Extracurricular

Campus Life

With over thirty clubs and teams running each week, the college offers everything from sports squads to creative studios, science labs, and debate societies. When students can’t find what they’re looking for, staff help them launch their own circle or connect with opportunities across Cambridge itself.

The community is organized into houses—Eagles, Granta, and Sedgewick for older students, Trinity Bridge for younger ones—which compete in Sports Day, Mastermind tournaments, and Spelling Bee marathons. This structure fosters healthy rivalry while teaching teamwork, since individual achievements contribute to collective scores.

Main areas:

• Sport and physical activity
• Creativity and arts
• Science and technology
• Leadership and entrepreneurship
• Debate and politics

Sports and Creativity at CATS College Cambridge

Athletic life revolves around football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, badminton, and running, though rowing stands out as a distinctly Cambridge tradition that connects students to the university culture they’re surrounded by. Younger participants can join the U16 football club designed specifically for their age group.

Creative studios work across diverse formats—from dance and drawing to origami and textile projects—while those pursuing arts degrees can enroll in Visual Arts through the University Foundation Programme, which focuses on portfolio development. Running parallel to these activities is the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, offered at three levels and requiring volunteering, physical challenges, and expedition participation.

Creative clubs:

• Dance
• Literature
• Origami
• Fashion

Science and Competitions

Science clubs transform theory into hands-on work through experiments and projects, with options including chemistry, programming, electronics, and robotics. Step Up Maths prepares students for mathematical competitions and entrance exams to top universities like Oxford and Cambridge, while participants regularly compete in national challenges: UK Maths Challenge, Science Olympiads, and Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. In 2026, students achieved outstanding results at the International Intermediate Maths Challenge.

The university town setting opens access to Cambridge Science Festival and Cambridge Festival of Ideas, both hosted by the university itself.

Academic clubs:

• Chemistry
• Programming
• Electronics
• Robotics
• Book club
• German language
• Chess

Trips and Events

The whole of Britain becomes a living classroom as students visit London, Science Museum, National Space Centre, and Bletchley Park. Biologists complete mandatory field work, geographers conduct research on location, and during holidays everyone travels abroad.

Autumn takes them to Seville for palaces and flamenco shows, November brings Krakow’s Christmas markets and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, while spring leads to Belfast with the Titanic Museum and Giant’s Causeway. Beyond these trips, campus evenings fill with discos, talent shows, international nights, and film screenings.

Activity examples:

• Model UN (international simulations)
• Current affairs
• Debate club
• Young entrepreneurship
• Business days