Durham University 2023 Applicants

2022 students, who start Freshers week 26/9 still have no enrolment, no college allocation and no communication from Durham- It is absolutely appalling

Hiya

As XanaXoid said, it can vary. Durham was my first offer too and I received it just a day after I applied for law. Law is definitely a competitive course at Durham but I was still accepted based on my personal statement, predicted grades and LNAT scores. A lot of other people I know received their offers later on, throughout the October-May period. So again, it really depends on how strong of an application you make

-Himieka

Hi, I think it depends on many factors. If the course you are applying to is competitive, if you have a good application (by this I mean if your personal statement is 100% in line with what they are looking for) and many other reasons. Having said this I'm an international students and Durham was my first offer and it took them around a month to get back to me, but I also know people, mostly home students, that got their offer really late in the admissions cycle and other home students that got it really quickly. So to answer your question, yes they do make offers during the admissions cycle even if I think most offers are made after the equal consideration deadline

I'm also an international applicant. If it is possible would I be able to know your stats for admissions?

Hi thanks both, I just have a question about the application process.

Durham seems to send out applicant offers relatively late in the year vs other universities. Is this standard procedure or does it vary by subject. I wondered if Durham makes offers throughout the Oct-May period or do they typically wait until April/May to respond? Thanks so much for your help

My DD applied in late October - 99% of home students ( internationals differ) do not receive an offer until after Jan deadline. So mid feb to mid March. A smaller proportion are held until very late in may. I assume uni are seeing whether they get late applications from stronger candidates. DD got offer in mid feb and attended offer day - starting in two weeks

My DD applied in late October - 99% of home students ( internationals differ) do not receive an offer until after Jan deadline. So mid feb to mid March. A smaller proportion are held until very late in may. I assume uni are seeing whether they get late applications from stronger candidates. DD got offer in mid feb and attended offer day - starting in two weeks

My DD applied in late October - 99% of home students ( internationals differ) do not receive an offer until after Jan deadline. So mid feb to mid March. A smaller proportion are held until very late in may. I assume uni are seeing whether they get late applications from stronger candidates. DD got offer in mid feb and attended offer day - starting in two weeks

My DD applied in late October - 99% of home students ( internationals differ) do not receive an offer until after Jan deadline. So mid feb to mid March. A smaller proportion are held until very late in may. I assume uni are seeing whether they get late applications from stronger candidates. DD got offer in mid feb and attended offer day - starting in two weeks

I think your daughter was very lucky as this certainly wasn't the case for most applicants. Did your daughter get a contextual offer? It seemed like these were the offers that went out on time (which were the minority). Just look at both the 2022 applicants thread and the Durham parents threads to see how many people missed out on the offer day in March and how Durham made no effort to put on a later offer day. Also how many people with 3 - 4 A* both predicted and achieved were kept waiting until A'levels exams had already begun to hear that they had or hadn't been accepted. The late replies were nothing to do with being a strong candidate or not. It was purely down to terrible organisation and a complete lack of care for the students applying. Every year applicants believe this year would be different to previous years fiascos and every time Durham messes it up again.

I agree with you and also a lot of other unis keep people waiting until the last possible week. Lse and Warwick do this for example. And I have experience it with warwick even if I'm an international student. It obviously not good that they do this but they can legally do that so I wouldn't blame the uni

It's legal to do a lot of things but that doesn't make it right. It's most likely that it is legal for them to be leaving hundreds of 2022 Durham students waiting to hear what college they have been allocated who are supposed to be moving in next week - but that doesn't make it ok. I do blame the University - scores of other universities including Oxbridge didn't keep students hanging round until the day before their exams to find out they had been rejected. It's poor argument to cite a couple of other uni's that also got it wrong in defence. They were badly organised as well. It certainly wasn't wide spread.

nope these were just normal applicants who had been on the thread from the beginning who started out with bushy tails and excitement and increasingly became worried, confused and let down. You may have had a lucky time but you were in the minority, possibly you were a contextual applicant. I understand sticking up for the uni you have plumped for but please don't pull the wool over prospective students eyes.

I think the poster was referring to the deadline set by UCAS for Universities to reply which was in May. The Jan date was the application deadline for students.

Thanks for v helpful reply, hope she has a brilliant first year and congrats on her getting a place. Reading the 2022 thread I know accommodation allocation for some students have been a nightmare but it’s still the Uni so many people would want as their CF, so helpful to manage expectations on when we might hear back

Hey Himieka, can I know more about the law application you put forth for law as I am also applying for the same course at university. Like, what predicted grades and LNAT score did you attain? Also, did you have to relocate for Durham and how did you find the university situated in terms of rankings/prestige for law. Thanks a lot.

-An aspiring law student

nope these were just normal applicants who had been on the thread from the beginning who started out with bushy tails and excitement and increasingly became worried, confused and let down. You may have had a lucky time but you were in the minority, possibly you were a contextual applicant. I understand sticking up for the uni you have plumped for but please don't pull the wool over prospective students eyes.

Hi there

Imma be honest, my LNAT score really sucked. I got a 17 on it but somehow still managed to receive a conditional offer and I also know of other people with scores below 20 who got in. I always tell people that there's no 'good score' when it comes to LNAT- every uni has a different average score every year and I think for my applicant pool, it was 21. Before that, it was around 28, which is a big difference for just one year. So always try to make a good application when it comes to your personal statement and predicted scores as that may be your key to get an offer in case you don't do that well on your LNAT.

I have international qualifications but when converted, my predicted (and later achieved) grades were A*A*A*. I also did relocate for Durham as I'm an international student and found the uni quite good when it comes to teaching and learning. Even though prestige is initially a factor when you're deciding which unis to apply to, it really doesn't matter in the end as league tables can vary and different people are surveyed for each one- you should instead look at factors like student satisfaction rate, course structure, and some other things that I've listed here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/g/diagrams/considerations-when-choosing-a-university

The law course is quite interesting to me and even though it gets difficult to keep up sometimes, it has generally been smooth sailing and something that challenges me at the same time. Plenty of academic support is available like academic advisors, office hours with profs and tutors, DCAD, careers service, law societies etc. The overall vibe of the uni is also cool especially because of the intimacy of the city and the collegiate system. We've got open days coming up on 16th and 17th September, why not come visit us and explore Durham yourself?

-Himieka

Thanks for your reply Himieka. Your LNAT score is good - I'm sure your personal statement was also as great as your predicted grades too! I'm also currently predicted A*A*A* (however, I'm going to be honest with you and say I'll probably attain closer to A*AA which is enough to satisfy the entry requirement if an offer is made). My personal statement is complete, and I would say it is pretty good at the moment. I've been using a site called Arbitio to practice for my LNAT, as it offers some good practice tests and detailed feedback/solutions - it is allegedly harder than the actual LNAT so your score on there should be a bit lower than what you actually achieve which is why I bought the course. So far, I have done two tests on there (as I am attempting to save some for closer to the actual test time) and I have attained 24/42 in both which I am hoping to bump up (this is why I am reassured to know that Durham looks at your application in a much more balanced way than some other universities might). By the way, how did you fare on the essay that you had to after the MCQ?; I have not practised for that as of yet as I have heard that many universities do not care for the essay component, however I am looking to get up to speed with some current affairs soon. My LNAT is booked in for the 5th of November, and this test is the last thing between me and university, so I hope you can understand why I am slightly pressed about it . I am happy to hear that a lot of support is offered at the university, and I hope to put Durham down as one of my university choices. Thanks again for your message Himieka!

Hiya!

I totally get it- you only have to achieve A*AA in your predicted grades so don't bother about what other students might've gotten. I've heard of Arbitio as well but never personally used it so not sure how close it is to the actual paper. Do try the sample test on the LNAT website though, that will give you a really good idea of the sort of questions. Unis don't give you a score for your essay section but I thought it was quite good- take this with a pinch of salt though cus I don't know whether they actually liked it or not xD

Anyway I didn't practice writing for the essay questions but just read some samples to get an idea of the structure and the sorts of arguments. I've given advice on how to structure your essay elsewhere so I'd recommend checking that out. I'd say don't stress too much about it and if you can, don't do anything LNAT related 24 hours before your exam just to put your brain at ease. Best of luck, I know you'll rock it!

-Himieka