Admissions interviews are to remain online for another year, except for UK based applicants to Trinity College.

Trinity has committed to return to in-person interviews this year, with international students continuing to be interviewed remotely.

Interviews first went online in 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The College will provide overnight accommodation for prospective students who cannot complete the trip within a day. Reimbursement of travel expenses will be available to students with a household income below £30,000.

A spokesperson for the University told Varsity that interviews at other colleges are to remain online for “purely practical” reasons.

The University said that Trinity will report back to the wider University after it has completed a full round of in-person interviews. The University reiterated that “no student will be disadvantaged by these decisions.”

Both Trinity and the University declined to comment on the specific reasons behind the differences in policy.

The University of Oxford have also committed to online interviews for this admissions cycle, making Trinity the sole Oxbridge college conducting in-person interviews this year.

The Student Union has criticised the plans, telling Varsity: “giving applicants the opportunity to decide the format of their interview themselves would be the single best way to ensure the Cambridge interview process is accessible for all.”

“Some people will feel more comfortable at home or school, whereas others will want the chance to come to Cambridge in person; there’s no concrete evidence that proves either format is ‘better’.”

The SU also criticised the disparity between colleges, adding that “when a decision is made by colleges as a group, it is disappointing to see one college breaking away and providing a completely different experience to their applicants, especially in a process that should be standard and equal for all.”