Fitzwilliam College (usually called ‘Fitz’) is a college of the University of Cambridge. The college formed out of the Non-Collegiate Students Board in 1869. This body, based at Fitzwilliam House, opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum, took students who could not afford to be members of a college and allowed them access to a Cambridge education. The Non-Collegiate Students board eventually evolved to become Fitzwilliam College in 1966. Female undergraduates were first admitted in 1979.

Fitzwilliam College is less popular with the traditional Cambridge elite, being a little away from the main tourist centre, and with rather less imposing architecture. However, the college is closer to flourishing West Cambridge where the university is concentrating the departments on mathematics, pure sciences and technology. The college is also well-known for its beautiful gardens, which are excellently kept all year around.

The Music Society is particularly strong, and Fitz is the only college in Cambridge to have access to a professional string quartet, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, in residence at least once every term. As well as its own Chapel Choir, the college is home to numerous other singing groups, including Fitz Barbershop, and the Sirens, both well-loved throughout the university. Fitz is also heavily involved in the Orchestra on the Hill, whose membership is drawn from the ‘hill’ colleges, performing large scale works on at least a termly basis. ‘Fitztheatre’, the ‘hill’ college drama society is based at Fitzwilliam’s auditorium, one of the largest and best equipped in the University, newly opened in 2004.