Tell me about Durham

[Durhamm]

DD has Durham on her list of potential unis but she has never been, can't make the open day and it's a long way for us to visit.

She is looking at one of the joint hons degrees via nat sci.

As far as I can see, lots of people like it for the college system and the formals, but DD isn't bothered one way or the other about those. So what else is good / bad about Durham? A family member went there and didn't have a great experience but we'd like a second opinion and I know there are many Durhamites here.

She wants self catering accommodation, great teaching, to be challenged academically, a diverse and interesting bunch of people to meet, lots of fun things to do when not studying. She is not particularly into team sports, but likes music, going to gigs, cycling, green spaces. Space generally would be good - she found Bristol a bit crowded and much preferred the vibe of the campuses at Birmingham and Nottingham.

Please tell me everything you know, good or bad! Does Durham have lots of other positives apart from the college system, living in a castle and the formals?

@KittyMcKitty Her other main complaint seems to be her shock and disgust at the fact that circuit laundry is £4.20 and that the app keeps crashing

I have a child at Leeds currently and she had the same complaint about the laundry costs etc - bought an electric clothes dryer and someone in the halls managed to hack the app ...😱

And the accents - majority are southern at Leeds also - I don't think it's a Durham only thing. Another of my kids went to Bath and was voted 'Best Northerner' 😳 every year she was there.

Sounds great @KittyMcKitty glad to hear she is having a good time at Chad's. I've learnt from this thread that if Durham suits you, it really suits you, iykwim.

How is the college proactive about the lack of diversity out of interest?

And the accents - majority are southern at Leeds also - I don't think it's a Durham only thing.

I think Durham might be particularly low on % of northerners - we need @boys3 and those charts!

It gives a number of grants (all the info is on the chads website) and does a lot of outreach work with schools in the local area encouraging them to apply to Durham. Their speaker programme focuses heavily on social inclusion and whilst this is of course talking to students they already have it stresses the importance of inclusion and working for a fairer society and not looking after solely your own self interests.

They also have social mobility reps (themselves from working class backgrounds) who support and advise students and an active dress borrowing system.

@Mytholmroyd sounds like she needs to meet some computer scientists and get them on the case 😂😂

I don't get that impression in my own Department and my current set of academic advisees are a real interestingly mixed bunch - local mature students with kids, 18 year olds some coming through the foundation year, Europeans, students from the far East, a rugby player etc. Definitely not all ex-private school kids from the southeast!

Ah I found one of those graphics, comparing Durham with Newcastle rather than Manchester or Leeds though. Maybe @boys3 will pop up and show whether M and L look the same in comparison.

Here it is

@Mytholmroyd im sure that is the case - I have said to dd that I think we all tend to notice voices which are closer to our own and dd has a very stereotypical accent for where we live. And dd is very aware of her own privilege also.

My DD was incredibly lucky at St John's last year as the laundry was free, as were formals (other than end of term mega formals), and free use all day of the nice coffee machine - but you had to use your own mug. The amount she drinks it saver her a fair bit!

My DD has settled well into Josephine Butler (JoBo)the accommodation is very basic we put up some fairy lights to give it a more cosy feel. She has been kayaking and pole dancing, so definitely something for everyone!

@Durhamm apologies been away - last year of Uni drop-offs though.

Manchester and Leeds regional mix of home students as compared with Durham

plus comparisons with Lancaster, Liverpool and Sheffield unis.

and the international student percentage of undergrads.

A snapshot behind the graphs, we were in the pub with two other couples last week. All three couples had/have a child at Durham recently. One couple's next door but one neighbour had a son there too and we can add in our godson who lives only a few miles away. Quite a coincidence as 4 different sixth forms (2 state schools, 1 sixth form college and 1 independent) and their other choices were varied, and Durham wasn't first choice for all before offers received. The young people each know only some of the others. All the DC are northerners, STEM and were/are happy at Durham.

Durham are trying to increase their percentage of foreign students to 30%. That is a published target. They said it was to increase the university's international reputation which is poppycock of course.... it's purely because they pay higher fees!

The 7% of places that will head to the foreign students in the next few years will likely come at the expense of independent school applicants, mostly from London and the South East.

And the foreign students are interested in CompSci, Engineering, Economics etc....... not Anthropology, English or History. So private school kids will really struggle to get a look in on those courses going forward. (I think the Independent School offer rate for Economics was 14% last year).

I think you're right. Not great news for my younger son (who goes to a private school in the SE) but I guess that's life.

Given that three of the four of us in our family have been to Durham, possibly a good thing and time for a change.

@MidLifeCrisis007 the Durham target is 39%, by 2026/27 they are already at just over 30% for the overall student body. Your subject points are the key here. As it is heavily skewered to a specific subject range, with all those knock on implications that you mention.

@Weddingmum
That's lovely to hear. My DS has also settled well into Stephenson's next door. He's met a real variety of people , no sense of exclusivity. Maybe the hill colleges are more diverse than those on the Bailey. Hope your DD continues to enjoy her time at Durham.

My daughter is applying as she now has discovered the Combined Honours Social Science degree where she can do Visual Arts as well as Sociology.
But she's doing an Art Foundation course now and says that most people there are state educated and the comments they make - she says they walk by a group of students just standing there and it's all 'oh look private school kids, you can just tell' and 'look at those rich bitches' and more negative things. My daughter says she dare not admit that she went to private school as they'd probably disown her on the spot! And that she and her private school friends never ever saw a group of state school kids and said anything derogatory at all.

I started a masters at Durham 7 years ago aged 49. I withdrew from the course a few months in. I was very disappointed with the quality of teaching and put in a formal complaint which was upheld and allowed me to withdraw without paying fees.

I was shocked at the poor standard of English many overseas students had. This was a problem because we were expected to produce work in groups, which went towards our grades. Many of these students were unable to contribute to discussions and were carried by those who could. I was paying full fees and many of the overseas students I met were on bursaries. I say this as a qualified CELTA teacher (teaching Enlish as a second language)

I didn't stay in student accommodation but heard it was mostly poor quality with meals served in dining rooms rather than self catered. I was able to eat in the dining room but it felt like a public school, with staff bossing students around, very elitist and full of privately educated kids. I saw a lot of laddish, sexist behaviour and if I'd had a daughter, I'm not sure I'd want her to attend.

I have a friend who attended Durham as an undergraduate and loved the college system which made her feel part of a family.

My undergrad was at a former poly/ now uni, so not redbrick and I felt the quality of teaching and level of support was far superior. It was also more diverse which I liked.

I was very disappointed in Durham and felt it didn't live up to its reputation.

That's disappointing to hear @S0upertrooper. But with over 60% state educated, I still don't see how everyone thinks private school kids dominate?

@mondaytosunday perhaps the public school kids don't dominate in numbers but perhaps their attitude/behaviour makes them stand out more. I imagine they may be more comfortable with the Durham environment than state school educated kids.

It’s more than 50% private and selective state grammar. That is a very high percentage from none comprehensive schools.

Just an update on 2nd and 3rd year housing in Durham. After last years heavily publicised housing shortage it looks like this year is going to be the same or worse bun fight. The Uni doesn’t seem to have done anything to ease the problem for students and parents who make up the shortfall and now many landlords have capitalised on the situation even more by increasing prices further. So the price of a room in a shared house has shot up by £20 to £50 per week in 2024/2025. So many rental prices are almost or over £200 a week). This is for not the nicest room, in not the best condition, without bills and in quite a far out location.