If Homerton turns me down in January, is that the end of my application to Cambridge?
Not necessarily. Each year some Cambridge colleges have too few high-calibre applicants in certain subjects to satisfy their requirements. At the same time, in most subjects in the majority of colleges there are too many excellent candidates for them all to be offered a place. Cambridge therefore operates an admissions ‘pool’ in January, which acts to even out this situation. All colleges use the Pool to make sure that the best applicants find places, irrespective of college choice. If we cannot take you, but we think that it is possible that another Cambridge college might be in a position to offer you a place, we will put your application in the ‘pool’.
