The University Council is the principal executive and policy-making body of the University.
The Council has general responsibility for the administration of the University, the planning of its work and the management of its resources.
The University is an exempt charity and members of the Council are charity trustees.
Membership
The Chancellor
- Lord Chris Smith (by longstanding tradition, the Chancellor does not attend or take part in Council decisions)
The Vice-Chancellor
- Professor Deborah Prentice (Chair)
Heads of Colleges
- Heather Hancock
- Lord Simon McDonald
- Baroness Sally Morgan
- Professor Alan Short
Professors or Readers
- Professor Daniela de Angelis
- Professor Richard Mortier
- Professor Jason Scott-Warren
- Professor Garth Wells
Members of the Regent House
- Dr William Astle
- Milly Bodfish
- John Dix
- Dr Pieter van Houten
- Scott Mandelbrote
- Dr Ewa Marek
- Dr Ella McPherson
- Dr Mezna Qato
Student members
- Matthew Copeman
- Augustin Denis
- Darragh O’Reilly
External members
- Gaenor Bagley
- Sharon Flood
- Professor Sir Alex Halliday
- Professor Andrew Wathey
Meeting dates
- 22 September 2025
- 20 October 2025
- 24 November 2025
- 2 February 2026
- 23 March 2026
- 27 April 2026
- 1 June 2026
- 13 July 2026
You can add the Council’s meeting dates to your calendar app using Google or iCal.
Contact the Secretary
Minutes
If you have a University of Cambridge account, you can view Council minutes on the Committees Hub.
Terms of Reference
The Council’s responsibilities, membership and procedures are set out in the University’s Statutes and Ordinances:
- Statute A IV – The Council and its Committees (PDF, 230 KB)
- Special Ordinance A (iii) – Membership of the Council: detailed provisions (PDF, 420 KB)
- Ordinances – The Council (PDF, 1.5 MB)
Annual report
The Council’s annual report is published each year in the Cambridge University Reporter.
Find links to the Council’s current and previous annual reports
Committees Hub
Council members and attendees can access the Council site through the Committees Hub.
Submitting papers
If you have business for the Council, contact council@admin.cam.ac.uk for guidance on when and how to present it.
If you have been asked to submit a paper, you must use the correct template (Word doc, 50 KB).
The deadline for papers is 2 weeks before a Council meeting, at 9:00am on deadline day.
Committees
The Council is supported and advised by other committees.
There are:
- committees that report only to the Council
- joint committees that report to both the Council and the General Board
Committees of the Council
- Advisory Committee on Committee Membership and External Nominations
- Business Committee (Committees Hub site)
- Committee on Benefactions and External and Legal Affairs
- Finance Committee
- Honorary Degree Committee (Committees Hub site)
- Human Remains Advisory Panel
- Remuneration Committee
- Committee for the Supervision of the Students' Union (Committees Hub site)
- University Combination Room: Committee of Management
Joint committees of the Council and General Board
- Biomedical Services Governance and Strategy Committee
- Careers Service Committee
- Committee on Prevent and Freedom of Speech
- Environmental Sustainability Strategy Committee
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
- Estates Committee
- Health and Safety Executive Committee
- Human Resources Committee
- Information Services Committee
- International Strategy Committee
- Nominating Committee for Office of Pro-Vice-Chancellor
- Planning and Resources Committee
- University Sports Committee