Durham College Allocation

[KittyMcKitty]

Hi

Dd is in the process of trying to rank her colleges. She knows she wants gowned and would also like to be on the Bailey. - I imagine these are probably very popular choices.

Ive read the website / been to the open day and she is booked onto a March offer holders day (although these are on strike days so who knows if they will happen - frustratingly the Feb one is on one of the very few days she can’t do).

can anyone give me any info as to how college allocation works - likelihood of getting a preference and also when students hear of their allocation- is it after A level results?

thank you!

My DD is 4th year John's but living out. She loved Johns. As PP says it's small and so friendly. It has a reputation of being religious and although that is there for those who want it, it's just a normal Bailey college. It has the most amazing new library and resource centre for studying and according to my DD is one of the richest colleges! Not sure if that's true. And she is quirky and northern state school educated and found plenty of friends there.

Thank you all - funnily enough dd said St John’s was the religious college today (long train journey to the York offer holders day). In the Bailey colleges are there any kitchen facilities? And we assume the rooms are just on corridors / dotted around as opposed to in flats?

Ah the Castle dream. My friend had the room in the Gatehouse with the rose window in her first year.

I know there have been changes in the cough years since I was a student but o would say that people settle in to their college community and it really doesn't matter.

There is a whole slightly romantic dream around the castle but she needs to remember that many colleges, especially those with limited rooms often have freshers living elsewhere and that while some freshers do get shared rooms in the castle most will be in the nearby blocks and not in the castle itself. Traipsing up the hill from moatside to the castle for every meal isn't quite the same as wafting down the historic stairs and across the quad to the Great Hall.

My son is at Grey College (3rd year now). It has gowns, formals but is on the hill and not the prettiest. Therefore it is less popular and so you’ve a good chance of being allocated there if you put it near the top of your list. Also, large rooms and not many students have to share so actually nicer than most of the bailey colleges. My son decided to be strategic in his choices and so was realistic and has been really happy with his choice. ‘Gowns’ were important to him and this seemed the most achievable with the least stress.

@KittyMcKitty there were small kitchen in Johns even though the rooms were on corridors. There's a variety of different rooms in different blocks. My DDs room looked out into the Bailey which did make it a bit noisy on a weekend but she loved it there.

Hatfield have a kitchen on each staircase. Well, when I say ‘kitchen’, I mean sink, fridge and micro.

DD's room in Johns looks out towards the river rather than onto the Bailey, so she doesn't get noise from people but she said you can hear the cathedral bells! She is on a small corridor with 7 rooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen (fridge, kettle, microwave). She is also quite lucky to have a small double bed.

John's have a slightly different financial set up to the other colleges, as they are a bit more independent. For Johns this means that you don't pay extra if you get a double bed, free laundry and free formals.

@GoldenRuby and free tea and coffee all day too in the dining room.

Thank you everyone. For dc living on staircases as opposed to in flats did they find it easy to make friends without the focus of a kitchen / communal area?

I think the benefit of a catered college is that friendships are made over food! Meal times are set, so everyone is heading towards Hall (or to the bar beforehand) at roughly the same time, so in the first month or so you will end up queuing / sitting on the grass / leaning against the passage wall / critiquing the salad bar with a wide range of your College freshers. Then the long tables mean that everyone mixes up and sits with different people.

DS found that he made his first friends with those who were early birds (or just greedy!) and were regularly first in the queue for breakfast!

It has been interesting watching DD’s experience in a self-catered hall (Newcastle) and comparing - she has been lucky and found herself in a congenial flat, but hasn’t made loads of friends with others in the building. Next year she is sharing with fellow medics/hockey people, whereas DS’s second year house was with 7 other Hatfielders.

My DD loves Snow! Her dad loved the University college (castle) as Harry Potter vibe 🤣😂🥲but DD didn’t. She wanted en suite and an ability to cook as she loves cooking. Last night was a homemade mushroom & roasted tomato risotto with tenderstem broccoli and focaccia bread?!? Love her 😂🤣

They have gowned formals, lots of socials and balls so lots of lovely things. College has given their flat ( who are super close) free veg boxes, fruit boxes, free waffle day this week and last week an ice cream van with free ice cream 🍦- she loves the place and her course!

yes .. as people have said, Dc made friends over food or queuing for food at castle . Dc found meal times v friendly . The early birds for breakfast were often also on stem courses so dc then quickly found people on the same course and had people to walk to science site with .
The kitchens in castle seemed pretty basic from what I could see but Dc didn’t really use them at all. Fwiw.. dc loved the food on offer.

Thank you again everyone! She so wants to go to Durham so 🤞🏻 the A levels go to plan! She’s come round to thinking catered may be best for her as she may forget to eat / just not get round to it if self catered plus the shops are some way away.

Ultimately I think she would be very happy in whatever college she ends up in. She really wants the Bailey (although is a bit apprehensive as she’s seen things which says everyone in these colleges are very wealthy privately educated which she is not - although I’m sure this isn’t representative).

thank you everyone and lovely to hear that the dc at Durham are having such a good time. On a side note she is very excited by the prospect of Durhams Taylor Swift Soc!

My husband and I went to Aidans, our son's currently at Collingwood. I tried to persuade him to apply for Hatfield but he was swayed by Collingwoods strength at sport.

And hasn't actually played any college sport as uni sport is a bit all-consuming. As a food is highly linked to his happiness, I think he might have been better on the Bailey...

Not sure where it came from, but he looked at a graph of applications per place by college.

How times have changed @dew141.

When I was at Aidan's in the 90s, it would have been Hatfield you would have gone to if you were university level for sport

I know! All those yummy rugby players....

Why has Hatfield crashed? Astonishing nose dive down the ranks.

I love threads like this,because it doesn't matter where you end up, everyone always seems to have a blast and there are pros and cons to all of the options.

FWIW, when I was there, aside from it being a castle, Castle was an absolute hole with the coldest rooms known to anyone. But hey, they got to say they lived in a castle!

my son is at Chads in the Bailey ( it was his first choice ) . It is a small and friendly college and like John’s is independent of the Uni so have their own catering arrangements rather than the caterers who have the whole university contract which covers the other college . The welcome and freshers week was great - students, parents and accompanying siblings all got lunch on arrival - and meals seven days a week including lunch are great way to make friends . Those doing his course mainly go back for their lunch in College unless the timetable doesn’t permit. Chads has formals twice a week but there is an early supper option for those who doesn’t want to bother . My son has to share a room which has been fine and they have their own ensuite - and they have cleaners too. The students are housed either in the main college building or in one of the neighbouring town houses so rooms vary a lot. My son’s house has a really good kitchen together with large table for sitting around but it does vary and some of the College kitchens are tiny . The college principal and staff all seem very nice and friendly . Being on the Bailey is pretty convenient for accessing the city centre - Waterstones is only a minutes walk away . He has about a 15 min to some of his furthest away lectures at the top of the Hill but some are only a few minutes away . I understand that about 75% get one of their top three college choices . I know several who got Castle this year and seem happy .

Ps about the state / private thing and the Bailey college - I think Durham is doing it’s best to reduce its % of the most privileged students ( using the POLAR groupings ) . FWIW I know two students in Castle this year - one went to a state comp and one to a grammar .