Durham university provisional college allocation

I got a provisional acceptance from Castle for LLB. It’s where I wanted to go when I first applied to Durham. Does the university change provisional colleges often? Will I be allocated some random college in a while?

Hi there

They try to keep you allocated to your provisional college but sometimes if one college gets oversubscribed after results day, they do have to shift some people around. There's no guarantee that you'll be kept in Castle but there's also no surety that you'll definitely be reallocated. It's best to just wait and see what happens.


-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

Do you know if there’s any possibility, say for example I was ranked my 4th preference, in august if the amount of students for my subject in the colleges I have ranked 1st 2nd and 3rd are too low (e.g if they didn’t achieve the grades) would I be allocated to a college of a higher preference? Sorry if this is confusing!

Hi there

I wouldn't say that's something common. There's nothing you can do about it but if they think they could potentially put you in your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices to balance students out, I don't see a reason why they wouldn't do that. Still, it's likely that you'll stay in your provisional allocation so I wouldn't have much hope honestly.

-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

Thank you for replying so quickly! Do you know why re-allocations happen on results day out of interest, as the website slightly confused me, is it due to over subscription?

Do you know what happens if a student is allocated to a college (6th ranked) but they cannot afford to pay for it, as it is catered?
Also what if it does not fit with the students wishes, such as gowned or not?
The FAQ's are a bit unclear.

Is it possible to move colleges once a provisional one has been allocated, if for example, a student has been given catered accommodation but they cannot feasibly pay for it?