theology, the study of religion. These three colleges together form the "Cambridge Theological Federation".
The teaching is done through lectures and practical classes (where students do experiments in science subjects) organized by the Department. The colleges also organize supervisions. These are small lessons in groups of 1 to 4: the students do some homework and then talk about it with a teacher. This is often considered to be one of the best things about studying at Cambridge. The teaching is very personal and students have the chance to ask lots of questions and really understand the subject.
There are more than 150 different faculties and departments in Cambridge. These are then grouped into "Schools". These have a supervisory body, a group of people who check that the departments are doing ok. There are six Schools: