Parents of Durham freshers 2026

[NellyNoMates]

Thought I would start a new thread for parents of any Durham freshers starting September 2026.

I found the similar thread from last year so helpful in preparation, but don’t want to hijack their thread with our own questions etc.

All welcome

Great to see the excitement on this thread. Huge congratulations to you and your YPs - Durham is a fab uni and even those students who have been allocated a college a long way down their list (like mine - wanted Bailey & catered; got Hill & self-catering) all seem to end up loving where they land. I'm trespassing from the Durham Freshers 2025 thread which was set up and has been maintained by @MillicentFaucet who's done a fab job. Great to see her, @RayonSunrise and @MollyButton on this thread, too. @NellyNoMates - love that you started this thread so as not to clog up ours and we're all popping on for a look at yours!

@lynntbio - my DD is autistic. She attended the matriculation event but avoided the photo. I didn't know any of this until afterwards when I asked where I could find her in the photo; was selfishly a bit disappointed, but it worked best for her. I have seen somewhere else (perhaps Durham Uni parents' facebook page) that other autistic students did similar.

Seconding also the suggestion of staying outside Durham for college drop-off. We stayed at a hotel in Newcastle. Durham hotel prices unsurprisingly shot up for the drop-off weekend and Newcastle was much cheaper plus it also meant that we were near at hand in case of need.

Daughter given cuths!

@Dery you’re all very welcome - I definitely appreciate your knowledge and insight!

Ha, I was reading this just as my DS wandered in wearing his Cuths fresher 2025 t-shirt!
He loved his time living above the Bailey Bar🍺

Congratulations. Same combo as DS four years ago. Stevo is great, she will find her tribe and have a blast.

DD is going to Durham! She is a bit concerned that there might be a lot of drinking, which she is not into. Doesn't want to be thought of as 'sad' by the cool kids. I think she might be a bit wistful that if she had got into Cambridge there might not have been such a big drinking culture there. Interested to hear other's thoughts on this?

My DD is also off to Durham and is not a big drinker. She’s never really been keen on clubbing etc but is planning to go to the student bars etc just to meet people (have one drink then stick to sodas). She would be delighted to meet other people there who also aren’t really into partying!

@MillieMollyMandi @16usernamesin16years My daughter isn’t a big drinker either. I feel like there’s quite a different attitude to drinking now - certainly compared to my teenage years in the 90’s 😆

My DD (going into yr 2) isn’t a big drinker generally either; as @NurseRunner says, i think it’s less of a thing than it was. They do sometimes take a bottle of wine round to each other’s rooms - which makes me smile because we did the same as students millennia ago. They go to the cinema a lot as there is some kind of student pass which is very good value.

My DD doesn’t drink at all and isn’t interested in clubbing. She wrote on her accommodation preferences form for her college that she wasn’t interested in nightlife so hoping that they put her in a corridor (or a room if she ends up sharing) with likeminded people. They do seem to put a lot of effort in to matching people up well - not just in rooms if they’re sharing, but also in corridors. Much moreso than I’ve seen or heard of in other unis.

That's good to hear!

My daughter's also not a big drinker! Things have definitely changed since I was a fresher!

I have another non-drinker who doesn’t want to go clubbing! Waiting for the website glitch to be fixed so she can confirm her place. It says it should be fixed by tomorrow.

Another non drinker here. DS did his enrolment today. All very exciting! Just waiting on room allocation now

DS also a non-drinker. Managed to complete enrolment and said socials are full of info of things to come which is v exciting! Hasn’t done module selection yet though - said this has to be done after 1st September apparently

Is that official Durham socials? If so, which are most active? DS doesn't use SM atm, but he might change his mind if there's useful info around...

It’s official Durham - insta has all the colleges separately and a 2026 Fresher I think.

DD currently sitting here trying to do IT login or some such thing. I’m leaving DH to assist because technological queries are not my wheelhouse!

Just found this and popping on to follow. DS2 currently away on holiday has a place for Physics. Also not a big drinker.

Has anyone found out their accommodation allocation yet? We are at Stephenson and haven't heard anything yet

We're Stevo too and DD is expecting an email about it sometime next week.

DD is John’s and I’m pretty sure they had to have their accommodation preferences in by Tuesday just past, and then I think allocations come out next week.

I start a new job on Thursday next week so very much hoping she gets her allocation at the start of the week so we can have a day or two to make a list raid the shops before I start back to work.

We’re heading out shopping next week too to pick up some new shoes - apparently she needs suitable shoes for matriculation that aren’t adidas or birks and doesn’t have anything!

Do they need particular clothes?

DS is Josephine Butler.

For matriculation I mean

I believe it’s smart formal wear - so suits for males and a nice skirt/trousers and top, or a nice dress for females. DD has plenty of nice skirts but they are all brighter colours and she said she read a post somewhere about it being more likely that people would be in black and white. Also something about not being able to walk across the cobbles easily in heels (having been at uni in a cobbled city I concur!), but the only other shoes she has are adidas or birks which really wouldn’t be right, hence the shopping trip needed next week.