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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Durham University

998 replies

NotEnoughTime · 04/02/2020 14:18

Hello.

How many of us are waiting for their DC to hear back from Durham? My DS applied back in October last year and is getting very down now he knows that others who have received offers are being informed that they will be told soon re college allocations.

I am usually a 'no news is good news' type of person but even I am finding it hard to be upbeat as I too am fed up Confused

I wish they would just let him me know soon if he is going to get an offer or a rejection and then he can get on with his life and his A Level revision without this hanging over him.

OP posts:
MarchingFrogs · 22/08/2020 13:29

What do we think about the publicity surrounding Durham and ‘middle class’ offer holders being encouraged to defer ?

  1. It's not necessarily just Durham, though; all VCs have been written to to encourage them to prioritise the disadvantaged for this year's places
  2. (As has already been mentioned...) Why is Durham (and possibly not just Durham) referring to the financial qincentives as 'bursaries', when the idea would appear to be the very opposite of the accepted usage of the word?
KingscoteStaff · 22/08/2020 13:37

On Any Questions I think it was the Universities Minister who was struggling to explain what the letter to the VCs had actually meant by ‘disadvantaged students’. She started off by saying ‘POLAR youngsters’ and then it became painfully obvious that she did not know what POLAR meant...

Anyway, she said that the letter had gone to all FE settings.

KingscoteStaff · 22/08/2020 13:40

I agree that Bursary is inaccurate, but what else can you call it? Bribe? Bonus? Sweetener?

paprikasausage · 22/08/2020 14:29

I'd call it a bribe but DD hasn't even been offered one.

Peaseblossom22 · 22/08/2020 15:37

@paprikasausage I don’t think there is an individual offer, it’s on the Durham website along with a form to fill in if you want to defer or if you want them to reconsider you etc

It just makes me think that whilst I do think people who absolutely have to go this year for financial reasons should be given assistance I don’t think others who don’t should be made to feel bad . There are lots of reasons why people don’t want to defer and let’s face it Durham has never encouraged deferred applications.

tava63 · 04/09/2020 13:32

My Dd had her place confirmed at Durham on Tuesday. Her emails refer to 'confirming' her offer but does not explain how to do that. I don't know if she needs to wait until she finds out what college she is in before she is told how to confirm?

We have tried phoning to find out what to do but no one picking up calls and have filled in their webform but haven't got a reply. After the nightmare of the past few weeks I am starting to get stressed that she will end up losing her place. Does anyone have any insight into what to do?

janinlondon · 04/09/2020 14:23

I think it is here...?

ssb.durham.ac.uk/BLIVE/SXPEDSS.pr_WWW_LOGIN?p_pgrole=ugas12

Baytreemum · 05/09/2020 08:24

Could you ring the college she originally had the offer from? If she is on their list they would know and maybe if she has been reallocated they might know where to?

Peaseblossom22 · 05/09/2020 10:23

She should have had an email from Durham and I think in the email there is a link to confirm her offer .

Quair · 05/09/2020 14:07

Wasn't there a deadline to put yourself into Clearing, get accepted by Durham and reply using the web Form? Monday 31st August

tava63 · 06/09/2020 19:35

Thank you @janinlondon that form is what she needed. Big sigh of relief from me. There seems to be a delay in sending out the email with that link as she has not yet been allocated to a College but the link still allowed her to enter her details and accept her confirmation.

Quair · 07/09/2020 09:57

@tava63 I think (and hope) that the college allocation comes after you return that form. DS returned the form on the day it was announced but he's still waiting for the college allocation (and after that, the accommodation allocation and finally the arrival slot!).

I think all the CAG entrants are.

cblue · 07/09/2020 11:08

I think many of the non-CAG entrants are also still waiting for accommodation confirmation. DD certainly is although she does have a college.
On a positive note the college is catered and single rooms so the only variation in price is en-suite vs shared bathroom.

Crazy that this close to move in day they still don't know where they are going to be, whether it's catered or how much it will cost!!!

Peaseblossom22 · 07/09/2020 11:58

It’s still three weeks until move in though and 4 until the start of term. Remember Durham has shorter terms

Quair · 07/09/2020 12:11

3 weeks isn't long though. I'd like to get the shopping finished and DS would like to know which college he's going to so he can join the relevant chat groups.
On the subject of the chat groups, does anyone know where to start looking for these? Are they on FB, Whatsapp, Discord, Snapchat or something else?

alterego2 · 07/09/2020 12:36

I've only just found this thread but would love to join as DD is off to Durham. She has a college but is also awaiting news of accommodation and arrival slot.

@Quair - you DS could start with the Durham Offer Holders Facebook page. I think DD started there and then got added to various WhatsApp chats - for college and courses. So even if he doesn't know his college yet he could start talking to other people on his course.

Peaseblossom22 · 07/09/2020 13:04

Ds is in his college freshers group on Facebook but I doN’t know if he’s in any others . He doesn’t do WhatsApp maybe he is going to have to change that

cblue · 07/09/2020 18:12

Today she got her moving in day - Sunday 27th. 1 hour time slot. 1 helper.
Still no idea of room type but at least we know when she needs to be there!

As for FB/WhatsApp/Instagram. The welcome to your college email came with a 'handbook' with links to SM.
Not sure whether it has much going on - they don't know the staircase (or even the building) plus they are going to be in bubbles so it's a bit limited at the moment

Quair · 07/09/2020 19:33

thanks, @alterego2

myrtleWilson · 07/09/2020 19:36

Hello
I posted this on the other Durham University (accommodation) thread - just some traffic advice!

Just to advise those travelling into Durham - one of the main routes through the city is closed due to repairs to New Elvet bridge - see here www.durham.gov.uk/newelvet. Hopefully the colleges are detailing this but if not depending on which college you're heading to it may make more sense to come off the motorway at a different junction. The bridge closure hasn't been too bad so far but with schools back and University students returning it will clog up the alternative routes.... not looking forward to having to get across the city for a 9am GP appt tomorrow

KingscoteStaff · 07/09/2020 22:29

DS will know about accommodation/drop off slot on Friday.

Quair · 09/09/2020 06:07

Didn't Durham have bubbles of 15 planned? Does the new rule about 6 change those plans?

KingscoteStaff · 09/09/2020 07:26

I thought they were calling the bubbles of 15 a 'household'. Would that make a difference?

Apparently, 2 households make a segment????

Peaseblossom22 · 09/09/2020 07:37

Ds has a ‘household’ of 6 and a segment of 30 . No social distancing within the segment but can reduce to the households if necessary .

Peaseblossom22 · 09/09/2020 08:29

Now worried that it will be groups of 6 , which is too small I think . Feeling a bit frustrated as I predicted exactly this in August but dh and ds were taking their usual preferred approach of head in sand . The problem is I doubt we will hear any detail from the university, who are probably reaching for the gin bottle at this point 🙁

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