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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

999 replies

KingscoteStaff · 19/02/2021 11:03

A continuation thread for those with DC at Durham, or applying for Durham or alumni or staff! Share your thoughts and questions on colleges, courses, etc.

Assemble! @Baytreemum @WelshDaff @WinterRobin @janinlondon @MarchingFrogs @ChildOfFriday @tava63 @Terfterfterf @TonTonMacoute @Suki2 @Quair @Greyhair59 @bpisok @Jan069 @999caz @nipersvest @mum2eim @witchend @chopc @alterego2

Who have I missed??

OP posts:
Original poster
KingscoteStaff · 14/08/2021 18:16

If anyone has DC who are hoping to play rugby or hockey at a university level, then they should be looking out for messages about pre-season training - some freshers will be offered the opportunity to come up and train a week early. My DS has just been asked to host a couple of them in his 2nd year house.

OP posts:
oppie1234 · 14/08/2021 19:39

Hi - my daughter has accepted Durham as her insurance. Would really appreciate it if someone could confirm start date as confused by Freshers week dates & Induv=ction dates etc. Many thanks!

LeiatheSchnauzer · 14/08/2021 20:43

Hi @oppie1234, from what I have seen Freshers week starts on the 27th so I think (but don't know yet) that they will be moving in on 25th or 26th - unless they stagger it more.

oppie1234 · 14/08/2021 20:58

Thank you!

Peaseblossum22 · 16/08/2021 10:28

Just dug out ds’ dinner suit and sixth form suits. Made me sad as the last time he wore his DJ was for his sixth form revue in which his band played , they practiced so hard and went down a storm and a week later school finished forever for him. His ticket is still in the pocket, I remember the discussions about ‘the virus’ them and none of us envisaged exams being cancelled for two years and school being closed 🙁

Anyway enough if that , let’s hope it still fits and also the suits , as he has had a year off they haven’t been worn for 18 months Grin

Longtimenewsee · 16/08/2021 12:30

Email from Durham today. Asking that students inform them if they intend to ‘live out’ next year or if they want to defer to 2022 and name their college. Also offering £500 if their college needs to be changed for this year.. Rather confusing. - says you do not need to do do anything if you intend to go this year and live in college .. but then when Dd signed onto the portal, there was an option to tell them that they were going to start in 21 and stay in college. She’s unsure what to do. Anyone else seen?

chopc · 16/08/2021 13:20

@Longtimenewsee DS forwarded the email to me. I think if still intending to go this year and need college accommodation, no need to do anything?
That's how I understood it

chopc · 16/08/2021 13:21

Ah he didn't tell me if he logged into portal. He is at the cricket match today so not at home

Longtimenewsee · 16/08/2021 16:38

Thanks @ Chopc. She went with the instructions on email ( ignoring portal) and has done nothing.

LeiatheSchnauzer · 16/08/2021 19:17

Dd also doing nothing and insisting she doesn't want to defer. She thinks they might get told their allocation this Friday?

Trake · 16/08/2021 19:32

Hi, hope people don’t mind me hijacking this thread a bit.
Ds in starting yr13 is thinking of putting Durham as his possible insurance. His predictions are above what Durham is asking (AAB).
My question:

How many of you (I.e your dc’s of course) chose Durham as insurance AND did they get an offer?
How flexible was Durham with grades attained on results day?

My worry is Durham, on the best of days is very picky and people who have met the entry requirements sometimes have not secured an offer for whatever reason. So even though on paper it seems like a logical choice, is it a wise choice?

chopc · 16/08/2021 19:59

As it's not medicine (Durham does not do medicine), I would advise your DC puts down whatever choice he wants as if it's anything like this year, there was no logic to some rejections from Durham.

Having said that if my DS had got his first choice (Cambridge) he would not have chosen Durham as insurance even though that was his second choice as Durham asks for the same grades and were not likely to be flexible

Trake · 16/08/2021 20:50

chop I can see why Durham wouldn’t be a suitable insurance in that scenario. It’s those illogical rejections that we’re worried about.

LeiatheSchnauzer · 16/08/2021 21:01

This year has been really tough for rejections but doesn't necessarily mean it will be the same situation next year. If he likes it then definitely worth a shot but just be aware that insurance candidates aren't guaranteed the college they get allocated during the application process - although that has been thrown out for all applicants this year!
What other options is he considering for insurance?

Trake · 16/08/2021 22:55

Other options are Birmingham & Loughborough. All 3 asking same entry grades although ‘L’ is a bit more flexible but theres a big gulf between L and Durham in terms of overall prestige.

chopc · 16/08/2021 23:40

I think there is a poster on here whose DC is going to Durham as the insurance choice

Hoghgyni · 17/08/2021 08:09

My DD isn't at Durham but was considering putting it down as her insurance choice for 2020. We did a FOI request to find out if they had accepted anyone on her course with either a firm or an insurance offer with grades which had not exactly met or exceeded the offer since 2016. They hadn't, so she put down a different uni for insurance. (Durham had offered her ABB for firm, AAA for insurance & their standard offer was A*AA for her subject, so she had been hopeful that they may budge.)

Trake · 17/08/2021 10:23

Hogh That is very useful to know. I’m not very clear on the offers you described. If the standard offer was A*AA, why was she was given a lower offer to firm?

chopc · 17/08/2021 10:50

Well because they really wanted Hoghyni DC!

Universities are known to do this

Trake · 17/08/2021 11:23

That really doesn’t answer my question. chop Of course they must’ve wanted hogyni’s dc, what I wanted to know is why? Also the offer was so much lower than the standard offer that it really stood out.

Longtimenewsee · 17/08/2021 11:37

@Trake. DD’s offer was similar to Hoghgyni’s Dc. Standard offer for her course is AAA. Dd was predicted all As. She was offered a contextual offer of AAA (due to the v poor low achieving results of her gcse school and our postcode i think) which was further lowered to AAB if she firmed. Is your ds likely to be eligible for a contextual offer? Dd didn’t need it in the end as she got her predicted grades but it was nice knowing she had a bit of room to manoeuvre.

thing47 · 17/08/2021 13:04

Theres a big gulf between L and Durham in terms of overall prestige

Is there? There's very little to chose between them in most of the university rankings tables. I guess there might be a slightly higher overall cachet in going to Durham, but a big gulf? No, I don't really think so.

Trake · 17/08/2021 14:26

[quote Longtimenewsee]**@Trake. DD’s offer was similar to Hoghgyni’s Dc. Standard offer for her course is AAA. Dd was predicted all As. She was offered a contextual offer of AAA (due to the v poor low achieving results of her gcse school and our postcode i think) which was further lowered to AAB if she firmed. Is your ds likely to be eligible for a contextual offer? Dd didn’t need it in the end as she got her predicted grades but it was nice knowing she had a bit of room to manoeuvre.[/quote]
That all makes perfect sense. I did think about contextual offers but in my experience contextuals are usually about just a grade lower than the standard but I guess combined with ‘if you firm’ that explains it.

DS will not be eligible for a contextual, he is confident he will meet the standard offer but we can’t too sure in theses strange times.

Trake · 17/08/2021 14:29

@thing47

Theres a big gulf between L and Durham in terms of overall prestige

Is there? There's very little to chose between them in most of the university rankings tables. I guess there might be a slightly higher overall cachet in going to Durham, but a big gulf? No, I don't really think so.

I hesitated when I wrote that but you’re probably right.
OnTheBenchOfDoom · 17/08/2021 15:55

@Trake somebody on another thread was from student statistics or something and said lots of unis will drop to a lower offer if you firm them because they really want you. If memory serves Birmingham was offering CCC to AAA students because the likelihood is they are not going to get CCC. They know that you will probably get several offers and give an incentive to choose them.

Ds also had 2 offers from Durham, standard entry was AAA but he was predicted 3 x A and 1 x A. We come under a low uptake POLAR postcode although Durham was the only uni out of the 4 that offered that gave him a contextual offer.

He was offered AAB or AAA for contextual or AAB if you put them as a firm choice which he did. He actually achieved 4 x A.

From what I can gather Durham rarely accept a missed grade offer.