Durham, is this right?

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

My God daughter received an offer from Durham, liked the University, but has been forced to turn it down because the offer was apparently linked to college accommodation coming in at over £7500.

Is this actually what happens? My DD has been considering Durham but may now think again.

[EricNorthmanSucks]

The lack of affordable accommodation in some universities is a real issue.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I think the most my two have paid is about £5000; dithered about whether to live at home or not in first year, then all the cheap accommodation was gone.

[MrsBartlet]

That is so expensive! Dd is at Cambridge and has a lovely en-suite room - it will come in at about £4500 for the whole year and that includes most of her meals in the evening. She is catered but you only pay for what you actually have so if you sort out your own breakfast and lunch, which she normally does, then you are not losing out IYSWIM by having paid a set fee for catered when you are not necessarily in college to take advantage of it at every meal. Might have to reconsider encouraging ds to look at Durham!

[CaptainWentworth]

I went to Durham- it's not a question of being allocated a hall, everyone just lives in the college they are a member of in their first and final years, then lives in a shared house in between. As far as I remember every room in college cost about the same, and everyone ate all three meals together in the dining hall, which IMHO was a big part of the college experience. No ensuite for first years when I was there though- 2 showers between 2 corridors!

That was 10 years ago though so perhaps things have changed a lot.

[Laquila]

Just to clarify, there aren't really halls as such in Durham - each college owns its own accommodation, most of it is actually in the college but some have external houses and rooms. When I was there over 15 years ago (woah!) there was no ensuite accommodation that I was aware of, but practically everywhere had kitchenettes. Would have been hard to properly self-cater though. I wasn't actually aware of any first-year self-catering accommodation, so I wonder whether they'd put you in with students of other years?

FWIW, Durham is an amazing place to study - I had a brilliant time and look back on it very fondly.

[EricNorthmanSucks]

The cost of rooms in Durham varies hugely now.

Top whack is 7.5k. Same at Bristol and Exeter. 6.5k at York, I believe.

Obviously there are cheaper rooms and you can apply for them. But do is everyone else!

[NiceCardigan]

I thought that the newest college is self catering - josephine butler college.

[NiceCardigan]

There isn't really an option to self cater at the other colleges. You can share rooms but I don't think that brings down the cost massively.

[EricNorthmanSucks]

7.3 Nottingham, 6.9 at Edinburgh.

Expensive!

[IAmAPaleontologist]

I was there around the same time as captainwentworth and yes you get allocated a college and that's where you live for your first year and where most finalists live too and the costs include all your meals etc unless you are in Josephine butler which is self catering.

[EricNorthmanSucks]

mrsb IMO Oxbridge accommodation is pretty economical.

[MrsBartlet]

Indeed it is Eric - most things are heavily subsidised. Unfortunately for us ds has no interest in Oxbridge whatsoever so we will have to save up more for him than for dd!

[Decorhate]

I think overall acommodation has got more expensive & loans haven't kept pace. Someone I know with a few years gap between her dcs was surprised to find that the loan would no longer cover first year halls though it did for her dc1

[JeffyJeffington]

When I was there it was on the the expensive side and many of us had to share rooms too stupid place

[EricNorthmanSucks]

I think a lot of parents have no clue that the loans are not going to cover accommodation, let alone other living expenses.

[boys3]

decor I think you are absolutely right. Trying to remember the Durham costs from two years ago when DS1 had it down. A figure of around the £6k mark, and certainly a lot nearer 6k than 7k, for a non ensuite fully catered room rings a bell, which suggests the price for 16/17 has increased by almost £1k in a relatively short period.

[Katkat50]

In our ds's case, we reckoned the pros outweighed the cons overall and that we would give him the extra needed to make the finances work. He is currently in first year and couldn't be happier.
It is also reassuring for parents that their dc are moving away from home and school into what is essentially a boarding school with benefits!

[whatwouldrondo]

It is also reassuring for parents that their dc are moving away from home and school into what is essentially a boarding school with benefits!

My DCs applied only to halls with self catered flats without en suites including Josephine Butler which I recall was not going to mean that accommodation was going to get in the way of an offer. Part of their reasoning apart from the obvious ones of cost and flexibility is that their flat mates would be more likely to be down to earth and independent, and so it has proved.....

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Okay, so can you apply to Durham colleges that have only cheaper accomodation then? But do they do the pool thing like Oxford and Cambridge?

[whatwouldrondo]

I can't remember the details but if you get an offer on academic criteria but your chosen college doesn't have room they find one that does. Whereas the Oxbridge pool system is purely about if a college does not accept you academically other colleges get a chance to pick you up. However as I say at Durham if you wanted Josephine Butler then if you got an academic offer then it would not be a problem

[BCBG]

Have had two at Durham and one at Cambridge. College costs vary according to room type and catering costs - generally as food is included we have found living costs to compare favourably with other unit. You are normally selected by college application in Durham only once you have made academic offer criteria, so I believe it is possible to make an open application based on costs. Strongly suggest your daughter applies to Durham and if she gets an offer, ring the Uni and ask questions. She won't have to rank as first/second choice etc until all her offers are in.

[BitchyComment]

Oxford accommodation can be good value...unless you don't get college accommodation in the 2nd or 3rd year and have to use private accommodation , then it can be very, very expensive especially if you want to live close to your college (depends on college obviously)

[BoboChic]

Universities are making a profit on student accommodation, sometimes a very significant profit. I'm not at all sure this is right.

Most universities have quite straightforward algorithms for accommodation allocation. If you work out the algorithm you increase your chances of getting the type and price of accommodation you want because you will provide consistent and coherent answers in the application questionnaire.

[quit2dis]

Universities are making a profit on student accommodation, sometimes a very significant profit. I'm not at all sure this is right.

I don't think this is completely fair or accurate.

With the new fee regime (combined with cuts to baseline and research funding) most universities need to take more students just to break even. But to attract more students they need accommodation for them which involves building new blocks, and hence money. Many universities are having to take loans or use partnerships with the private sector to build these blocks; correspondingly the accommodation is expensive to recover the costs. Prices on existing accommodation are also sometimes increased to raise the money to finance new buildings.

Overall, universities in the UK are not making a profit. Universities in Scotland are actually in deep trouble, with many looking to cut academic staff. Even solid RG universities which have expanded student numbers are typically not running a surplus of more than 1% or 2% of turnover - and this surplus is not a profit, as the government has cut funding for renovations, maintenance of campus buildings, investment into new equipment etc etc, so the surplus has to be used for this. Several "top" universities are in quite bad debt.

[BoboChic]

I don't think current students should be bearing those costs via their student loans. But then, the property/accommodation situation has spiraled out of control in much of the U.K. Far too much speculation going on.