College Scholarships and Prizes

The College recognises academic excellence amongst its undergraduates with a wide-range of annual prizes and scholarships, which bring both prestige and monetary rewards. Junior members who have obtained first Class Honours in any University or College examination are automatically awarded a prize and are elected into scholarships. In the absence of any candidate of sufficient distinction in a given year, the prize will not be awarded. When possible, monetary awards are paid directly into students' bank accounts.

Please note, students are awarded scholarships and prizes; no applications are required.

Name of prize and purpose	Eligibility	Amount awarded
Alcan Prize awarded to the most successful undergraduate student in their penultimate year	Undergraduate reading Natural Sciences (Physical), Engineering, Computer Science or Applied Mathematics	£300
Alfred Monk F R Leavis Prize awarded to a student from any year who has performed exceptionally well in any one paper or in the Tripos as a whole	Undergraduate reading English	£300
Association Prize awarded to a student who achieves the best, or a very high examination result in their final year	Undergraduate reading any subject	£300 [more than one prize may be awarded]
Barry Moore Prize awarded to a student for the best Part IIB Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading Economics [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£300
B J Everitt Scholarship awarded for the best Part II Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading Neuroscience or Psychology	£200
Chapel Prize awarded to a student in their final year who has made a valued contribution to the liturgical life of the Chapel	Undergraduate reading any subject	£100
Egginton Prize awarded to a student from any year who has made an outstanding contribution to Fine Arts and Dance	Undergraduate reading any subject	£200
Gabriel Oon Chong Jin Prize awarded to a student in their final year, who achieve a First Class mark, and either a Blue or Half Blue in sports which may be in that year or earlier	Undergraduate in any subject [must have achieved a First Class mark] In the case of a Half Blue, it must be for a sport in which non-discretionary full Blues are not awarded	£250 [if more than one individual is selected, in any one year, the prize will be shared equally]
Gelber Prize awarded for the greatest academic distinction in modern diplomatic or political history, or international relations (other than international legal studies), as determined by examination result	Undergraduate reading History or Postgraduate reading for the MPhil in International Relations	£200
Grimmett Prize awarded for distinguished first-class performance in the Mathematics Tripos, normally in Part II Priority will be given for excellence in Part II, if there are performances of sufficient distinction	Undergraduate reading Mathematics [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£200
Harold Hargreaves Prize awarded to a student for the best Part II Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading Natural Sciences (Chemistry) [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£200
Joseph Tcheng Prize awarded to a student for the best Part II Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading Economics [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£250
Nigel Allington Prize awarded to a student for the best dissertation	Undergraduate reading Economics [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£100
Peter and Anne Robson Prize awarded to a student from any year with the best Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading a subject in any area of Electonics	£250
Peter Mathias Prize awarded to a student for the best Part IIA Tripos performance	Undergraduate reading Economics [must have achieved a First Class mark]	£300
S M and H Haniff Prize awarded to a graduating Physicist who has achieved a First in the top 12% of any Part II or Part III Tripos examination	Undergraduate reading Natural Sciences (Physics) [must appear in the top 12%, when rounded to the nearest integer, of the class list]	£250 [if more than one qualifying student, prize amount will be shared equally]
Whalley-Tooker Prize awarded to a student in their penultimate year who has performed best in a Tripos examination	Prize awarded to a student in their penultimate year who has performed best in a Tripos examination	£300

College prizes

The following College prizes are awarded for especial distinction. Qualifying students must appear in the top 2.5% of the class list for a given subject. One special prize is awarded per student in a given year:

Name of College prize	Eligibility	Amount awarded
Bradbrook	Undergraduate in any year reading English	£100
Clark	Undergraduate in any year reading Natural Sciences	£100
Graeme Hall	Undergraduate in their final year reading Law	£100
Harris	Undergraduate in any year reading Law	£100
Platt	Undergraduate in any year reading any Arts or Science subject	£100

There are also a number of other prizes connected with Tripos results for which students can apply to as follows:

Name and purpose	Eligibility and amount awarded	Application deadline and information
Harrison Prize for the best dissertation	Any undergraduate in their final year reading a Biological subject in Part II or Part III of their Tripos One prize of £100	Apply by 24 May 2024 Prize information Apply online
Judy C Petty Scholarships for those who have made an outstanding contribution to Music and the Arts while at Cambridge	Any undergraduate hoping to graduate at General Admission in June 2023 Up to two Scholarships of £200	Apply by 28 May 2024 Prize information Apply online
Pilley Scholarships for those who have shown proficiency in University examinations and have displayed good influence and qualities of leadership through College team sports	Any undergraduate hoping to graduate at General Admission in June 2023 Up to four Scholarships of £200	Apply by 28 May 2024 Prize information Apply online

Name and purpose

Eligibility and amount awarded

Application deadline and information

Harrison

Prize for the best dissertation

Any undergraduate in their final year reading a Biological subject in Part II or Part III of their Tripos

One prize of £100

Apply by 24 May 2024

Prize information

Apply online

Judy C Petty

Scholarships for those who have made an outstanding contribution to Music and the Arts while at Cambridge

Any undergraduate hoping to graduate at General Admission in June 2023

Up to two Scholarships of £200

Apply by 28 May 2024

Prize information

Apply online

Pilley

Scholarships for those who have shown proficiency in University examinations and have displayed good influence and qualities of leadership through College team sports

Any undergraduate hoping to graduate at General Admission in June 2023

Up to four Scholarships of £200

Apply by 28 May 2024

Prize information

Apply online

Scholarships

The College awards Scholarships as follows. New scholars are admitted formally to their scholarships at a special ceremony each Michaelmas Term, and are subsequently invited to certain College feasts and other special occasions.

Eligibility	Scholarship	Amount Awarded
(a) Achieve a First or Distinction in a Foundation Year exam or a 1st year exam	Elected or re-elected to Scholar	£100
(b) Achieve a First or Distinction in a 2nd year exam	Elected or Re-elected to Scholar	£100
(c) Achieve a First or Distinction in a 3rd year exam and staying for a 4th year, LLM, PGCE or Clinical Medicine	Elected or Re-elected to Scholar	£100
(d) Achieve a First or Distinction in a 3rd year exam and leaving: - If did not receive a First in a previous year - If received a First in a previous year	Title of Scholar Nothing (already a Scholar)	No emolument No emolument
(e) Achieve a First or Distinction in a 4th year exam or LLM - If no First in a 3rd year exam - If received a First in a previous year	Title of Scholar Nothing (already a Scholar)	No emolument
(f) Achieve a Distinction in Parts I, II or III Clinical Medicine or Clinical Veterinary Medicine	Title of Scholar	No emolument
(g) Achieve a First or Distinction in each year of first three undergraduate years. 4th years are required to achieve a minimum II.I in their 4th year.	Title of Foundation Scholar	Certificate, no emolument

In order to emphasise the importance that is placed on academic excellence at Downing, the category of 'Foundation Scholar' was introduced in 2012 (This has no connection to the University's Foundation Year Programme). There is a different scheme in place for Law, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine where it is possible for high achieving students to be elected into endowed Scholarships (Harris, Seton, Jarvis and Whitby) which are associated with comparatively substantial emoluments to help students prepare for these professions:

Name	Purpose
Senior Harris	Scholarship awarded to graduating Lawyers going into any branch of the legal profession.
Senior Seton	Scholarship awarded to graduating Lawyers going into any branch of the legal profession.
Senior Jarvis	Scholarship awarded to graduating Lawyers going into the legal profession as a solicitor only.
Senior Whitby	Scholarship awarded to graduating students in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Eligibility	Total amount awarded [yearly amount stated in brackets up to a maximum of three years]
First in all three years	£3000 per person [£1000 each year]
First in 3rd year only	£1800 per person [£600 each year]
First in 2nd year only	£1200 per person [£400 each year]
First in 2nd and 3rd year only	£2400 per person [£800 each year]
First in 1st year only	£600 per person [£200 each year]
First in 1st and 2nd year only	£1800 per person [£600 each year]
First in 1st and 3rd year only	£2400 per person [£800 each year]
Three Firsts in four years [LLM Degree only]	£3000* per person [£1000 each year] * Please note, the Scholarship is extended by one year if a fourth First is achieved
First [MCL Degree only]	£600 per person

Book prizes

Book prizes are also awarded, in the form an emolument to the value of £140, to students who achieve a First Class mark or Distinction in any year of their Tripos examinations. Please see below for details of how the value is determined:

Book prizes	Gift card value
First or Distinction in 1st year	£100
First or Distinction in 2nd year	£120
First or Distinction in 3rd year	£140
First or Distinction in 4th year, LLM or Clinical Medicine	£140
Distinction in Oral in MML or Classics	£40

Other prizes

Thanks to the generosity of various benefactors, the College is able to offer a number of other prizes unconnected with Tripos results:

Name and purpose	Eligibility and amount awarded	Application deadline and information
Florence and David Jacobs Memorial Prize for undertaking medical research	Postgraduate One prize of £200	Apply by 30 May 2024 Prize information Apply online
John Treherne Prize for creative writing	Undergraduate Three prizes of £500 [1st], £250 [2nd] and £100 [3rd]	Apply by 23 May 2024 Prize information Apply online
Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Twining Egginton Prize for those who have excelled in Fine Arts	Current undergraduate or postgraduate in residence Three prizes of £300 [1st], £100 [2nd] and £100 [3rd] 2016 Winning Prize Entries 2017 Winning Prize Entries 2018 Winning Prize Entries 2019 Winning Prize Entries 2020 Winning Prize Entries 2021 Winning Prize Entries 2022 Winning Prize Entries	Apply via the Heong Gallery Prize information
R J White Prize for the best essay on any historical subject	Undergraduate reading any subject (undergraduate clinical Medics and Vets are also eligible to apply) One prize of £200	Apply by 29 May 2024 Prize information Apply online