Colleges of the University of Cambridge led by a Master, even when the Master is female. However, there are some exceptions, listed below. Girton College has always had a Mistress, even though male candidates have been able to run for the office since 1976. The above list does not include several former colleges that no longer exist. These include: Colleges of the University of Cambridge This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges provide most of the accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level they have responsibility for admitting students to the University and
Downing College, Cambridge Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of the new colleges and the newest of the old. Downing College was formed "for the encouragement of the study of Law and Medicine and of the cognate subjects of Moral and Natural Science", and has developed a reputation amongst Cambridge colleges for Law and Medicine. Downing College has been named one of the two