Which is better- St. Andrews or Durham?

Both Universities have got a good reputation, Durham is part of the "Russel Group universities" (elite universities in the UK, the British version of Ivy League), St Andrews isnt part of it which I do not understand...........Overall both Universities will look impressive on your CV so go wherever you feel you will be happier

To be honest, both universities seem to have very good, prestigious departments and if I were you I'd take into consideration the different course structures more than anything else. St Andrews is a Scottish uni, so you'll do 4 years (which, since you're an international, might be considerably more expensive) and in the first 2 years you'll get to do outside subjects, at Durham you only do 3 years and the opportunities to study non-Eng-lit courses are a lot more limited.

I know it's clichéd and probably not very helpful to you but there really is no such thing as the &quot;better&quot; university. St Andrews, Durham, and at least 30-odd other UK universities are all broadly comparable.<br />
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A fairer question is which is the better department, as although the universities themselves may be broadly comparable (in the sense that all are among our strongest universities with strength across the faculties) this doesn't mean that all departments are strong and that one university won't offer a strong English programme than the other.<br />
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I know Durham's English department is certainly very strong. Durham my time at Durham (studying Philosophy and Politics) I did hear complaints from students studying English that they didn't receive enough contact hours (and the amount of supervision they have during their final year dissertations is, or certainly was, derisory). However, it does have a high student satisfaction rate and most students spoke very positively of the teaching.<br />
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As for rankings, both have ranked in the top five to eight in the last few years (in overall rankings). Though St Andrews has probably ranked above Durham more than Durham has above St Andrews you shouldn't place much weight in this given that even 15 places in a league table is not really significant, let alone two or three (two or three usually being the difference between Durham and St Andrews).<br />
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As for Indian intake, both are smaller universities and neither will have a large intake of Indian students. At undergraduate level both are very white European/North American dominated. Although Durham does have a decent international intake, most are from China, the US, elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East.<br />
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Durham did used to have online statistics showing the country of origin for all entrants in any given year. I can't seem to find them at the moment, unfortunately.<br />
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The Russell Group is certainly not &quot;the British Ivy League&quot;. The Ivy League is an athletics conference comprising of private colleges in the north east United states (so is do to with sport and geography). The Russell Group is a lobbying group for large research intensive universities (so is to do with research income and output). The Russell Group isn't a selection of &quot;best&quot; universities.<br />
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St Andrews is not in the Russell Group as it is not as large as most Russell Group members and doesn't have as large a research income (or perhaps has been invited in the past but feels the 1994 Group suits its interests better). As mentioned, it is in the 1994 Group which is a similar lobbying group for smaller research intensive universities.<br />
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A number of universities now in the Russell Group were part of the 1994 Group at one time (Durham, York, LSE, Warwick, Queen Mary, Exeter).

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Thankyou! The only way in which I can make my university choice is by comparing them based on the questions I asked (and other basis like location, expense etc.) The one which seems more viable and comfortable to me gets the title of 'better' . I know its subjective and that is the reason why I posted here so that well informed people like you can help me make up my mind.

although the English dept. At durham is stronger based on ranking, do you think that the decison to go to a uni should be based purely on the excellence or strength of the dept. That I want to study in? Or should it be based on other factors that the league tables consider on the whole?

And to you which degree structure seems beTter? The 4 year very flexible structure at st andrews or the very rigid structure at durham where you get the degree faster and save a year? I'm sorry for picking your brain and thankyou for all the information.

What are your thoughts about St Andrews and Durham in terms of the course content at each and location? Those are the areas where they do differ, and are areas you are interested in.



It depends on how much value you place on the flexibility of the Scottish system and whether this flexibility is worth the expense of an additional year (tuition and living costs). Durham's course is still quite flexible and will allow you to study modules from outside the department in each year if you want to.

Have you seek the faculty handbook for Durham's English programme? It gives a list of all of the current modules a student can take

https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/faculty.handbook/degrees/frameworks/q300.pdf