Durham University

[EwwSprouts]

To quote @kingscotestaff The continuation thread for those with DC at Durham, or applying to Durham, or alumni, or staff!

June 2023 End of term for all. Hopefully young people are brim full of plans for summer fun and jobs to pay for it!

Link to old thread
]Previous thread (fingers crossed!)

It was very stressful last year. My son's group decided to wait for the second batch of accommodation which proved a mistake as they were more expensive. And that was after queuing up from 2am outside the estate agent (I know, it's ridiculous).

Prices for the more central areas were over £200 per room per week (in the second batch). He's ended up at the far end of Gilesgate which is quite a long way down a steep hill into town.

My advice would be to be ready for the first release of housing and agree the maximum budget beforehand so you know which areas are an option.

Hi @Ofcourse44 . I can only tell you DS’s experience as someone who gambled on Halls having a space until 2nd year going into 3rd they suddenly didn’t
He and 3 College flatmates got lucky in that they were offered accomodation in Halls (Hill college, self catering) for 2nd year. I told him he had been incredibly lucky and to start looking for 3rd year but he didn’t listen. They assumed 3rd year would be the same, but it wasn’t. He and another flatmate were left without anything from Feb to May, which was stressful. However, there was a small group who needed to fill a privately rented house so they met up a couple of times to see if they were similar types who would get on and luckily they did.
It does depend on the criteria a student is looking for. Viaduct area etc goes very quickly, houses further out not so much, for example. There are some nice properties further out which might involve a bus ride. There is a FB group called Durham Uni Looking for Housemates (or similar) which had quite a lot of rooms come up regularly.
For the brave, there is the option of just sitting on the College waiting list but I wouldn’t recommend that. DS and flatmate received an offer for accomodation 2 weeks before the end of term, but they had already signed for the house and are happy with that. They had previously been told they didn’t have a snowball in hell’s chance of getting a place.
College not remotely helpful for those left looking and they (College) don’t let you know if you have a place until Feb/March. However, there are private properties still available then, so it can be stressful but not the end of the world.

Looking back at dates, the first release was around 16 October and the second the 24th.

I've attached a price list in case it's helpful as a guide

My DD has never lived in the viaduct area. She cited too expensive and poor quality.
This year she was in gilesgate area with a 40minute walk to the science site but she was happy with this. The years before she was out at Neville's cross. To think her second year house was £106 per week and this year was I think under £120! Rent has gone up again though. It's getting unaffordable.

My DD's tenancy started on Saturday, but we won't be moving her in until late Sept. One of her housemates is fairly local so is picking up the keys and I hope checking the property. £160 a week inc bills in Gilesgate (the end closest to town, not far from the roundabout).

Blimey, when I was there we paid £55 a week including bills but we did live way out last gilesgate in a very much residential area. I got very fit with all the walking that year!

Good job on new thread @EwwSprouts

Well, here we are nearly 3 years on, heading up to Durham to watch our boy graduate! College dinner this evening, followed by his band playing a late evening set on Palace Green before Graduation tomorrow morning.

The time has gone in a flash! He’s got 60% of his marks back, so knows his grade, which is a relief.

The 2020ers had a pretty grim first year, but DS has had a great time over all - played sports, lots of music and a good group of friends. We have loved our visits to the NE - luckily DD has 4 more Medic years left in Newcastle!

I have pockets for a hankie in my dress for tomorrow…

Have a wonderful day, @KingscoteStaff !

@KingscoteStaff best wishes to you and your DS and thanks for all the advise before DS started at Durham

where next for your DS?

@KingscoteStaff Sounds as if he embraced all the opportunities! Have a lovely day tomorrow and what a relief to know his grade. Friend went last week and got the giggles at the verbose avoidance of "graduation".

@Ofcourse44 Welcome! DS as a first year was a bit bemused by the accommodation three ring circus. He and very new friends refused to join in the queueing. They started looking in the first week in November and signed for a property a week later. They're not in a 'desirable' area but actually it's only a short walk to the science park.

Thanks so much for sharing experience and tips. It seems so stressful to have to find people to live with so very early on..! Let alone having to find a place!

@KingscoteStaff congratulations to you DS! Enjoy the day.

@KingscoteStaff hope you have a fab day tomorrow ! Love a graduation we’ve done three so far ... but isn’t it congregation at Durham .....?

Some mums cutting some very stylish moves!

@lelegosunqueen re the earlier posts about universities favouring international applicants.

It's well worth having a browse of the clearing vacancies, which just opened today for 2023.

Taking a look at Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Edinburgh as examples, all have clearing vacancies for international applicants, that aren't available for UK applicants.

Unfortunately, the UCAS site doesn't seem to have a filter to do a search by UK or International

Are you able to look at clearing vacancies without having a child who is signed up to UCAS? Thanks.

@WombatChocolate - Yes. Most universities have a dedicated Clearing page on their websites - most of the ones I've looked have Search Vacancies options with ability to filter by UK or Non-UK vacancies.

Within UCAS, go to https://www.ucas.com/clearing-launch and you can search there either by general course, or by course and/or specific universities - at https://www.ucas.com/clearing?stage=subjects

Once you hit search, you should see a Where Do You Live option - completing this will ensure the search only returns courses relevant to you

Thanks - that’s brilliant.

Thanks @lastdayatschool that reinforces what was said earlier...

Can I ask a quick question about Durham college accomodation? Are the fees for the first year's accomodation and catering (I'm talikng about a catered college) payable termly, or for the whole year all at once? DS has firmed Durham, so we're trying to plan, with fingers crossed... He is only eligible for minimum loan, so we will be paying his accomodation.

The accommodation is paid termly

The dates were 1st December, 1st Feb and 1st June. Just remember you’ll need to budget for year 2 house rental - often paying deposit or holding fee in October/November and rental payments start in July or August.

Thanks @Fruitygal - that's really helpful

Can I ask how much your dc in catered colleges get by on per week for money?

Our son got £100 per week but we paid for sports and JCR subscriptions and sports kit. He just about managed on that, he'd have done rather better cutting out the 3am takeaways though.