An email meant for History staff was accidentally sent to students on Monday (7/11), encouraging colleges to make more offers given the falling number of undergraduate applications. 

The email was a regular notice from the Faculty chair, Professor Mary Laven, sent to all staff. 

In the email, ahead of the forthcoming admissions round, colleges were asked to consider making an extra offer this year, in light of a “failure to meet our target number of undergraduates” last year. Colleges are particularly requested to “make more, not fewer, offers to candidates from widening participation backgrounds”.

History applications have consistently fallen over the last three admissions cycles. Applications have fallen from 632 in 2020 to 604 and 580 in 2021 and 2022. Offers made have also fallen year on year, from 231 in 2020 to 196 and 192 in 2021 and 2022.

The email also references the “general cheer” around the new tripos launched in the history faculty this year, thanking staff for what had been an “insanely busy time”.

The email also notes that some staff had not yet been paid for “examining that they did last year”, and Laven promises that this has been “taken up at the highest level”.

The email hinted at “some major works from summer 2024” on the history faculty building that was described as “iconic and not very user friendly”. The faculty website says that the building is “nowhere near big enough for any of us”, because the planned second block on the Sidgwick site was never built.

News of anniversary commemorations was also released in the email, as the faculty aims to hold an exhibition of past Cambridge historians to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the history tripos in 2024.