How to apply

All applications are made online, and you need to submit all required supporting documentation, including references and transcripts. An online payment of £50 will be charged for the submission of your completed application, unless you are eligible for a waiver.

You’ll need a very high standard in a degree course of equivalent level to a UK bachelors degree with honours.

In most countries this is a first degree but from some countries a masters-level degree may be required. The minimum standard required is normally a UK First Class Honours (USA CGPA of 3.7/4.0) or equivalent from an overseas institution. Please refer to the Postgraduate Admissions website to find out the minimum requirement from graduates completing their studies in other countries.

Our programme welcomes all applicants from all over the world. However, due to the high number of applications and the limited number of candidates we can admit every year, the rejection rate of applications on the MPhil in Finance is usually high.

This is a pre-experience programme, so you should have no more than a year of work experience between completion of their first degree and enrolment on the MPhil in Finance (excluding holiday jobs and internships).

For finance professionals with a minimum of 2 years’ work experience who wish to develop their career in finance, we offer the post-experience Master of Finance programme

To study the Cambridge MPhil in Finance, you should be fluent in English. We assess fluency in the following ways:

• if English is your native language
• or you have an IELTS minimum overall score of 7.5, with not less than 7.0 in each element. The separate components must have been taken at the same time and in the past two years
• or if you have a TOEFL internet-based test (iBT) minimum overall score of 110, with not less than 25 in each element.

Not yet taken a language test? Test result out-of-date or not up to the required standard? Don’t worry, you don’t have to include your English language test scores with your initial application documents; they can be forwarded on later in the process. If you are made an offer, one of the conditions of entry will be getting the required standard of language test score.

Applicants who nearly miss the language requirement are not referred to the Language Centre. To fulfil the language conditions you must take again an approved English test.

Your first degree must have contained a significant economics or quantitative component. If you wish to follow courses at the Faculty of Mathematics, you must have a high level of skill in maths, such as would be acquired in an undergraduate degree in mathematics or a cognate discipline.

• If you have more than one year of work experience and wish to continue to a PhD at Cambridge Judge Business School on completion of the MPhil in Finance, your application will be considered only if you include a 1,500-word research proposal at the time of application. The research proposal is intended to demonstrate your ability to pursue a research-oriented academic career. It should identify the key research questions, review the relevant academic literature in the area, and highlight the expected contribution to knowledge.
• If you have less than one year of work experience and wish to continue to a PhD at Cambridge or elsewhere, you should include a 500-mini research proposal at the time of application.
• All applicants who intend to do a PhD should also include a sentence that explains what they plan to do after completing a PhD.
• No research proposal is required from students who do not expect to continue to a PhD after the MPhil.

Have your CV (curriculum vitae, or résumé) ready to upload via the Applicant Portal, as this is a required part of your application for admission.

You’ll need to provide 2 academic references for your MPhil application. Please provide your referees’ work emails (not personal emails), so we can forward an automated reference request from the application portal. You’ll be able to track your references online.