University of Cambridge Selwyn College

Selwyn is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is home to students of all backgrounds from the UK and across the world. We are proud of our diversity, and we welcome everyone whatever their race, gender, sexuality, disability, or religious belief.

The college takes its name from George Augustus Selwyn, who was the first Bishop of New Zealand (1841-68) and later Bishop of Lichfield (1868-78), and in whose memory the college was founded. The college opened at the start of the academic year in 1882, when 28 undergraduates were admitted. The teaching staff comprised the Master, the Tutor and one non-resident lecturer. At the time it was seen as being away from the Cambridge mainstream, despite only being a short walk from King’s College and the centre of the city. However, the Sidgwick site – which includes such major faculty buildings as Classics, Economics, English, History, Law, and Modern Languages – was later created right next to Selwyn; and due to the steady growth of the University and its development of the West Cambridge site, Selwyn now stands at its geographical heart.