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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:
bigTillyMint · 13/02/2020 12:55

@goodbyestranger, is it?! Does it vary that much between colleges? I guess with so many sportsmad students they need to make sure they have enough to eat Grin

goodbyestranger · 13/02/2020 19:02

Haha yes but it seems that the quality is there too as well as the quantity bigTillyMint.

oneteen · 13/02/2020 20:20

Durham offers are quite interesting... one of DD's friend has a contextual offer for a very competitive course - she sat her GCSE's at an Indie school (excellent results) but now attends a Sixth form college which is very average, AS's very average and below offer level (ABC) although predictions are standard offer (AAA). The first choice sought after Hill College accommodation has been allocated - but she has firmed. It does seem to imply that it pays to switch to a state school for A levels even though your results would not be as good as attending an Indie. That final state school application really matters.

However, I would state this girl thoroughly deserves the offer she's incredibly hard working in and out of school...(which lots of other DC are too).

My opinion is that if you are not going to firm Durham why complain about the accommodation allocated - it's your second choice and I would not be surprised if Durham does not know this or at least anticipate this so, therefore, this is reflected in the accommodation offers (it seems that some of you want your cake and eat it)...it looks like if it's your insurance option the accommodation will be a lottery anyhow.

Hoghgyni · 13/02/2020 21:07

The thing is though that Durham doesn't know that it may only be an insurance place. It seems a bizarre policy to make a really attractive offer, then totally ignore their preference for accommodation. DD's best friend is in exactly the same position as her offer-wise, but she has been offered the college DD wanted whilst she wanted the self catered place DD has been offered. Ideally they would fo a straight swap, but they can't.

goodbyestranger · 13/02/2020 21:39

The Durham thinking/ new system is about trying to make sure colleges have mixed communities. That seems a laudable aim.

oneteen · 13/02/2020 21:50

At the end of the day - @hoghgyni Durham had made the offers it has. I assume your DD has not firmed Durham, therefore, accommodation becomes a lottery nothing is guaranteed unless you firm. So pointless moaning because unless you firm Durham any accommodation offers could change.

hobbema · 14/02/2020 11:04

Also @oneteen, some applicants are still waiting to hear from all their choices. All well for those in an enviable position to be certain of firm and insurance but not all are yet and it’s important to get it right. Yet more mess ups from Durham for my DT2, initially made an unconditional offer on Track, queried quite correctly by her, corrected to conditional. Last night she checked her Track and Durham offer reported as waiting for a decision ( this despite her having formal offer email and invite to offer holder day). Queried again, admissions says its an error and they are sorting so a wasted night of worry for her that Offer had been revoked. Maddeningly incompetent.

HugoSpritz · 14/02/2020 19:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hoghgyni · 14/02/2020 19:36

Oneteen she hasn't firmed anything yet, so Durham shot themselves in the foot. Her faculty obviously wanted her or they wouldn't have offered ABB for a course with a standard offer of A*AA. It's just such a shame that two friends have both been offered topsy turvy catered/self cateredcollege choices with no opportunity to swap places with each other, so both will probably turn their places down.

PortusCale · 14/02/2020 19:48

I think it would be a mistake to turn down Durham due to college allocation. My DD didn't get her first choice, ended up a college that she hadn't even considered and had never heard of and absolutely loved it - I really believe that most people who don't get their chosen college end up loving their college. The welcomes that each college puts on at the start of the academic year enable you to "belong".

Have to say, I think Durham is a brilliant university and there are many out there who would snap up the chance to study there. My DD misses her time there but has made life long friends - it always amazes me how many people she's in contact with who were at Durham.

goodbyestranger · 14/02/2020 19:59

Hoghgyni I'm not absolutely certain that you can draw the conclusion that Durham wants your DD more than any other offeree simply because she falls into the contextual bracket. There were a lot of those offers early on this year but I don't see that you can say that Durham wants ordinary offerees (ie not flagged by their school or postcode) any less. I think to say that Durham has 'shot itself in the foot' is a bit grandiose really. Did she want Castle?

goodbyestranger · 14/02/2020 20:04

I agree Portus and having been there myself, I agree that far too much can be made of college choice or allocation although admittedly it's easy for me to say that because both DS4 and DD4 were allocated their college of choice. But I say that from an olden days perspective when colleges were much less diverse, and yet we all made friends from across the spectrum. These days the colleges are far more mixed. The only thing I do have sympathy with is catered/ non-catered, for those with a strong preference on that front.

oneteen · 14/02/2020 20:07

@Hoghgyni - But are any of those girls going to firm Durham (and I thought you stated on another thread that her friends had been offered colleges that they had chosen - but not your DD hence why she was feeling low).

Misandei · 14/02/2020 20:16

Those of you with offers from Durham here, Did your dc all have interviews? Also do they all do multitude extra curriculars? Just asking as DS has made a few noises about it and wondering wether he fits the profile at all.

Hoghgyni · 14/02/2020 20:19

Goodbye as they didn't reject her, so I can only assume they wanted her. They seem to have turned down plenty of others. Oneteen four friends, two have colleges they want, DD and the other one have each been offered what the other wanted in terms of catered / self catered, hence their frustration.

Hoghgyni · 14/02/2020 20:20

Misandei no interview & extra curricular activities were crammed into a sentence or two at the end of her PS.

Hoghgyni · 14/02/2020 20:22

& I certainly didn't say that they wanted her more than anyone else.

goodbyestranger · 14/02/2020 20:28

I took the fact that you'd mentioned the low offer - which is purely contextual - meant that they rated your DD more highly than those with standard offers. And since she's only going to insure anyhow, it's next to irrelevant which college she's been allocated at this point. It sounds to me as though she's taking it as a personal sleight and is offended!

Misandei · 14/02/2020 20:42

Hoghyni I’m surprised I thought they interviewed a lot. Surprised about the extracurriculars too.

strawberrieshortcake · 14/02/2020 20:45

@oneteen what was the ‘very competitive’ course your dd’s friend got a contextual offer on. As mentioned on MN, Durham does get a lot of applications but a lot of people reject their offer in favour of another uni so it may not be as competitive as you think.

Also all universities I’ve ever asked will contextualise GCSEs based on the school that their GCSEs were taken in and a levels in the school their a levels are taken in. I don’t think just going to a state school is enough for a contextual offer. My DD certainly didn’t get one even though she went to a state school.

Hoghgyni · 14/02/2020 21:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SleeplessWB · 14/02/2020 21:07

I went to Durham and agree that not worth worrying about which college you get. I was allocated Mary's when it was still all girls and really didn't want to go there but my mum persuaded me that it was only a small part of the whole experience and she was right - it is one year of accommodation and I had a fantastic experience, am so glad I didn't turn it down on the basis of college allocation.

DietCocoaBreak · 14/02/2020 21:10

@Hoghgyni "those superior beings with a private education from age 4 upwards"
Really? 🙄 Not nice.

Doesn't you DD have an Oxford offer? So this is an insurance anyway?

Jano69 · 14/02/2020 21:13

The college allocations are made via a sophisticated algorithm - at the end of the day most people want a catered college on the Bailey and supply does not meet supply. Hence lots of people find themselves in self catered colleges on the Hill, disappointed initially and then unbothered when they actually start college life.

Jano69 · 14/02/2020 21:14

Oops supply does not meet demand