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?

@HereWeAreAtTheEdgeOfTheWorld she needn’t worry. Should she come across cliqueyness there’s plenty of options to sidestep/ignore it. Chances are, she won’t.
JB is great, she will have a fab time!

Thanks @SpamhappyTootsie . I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to hang out with those types in any case, so unless it’s the people on her floor in the college or in her classes, hopefully she could just avoid them.

I know a distinctive feature of Oxbridge is students often stay in college accommodation for more than just first year but that seems not to be a thing in Durham if 2nd years are struggling to find rentals. Again please correct me if wrong, I probably have no clue what I'm on about.

I lived in college for all three years when I was at Durham. From what my son says, it's still an option in your third year.

I can't speak for halls of residence at other unis but the college set-up remains central to the Durham experience if you enjoy it. There's usually a lot of socialising in the college bar/formals and the college sport is more than just the odd token match (depending on the sport).

My daughter's head of sixth form has recommended it to her, but not sure. A friend's son recently graduated (Maths). He had his heart set on Cambridge but blew the interview. So I asked them about it. He said small, safe, a lot of private kids (of which he is one), halls average but colleges close knit. Accommodation afterwards needs to be found early for subsequent years. Not much of a nightlife. His mum liked it as she's not a city person and said they always found good places to eat but every trip was overnight as they don't live on the mainland. Distance biggest negative for her.
I don't think any positives outweigh the distance - I too think my daughter can get as much closer to home. She's doing Sociology and looking at Cambridge, Exeter, Bath, but has pretty much discounted Bristol after open day. Maybe Surrey? Possibly LSE but we live in London so not so keen to stay.

Hi @HereWeAreAtTheEdgeOfTheWorld mine is also really excited about going on 23rd! I’m sure it will be wonderful!

DD had an offer but declined. It was very pretty but just seemed too small, not enough to do. The university really dominates such a tiny place. The train up there was full of identikit blonde very posh boys, I don’t think we saw a single non white face on two visits. DD prefers what she knows which is a diverse population.

They are late with offers. DS really enjoyed social side and it’s beautiful but teaching was poor. Mostly by postgrads a few years older. Contact time was low. Difficult to access feedback or help. You get just one bit of work marked (if you are lucky) before you do the work that counts to your grade so very little opportunity to know if you are not on the right track. I did a conversion course in same subject many years ago and had more input in 1 year than he had in 3. DS said often no one spoke in tutorials so they weren’t useful for developing understanding. Housing situation is brutal. Both years had problems with getting deposits back although no major breakages just wear and tear and had to use legal process. Feels like a massive scam with rent deposits as I cleaned the houses and both handed back in same condition as when moved in. This year landlord put rent up £25 per room per week although nothing has been done to house - just because they can. Uni accom is very expensive but there is a £2000 bursary for those on max loans but it means those on min loan are going need £2k more than the recommended top-up from parents. He’s made great friends and there’s lots sports etc and enough going on but he didn’t feel the teaching quality justified the fees. Can’t comment on college stuff as nothing ran during Covid. I’m not sure why it’s highly regarded by employers tbh I think that’s maybe just an old boys network / historical thing as I suspect many next tier unis where the lecturers engage directly with students more provide a better teaching experience. I doubt any tutor could even write DS a reliable reference. Very affected by strikes this year, lots students still waiting for final marks although I’m sure Durham is wealthy enough to pay its staff well.

I declined Durham back in the 90s - they offered me what was an all girls college at the time, and I’d been at an all girls school for 7 years so it definitely didn’t appeal!

It’s mixed sex now. But very much boarding school vibes. Didn’t feel like an adult learning institution. Strange little place really but the small and safe feel appeals to some.

Firstly while Durham has a high percentage of private school educated students relative to other universities, they are still the minority!
People are making out they're the majority.

Secondly, privately educated kids are mostly normal and lovely and don't care where others went to school. The ridiculous stereotyping that they're all Boris Johnson or Rees Mogg types from Eton running round shouting "rah rah rah" has to stop!

Be careful of basing decisions now based on Durham years ago too when it does seem all this was worse.

*Firstly while Durham has a high percentage of private school educated students relative to other universities, they are still the minority!
People are making out they're the majority. *

Maybe the small size of the uni and lots of them living in the Bailey (? on the Bailey?) gives Durham more of a posher feel than other unis where things are a bit more spread out and everyone more evenly distributed, could that be it?

Pluses are so far away that no one goes home at weekends

Most (other) universities (even RG ones) have a reasonable proportion of students from their hinterland, and I think I'm right in assuming that it's not because almost the entire population of the Highlands and Islands chooses Durham that 'no one goes home at weekends'?

Lancaster has a good NatSci offering, both BSc and MSci.

With regard to the music, it's not the impression we were given at the open day we went to, so maybe things have changed (or maybe we were mis-led). Most of the colleges seem to have practice rooms, or there are shared practice rooms at a new building near some of the colleges. They employ two recent graduates to facilitate extracurricular music - one dealing with orchestras and choirs, one with bands and that sort of thing. The latter liaises with local venues where bands can do gigs.
I know a student there who is not studying music but is in the chamber choir - apparently the main problem is that the non-music students have to be let in to the building where they rehearse, so still a bit of an issue there.

Durham was one of dd’s options but she changed her mind . She wasn’t comfortable with the lack of diversity and the fact that Durham was very small . We live in the South East and dd attended a grammar school which had a very diverse cohort
However, a few of her friends are at Durham and enjoy it. It really depends on the individual in question

DS1 is at Newcastle and absolutely loves everything about it. He didn’t apply to Durham though he got the grades to do so because he thought the town was too small and he hated the idea of the elitism. The view of Newcastle students is that the majority of Durham students are southerners, whereas DS ( from the SW) is in a minority at Newcastle ( but loves that and is rapidly turning into a neo-Northerner). He says that lots of Durham students come into Newcastle for nightlife, music etc - so in his view ‘why not just come to the university?’ He’s had no problem finding accommodation, loves his course ( Psychology) and has made a great group of friends.

Most (other) universities (even RG ones) have a reasonable proportion of students from their hinterland, and I think I'm right in assuming that it's not because almost the entire population of the Highlands and Islands chooses Durham that 'no one goes home at weekends'?

I said that somewhat tongue in cheek.

But it is at one end of England and has a reasonable proportion of students from the south east so i don't think many students do go home at weekends.

@HereWeAreAtTheEdgeOfTheWorld Ds is there and not posh or privately educated. She will find her tribe, there are lots of societies to join to find like minded people. His mates were in Jo Bo (Josephine Butler) and loved it. As for second year accommodation, forewarned is forearmed. There are still places to rent in June and July before the term starts, there is a perceived "best" area which is viaduct and some people want that. Others are happier paying less and living a bit further out. Due to covid grades more students got into all universities, Ds's mate was at York but started off living in Hull, same with St Andrews where first years were nowhere near the university. That bulge year then has an impact on 2nd year housing.

For all those saying about the privately educated, mostly they do apply to top universities, if they don't get into Oxbridge what other unis do you think they have on their UCAS form? They are hardly going to have Oxbridge and then everything in the bottom 50 universities on the league tables. I think people notice it more if it is different to them. I have worked in places where people can pick my voice out above the general chatter mainly because I had a different accent to everyone.

@Durhamm The colleges are more than just halls of residence, I can't put it into words really. They have games specific to them, mascots who are out on moving in day, their own motto and they play other colleges in not just sports. There is a sense of pride about your college. They have their own bar too. Ds is out otherwise I would ask him. No they don't have lectures in their colleges only Oxbridge does that.

I agree with everything @SpamhappyTootsie says, safe, small enough to get round, might not set your world on fire if you are into clubbing etc but a great uni, well regarded and people from London do go to Durham, I think it is about 3 hours to Kings Cross. Geographically if you are tucked away at the edges of the map then some universities will be absolutely miles away.

They still do it, and it's far worse - a lot of applicants not receiving offers, or rejections, until the first two weeks in May.

Only Edinburgh are worse in terms of delays

DS is heading into his second year. He is looking forward to it. His s/c flat of six included three overseas students from three different countries. The college system is about community and DS feels a sense of belonging.

He is studying biology (with added natsci students) and again there is a mixed demographic including a sizeable American contingent. The teaching has been all face to face but the marking strike is a problem (as at so many other universities).

DS hasn't said anything about town v gown. He plays sport for a town team with a couple of other students and has been made very welcome by his team mates, curry nights out etc.

He loves Durham and would recommend it. But then he never wanted the bright lights of a big city.

Forgot to say he applied in the Nov and received his offer at the end of January.

@Totally55 I hope it lives up to their expectations! 🤞

Thanks @thoushallleave - that’s really useful info.

@Durhamm Pastoral care, welfare etc is delivered through the college system rather than in Departments and this is not what you normally have in a normal halls of residence. In Departments students have an academic tutor. If one of my academic advisees is struggling/having problems we always involve the college so there is joined up decisions. As a parent myself, I really like this aspect - it feels like more of a safety net.

I have a dc about to start 2nd year NatSci at Durham and I don’t recognise a lot of what has been said above.
DC hasn’t experienced cliquey groups and doesn’t feel surrounded by students who went to private schools. They are all just students, they don’t talk about their schools! There was no sense of overcrowding. DC is autistic and would have not survived if it was overcrowded! No feeling of town vs gown. There are plenty of overseas students. The college social scene was great and there’s something for everyone. There are loads of student societies and DC has taken up new interests. There has been a lot of walking to get to lectures and social things but they don’t mind. DC plays an instrument and joined one of the orchestras. The city is beautiful with loads of green spaces. There are places to go nearby like Newcastle for nights out (cheap fares for students) and the coast.
Yes there was the annual scrum for 2nd year houses, but DC secured a decent house with friends out of the centre.
I have another dc at another university in a bigger, sprawling, far less attractive town and they are happy there. They too have an annual scrum for houses, it just seems slightly worse at Durham. Because Durham is a small compact city, houses away from the centre feel like “miles away”, but in a larger town, everything is more spread out anyway so the distances are the same (and some universities provide shuttle buses). Of the 2, I much prefer Durham.
I’m actually pleased that when I went to university, parents didn’t try to involve themselves so heavily in our choices, and there wasn’t endless debate about whether somewhere is cliquey or whether there are enough nightclubs. I do feel that parents these days try too much to steer their dc towards or away from certain universities because of their own perceptions, or things they have read from a limited selection of people on MN and the like. There’s a danger of the kids being given a skewed or false view of somewhere they’re interested in going and that would be a good fit for them, academically and socially.

@LaBelleSauvage123 a slight exaggeration of course 😀but your DC is really not far wide of the mark in the Durham - Newcastle differences.

and for some geographic balance Durham-on-Sea (or Exeter as I believe it is known as more locally) thrown in.