Admission of independent (non-ordinand) students to an academic programme at Westminster College occurs in the following steps:

1. A potential applicant makes an enquiry via the Cambridge Theological Federation (CTF) or directly to Westminster.
– The person receiving the enquiry will check whether or not the applicant has already approached another house or made a central enquiry.
– If no, proceed to step 2.
– If yes, the applicant will be asked for consent to share enquiry information with that house, so that two (or more) admissions processes are not concurrent for the same student.

2. The applicant will be advised to consult the CTF website to check that they understand the nature of the different awards, that they understand that the Durham undergraduate Common Awards and the Cambridge BTh/DTM are vocational awards/programmes of study, and to check that they meet the entrance requirements. It is possible to make ‘non-standard’ applications to Durham Common Awards programmes, providing the student submits a good sample of work (e.g., book review), has a strong academic reference, and the house is willing to write in support of the application. However, we cannot guarantee this will be accepted by the university.

3. The applicant will be asked to complete an independent student’s application form (initial enquiry form) for Westminster and to submit it to the Principal / Admissions Tutor along with the references that are requested on the form. In the case of an enquiry for a research degree, the applicant will be asked to submit a CV and research proposal.

4. After reviewing the application and references, the Principal / Admissions Tutor will decide whether or not to call the applicant for interview.

5. If the applicant is interviewed, the Principal / Admissions Tutor (confirmed by Senatus) will then decide whether or not to make a provisional offer of a place, conditional upon acceptance onto the award by i) Durham University for Common Awards, or ii) the BTh Management Committee of the Faculty of Divinity and acceptance by one of the matriculating Cambridge colleges in the case of the BTh / DTM. The Federation houses are affiliated institutions and do not have the ability to accept or matriculate students directly onto Cambridge University courses.

6. If a provisional offer is made, the applicant will then be asked to complete a CTF application form (for Common Awards) or a BTh/DTM application form for the university (which will be reviewed by the BTh Management Committee).

Applications are due by the end of July for a September start and by the end of November for a January start (Durham Common Awards MA only).

If you would like more information about any of our programmes, please contact the Tutorial Office (or on 01223 33 06 49), who will then connect you with the Director of Studies if necessary.