Statements from the Heads of Cambridge colleges & our Admissions Tutor

The Heads of all the Cambridge Colleges have issued this statement:

As heads of Cambridge colleges, we have been concerned in recent days to see headlines around the world making the claim that Cambridge will be moving entirely online next year. These claims are wildly exaggerated and have caused unnecessary alarm to students and our wider community. We are a collegiate university, and our strength is that so much student activity takes place in colleges, from small group teaching and pastoral care to music and sport.

We will always take the latest public health advice and clearly there will be challenges in delivering all this in the next academic year. Online lectures will make a key contribution. But we are determined to do our best to bring the colleges and the university back to life with intensive in-person learning in the traditional locations together with the widest possible range of activities.

Our Admissions Tutor, Dr Andrew Thompson, has issued the following statement regarding teaching next year:

Queens’, like all Cambridge colleges, is committed to delivering high-quality education to all our students despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to welcome as many students as possible to Cambridge in October.

Small group teaching is what makes a Cambridge education special. We have maintained our programme of supervisions, seminars and individual contact time throughout the current crisis and will continue to do so next year. Queens’ staff have been at the heart of the university’s efforts to respond to the teaching challenges and opportunities of the present situation. We have a well-established programme of transition activities to help all our students adapt successfully to university life. Lectures form part of the teaching that Cambridge students receive but they are complemented by a range of other resources and opportunities.

The health and well-being of our students is our top priority. Consequently, we are planning how best to sustain the wide variety of activities that characterise Cambridge student life. We are also mindful of the need to follow public health advice and the likelihood of continued social distancing.

The university has some excellent Frequently Asked Questions for offer holders. These will be updated regularly.

If you want to find out more about how Queens’ is responding to Covid19, news on our Fellows and Members responses to the virus can be found on our website.