Please note: Every effort has been made to ensure that the course costs given below for courses within the Natural Sciences Tripos were accurate at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to review and revise the costs without prior notification and you are advised that their publication here serves only as an indicator of course costs for current and future years. The publication of this information does not form part of any contractual arrangement of costs associated with studying at the University.
General Tripos requirements
Essential | University-approved calculator | approx £25 |
Essential for some courses |
labcoat Safety spectacles |
approx £13-£16 approx £4 - £7 |
Essential |
a laptop |
cost, if purchased new, will depend on choice, e.g. £400+, but existing laptops, if less than 4 years old, are likely to be fine. |
Non-essential | books etc., as advised in course documentation | at student's discretion library books are available |
Non-essential | specialist equipment | can be borrowed if necessary |
Costs for individual courses
The following courses have direct additional costs to students associated with them:
Part IA Earth Sciences |
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Essential |
One-week field course (Arran: Easter Vacation) |
Estimated Cost: £115 |
Part IA Evolution & Behaviour |
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Non-essential, but desiarble |
One-week field course, Slapton Ley in Devon or Dale Fort in Pembrokeshire. Easter Vacation Mar/Apr). |
£50 + travel costs |
Part IB Earth Sciences A and B |
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Essential |
Ten-day mapping course (Cumbria: Long Vacation before course) |
£115 |
Essential |
Ten-day field course (South West England: Easter Vacation) |
Estimated cost: £125 |
Part IB Ecology, Evolution & Conservation | ||
Highly desirable | Ten-day field course, Juniper Hall in Surrey. Long Vacation (Jun/Jul) to work on an individual project. | £100 + travel costs |
Part IB Plant and Microbial Sciences |
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Non-essential but highly desirable |
one-week field course (Portugal: Easter Vacation) |
Estimated cost: £150 |
Part II Earth Sciences |
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Essential |
Ten-day mapping course (Skye: Long Vacation prior to course) |
Estimated cost: £135 |
Essential |
Eight-day tectonics field course [same as Physics Part III below] (Greece: Christmas Vacation) |
Estimated cost: £180 |
Essential |
One-month individual project fieldwork (Long Vacation prior to course) |
Any costs above £400. Total cost depends on choice of location. (Students are eligible to apply for college travel funds to support the costs of this trip) |
Part II Zoology |
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Non-essential |
Two-week field course, Kota Kinabalu and Sabah in Borneo, Malaysia or Gamboa, in Panama. Long Vacation (Sept) to work on an individual project. |
£600 but students on a full Cambridge bursary will not be charged. Travel grants often available from colleges. |
Part III Earth Sciences |
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Essential |
Individual project. May involve optional fieldwork costs. |
any costs associated with optional fieldwork |
Essential |
one-week field course (Spain: Easter Vacation) |
Estimated cost: £160 |
Part III Physics |
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Non-essential part of a Major Topic |
Eight-day tectonics field course [same as Earth Sciences Part II above] (Greece: Christmas Vacation) |
Estimated cost: £180 |