Durham opinions please!

[KittyMcKitty]

Dd will be applying to Uni this autumn - having always intended to do bio sciences she’s realised over the course of year 12 that sociology / social policy is really where her interests lie. She’s doing Bio, Chem and Psychology so Psychology will count as an essay subject for those courses which want one. Don’t know her predicted yet but it will be somewhere between a*AA and worse case AAB (best subject Psychology worst Chem). She has a lot of relevant interest in the subject (leads Fem Soc and LGBT Soc and various other things)

she’s applying to York (her favourite) and Birmingham but not sure about the rest. Durham looks interesting and asks for AAB (her GCSEs are all 8’s and 9’s). In my mind Durham is super hard to get into - is it that difficult?

how hard is Durham to get into? And what’s it like as a Uni / town?

My son has firmed Durham for a MBiol . Offer is AAA. He likes the college system . He did go to a private school ( but isn’t a hooray Henry thank goodness) . Actually lots from the indie sector got rejections from Durham this year so I think there will be a lot fewer who have been to private schools in 22/23 & going forward . My understanding is that they are trying to improve the ratio of most disadvantaged ( polar 1) to most advantaged ( polar 5) so far fewer offers to polar 5 young people this year . Your polarity reflects things like indie vs state , whether your parents were graduates , whether your postcode typically sends students to uni I believe .
I would certainly apply if DD likes it - this year I know quite a few 4 or 3 x A* predictions rejected and others without those predictions who got offers . So def give it a shot I say!

@Benjispruce4 Wow! Congratulations to your DD on the first. I hope you have a lovely celebration.

Thanks @EwwSprouts yes we did. Durham do graduation very well in Durham Cathedral.

My DD has got an offer for Durham - everything crossed for Thursday after covid during exams. You have 5 slots and only need one so definitely worth thinking about and going to an open day or popping over to see the place. We were sure it would be York and Lancaster for biosciences and she was lucky to get 5 offers. But hated York offer day so when got offered Durham it’s that first and Sheffield second. DD not sporty but loved college system and the feel of the place. She’s GCSEs 8/9s plus AAAA predicted offered standard AAA for course. They aren’t interested in her EPQ but Sheffield give her a grade discount so all not lost. Friend’s son doing law and in final year in September and loves it !

Sorry should say Predicted A*A^AA but that’s blown out of the water as was really not well during exams 😢

@Fruitygal my dd had an A A A offer for Durham and missed her 2nd A* (by 2 marks!) but still got her place.

But Durham are bad on not deciding and leaving someone hanging in the morning. DD could see that they only decided they'd accept her the night before, but there was someone on here who was kept waiting until the Friday when they refused him.
So if she misses the offer then you may be in limbo while they decide. You can decide to reject them and go for your insurance, I think, if you don't want to be waiting.

Hopefully you won't need to consider that anyway though. Good luck!

@MargaretThursday thanks for this - she was so poorly and trying to revise but falling asleep at the desk at 10 in the morning- I have everything crossed