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Durham University - Student GuideTSR Wiki > University > University Guides > Durham University - Student Guide
These university guides by written by our members offer individual accounts of aspects of day to day life. See the main university guide for information on facilities, opening hours, locations, policies etc. The UniversityOverall OpinionsYou can use this section to offer your overall opinions on the university. What one main thing would you like to highlight to future applicants? Username: Date: Comment:
Date: Comment: Buildings and EnviromentUsername:atrixa Date: 29/11/2009 Comment: The buildings at Queen's are pretty new so they are quite nice looking. The smaller lecture theatres can be pretty cramped, but you don't have to walk to far to get to them from either halls. The teaching and research buildings have been built next to each other. Stephenson halls is one minute away, and Snow around five.
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Date: Comment: SocietiesUsername: DougieG Date: 22/11/2009 Comment: There are an enormous range of societies on offer. If you want to find a full list, go to the DSU (Durham Student Union) website. Colleges also offer a number of societies, some offer more or less depending on which college you are at. I was concerned about this before I arrived as I didn't know how much drama and music (the two things I'm really into) my college provided, but it doesn't actually matter a great deal. College groups like big bands and choirs take people from other colleges too if you're good, and there's always the university-wide groups. I'll say a bit about the drama side of things, since I found that there wasn't much information out there before I arrived and it was a really important thing for me. All drama at Durham comes under the umbrella of DST (Durham Student Theatre). All student drama companies are ratified through DST and with this ratification can get funds or guarantees against loss, and are also able to hire the Assembly Rooms, which is DST's own 200 seat theatre. Some companies use other performance spaces, such as college dining halls/theatres and chapels. There is always a production either being set up, performed, or dismantled at any time and there is one show per week every week in the assembly rooms, meaning that there are over 30 shows. When you join DST (£12 life) you get access to information about all auditions going on within the next few weeks through the website. If you want to start your own company, it is very easy to do. Castle Theatre company now send a Shakespeare play on tour to America, and a number of plays often go and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe. DULOG, the musical theatre society, put on 4-5 shows a year, the first of which is always a Gilbert & Sullivan piece and the second of which is the 'Gala show', performed in the 600 seat city Gala theatre, which this year is West Side Story. The third show is usually something more modern, often a Sondheim. And the final show is after exams. Sometimes, DULOG send a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, which varies year to year. If you like musical theatre, then all of these opportunities are fantastic. Some colleges (Trevs most notably) put on a musical theatre show as well, for those who want to do high quality stuff without the commitment. Durham Opera Group are fantastic too and put on some really high quality stuff if that's what you're into. Username: Date: Comment: Teaching and CoursesTeachingUsername: Date: Comment:
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Facilities and ServicesLibrary and Study FacilitiesUsername:atrixa Date: 29/11/2009 Comment: The Queen's campus library is open to midnight at the latest, and I usually go in the evening since it's quieter. There's usually enough books, and you can get some sent down from the main campus if needs be. Internet access is usually fine, and there's a silent study area at the back of the library.
Date: 13/12/2009 Comment: As a scientist I find the libraries to be extensive to the point of intimidation! The college libraries generally have a good number of books and will often order books if requested. The biggest downside to the Durham campus libraries is opening times. While many other universities have 24 hour facilities the main library closes at midnight weekdays and at 6 on Sundays. I personally haven't found this to cause major problems but know it annoys many. The college libraries have even more limited opening hours although opening hours vary between colleges. While the computer rooms often get very busy in the main library there are a number of other computer rooms dotted about the university which are rarely busy.
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Date: Comment: Shops and FoodUsername:atrixa Date: 29/11/2009 Comment:Stockton is generally ok for shopping. There is an ASDA north of the campus (around 20 mins to walk) a Morrisons, Tesco express etc located around the area. There is a Sainsbury's local near Snow halls which is open til 11. There is some cheaper, smaller shops around the main town centre, which are probably the easiest to get to without a car. As for campus food, the Waterside provides two evening meals a week with the residence charge, but the food is usually pretty tasteless. There is a cafe near the library where you can pick up a sandwich or drink etc between lectures.
Date: 13/12/2009 Comment: Food shopping in Durham, without a car, is a nightmare. Though the situation has improved (slightly) with the introduction of a medium/small Tesco, anybody living on the hill (or that side of town) are faced with a number of bad options. Either walk a short way to local convenience shops and pay extortionate prices for whatever happens to be in stock or walk a long way to the Tesco and carry whatever you buy back with you up the hills! As we didn't like these options it was all about the Tesco delivery. I am a huge fan of college food and think it's amazing, particulary for the cost. Even when living out I would go up to college and pay £1.50 for a 3 course meal. Username: Awoodrow2 Date: 2/01/2010 Comment: My first term has mainly been experiencing college food; snacks and food for when I miss mealtimes usually involves a walk to Tesco every week to pick up chocolatey essentials. At Trevelyan, college catering has been incredibly good this year - older students kept saying in Freshers' Week how much better it now is. There's a decent variety of food, with there almost always being something solid that I'll willingly eat (and I'm a fussy eater). Formals and themed nights (Mexican, Italian, etc) spice up the variety a little. Now that meal times have been extended, queues for food are much rarer; just make sure you get to formal on time! SportingUsername: Kali_89 Date: 13/12/2009 Comment: Sport is generally divided in Durham between 'college' and 'university'. Uni sport is usually either reserved for very talented athletes (with numerous training sessions/week) or for 'obscure' sports i.e. ones which colleges won't have teams for. College sports are easy to sign up for and should include anybody that wants to have a go.
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Date: Comment: AccommodationWhat are/were your halls like?Username:atrixa Date: 29/11/2009 Comment: Stephenson college halls- single ensuite rooms, seven to a flat usually. Rooms are a fair size and there is internet connection in every bedroom. Usually a good atmosphere, but it can get a bit lonely, especially in the first few weeks since there's no living room or anything. The kitchen has two fridges, a large freezer, two sinks, two cookers, two kettles and a microwave. It gets cleaned about 4 times a week, and the bathrooms get done every few weeks. The laundry room has about 4 washers and 3 dryers. £1.50 to wash, 50p to dry. The dryers are pretty big, but remember to bring your own powder. There is a common room in between two of the blocks, but it is locked when there is no member of the JCR present. I think it's being expanded soon, however.
Date: 2/01/2010 Comment: I'm at Trevelyan College. Basic layout consists of 8 blocks (single building), each with about 3 floors, each with about two landings of about six students (depending on exact layout, whether there are double rooms, etc). This landing arrangement makes things more familiar than having long impersonal corridors, but can also reinforce cliques and make people band together a bit too much. On the other hand, due to being a single building, it's incredibly easy to accidentally meet new people and visit other people you know. Rooms are normally of a good size, though due to the peculiar architecture, the shape, size and layout tends to vary wildly. Three of the blocks have been refurbished recently, and are of a much better quality than the older blocks - hence everything tends to get two separate descriptions in Trevs. Each landing gets a shower or bath, and a toilet between six people, and the quality can vary wildly from G-block's power showers to the one I've got on F2 which gets colder the higher pressure you set it to. You get one pantry between two landings, which contains a fridge, microwave, kettle, sink, and sometimes hotplate. Refurb blocks have cupboards, but the older blocks are sadly lacking for storage in them. Trevs has peculiar arrangements, in that the management try to get everyone to share a room for at least one term (often a positive experience, sometimes can be stressful), and that first year students move rooms every term - this can be pretty stressful, but it's very good for people who made friends in first term with people that they didn't live with - they now get the opportunity to spend more time with the people they want. The college has a reputation for being a bit quiet and weird, but I think this is mainly due to being a small college, and having a labyrinth within it's walls - sound doesn't carry as well as it would down long corridors. The two main social areas are the Dining Hall (well, at mealtimes...) and the bar in the evenings. The bar is generally considered to be one of the better college bars in Durham - it's a lot larger than the five others I've seen, and has a great atmosphere when it's open. Everything goes on in there from pub quizzes, to formal drinks nights, to physicists cramming homework the evening before it's handed in. The other main area is the Undercroft, our equivalent of a common room - with comfy seats, board games, and a television. It's not used that much, but it's a good place to get together for a movie, or if you've got a group that won't all fit on a landing.
Date: Comment: Non-University AccommodationUsername: Awoodrow2 Date: 11/06/2011 Comment: Not definitive in any way, but I'll just post the gist of the different areas:
Date: Comment: The City of DurhamShops, Buildings and EnvironmentUsername: Date: Comment:
Date: Comment: Nightlife/RecreationUsername: angelmxxx Date: 4/01/2010 Comment: I'll admit, compared to Oceana and the big London clubs, Durham clubs do feel small. However, the advantage of this is that: (a), 2 of them are pretty much always students-only, and (b) you'll bump into people you know on every night out. Each college gets free entry (and queue jump at Loveshack and Studio) into each club on one night a week, so that high entry prices are never a reason to not go out, and you know that there'll never be an empty night during term time. The best thing about Durham is probably the college bars...with 14 of them spread around the city centre and 2 in Stockton, a bar crawl can be an entire night out, which you can make as cheap or expensive as you like as there are no entrance fees and very reasonable drinks. Soft drinks are usually 30p per half pint or 60p for a whole pint, with beer/cider at £1.50ish a pint, and the same price for a single spirit and mixer. Bar crawls are usually much more sociable than clubbing, and your own college bar is also a great place to pre-drink cheaply before going clubbing - you don't have to cram people into your corridor and then find you don't have enough glasses/the beer's warm, and people can be sociable for a couple of hours and then go to bed at 11 when you move onto a club if they want to without feeling like they've missed out on a night out. Most college bars have projectors which show big sports matches, x factor, etc too. As for clubbing, Durham has 3 main clubs, as well as the small Loft (gives free entry for sports team socials, etc), bars such as Jimmy Allen's (triples for £2), Varsity and Market Vaults; many, many pubs ranging in cheapness and student popularity, and Lloyds which I think plays music and has a small dance floor and tries to be somewhere between a bar and a club! The most famous club in Durham is Klute, 'the worst nightclub in Europe.' The floors are a bit sticky and you will get squashed on the dancefloor, but it has 2 long bars and its legendary 'quaddie voddy' is only £4, and actually very nice. Klute's a pretty safe bet for a good night out, you'll know the words (and be singing along loudly) to every (cheesy) song - favourites are Journey's 'Don't stop believing' and general 90s pop. It's a Durham institution, and usually loved the most by the people who are used to big city clubbing for some reason! The other two clubs are Studio and Loveshack. Studio has a student night on a saturday night which is great because the main bars in town tend to be full of locals - and thus triple their prices - on Friday and Saturday nights. It has 2 floors which play different types of music - chart hits and standard club songs like most other clubs across the country. It's generally very busy, especially on 50p Tuesdays (50p entry, 50p shots). Loveshack is frequented more by locals, but still has student nights, including a drum n bass monday night and student night on Wednesdays. It's pretty big, again similar to most other clubs. Everywhere in Durham is near enough to any college or main area of student houses to be an easily walkable distance, so no budgeting for taxi fares either! Even the most enthusiastic clubbers don't have to resort to going to Newcastle, and you can easily fill your week with Loveshack mondays, Studio tuesdays, Loveshack wednesdays and Klute Fridays and Sundays. Add in a bar crawl around town and a night or two in your own college bar or bar/pub in town and you've got a pretty full week! Colleges do usually run clubbing trips to Newcastle a couple of times a term though, where they hire coaches to transport you to and from a big Newcastle club. Username: Awoodrow2 Date: 2/01/2010 Comment: Now Durham nightlife is certainly an interesting topic. As a general rule, Durham is not the place to apply to if clubbing is a serious part of your life, and if you're used to nights out in London. However, despite the reputation, it's really not that bad. Most people will only go out a couple of times a week (most of the people I know in college will go to Klute on a Wednesday night, and the DSU at the weekend), so with a choice of Loveshack (you can guess from the name), Studio (a pretty standard club), Klute (a Trevs favourite on Wednesday nights - the worst nightclub in Europe), or the three or so nights the Students' Union (DSU) puts on - Planet of Sound for your cheese on a Friday night, Revolver on a Saturday, and something else I've forgotten - there is plenty of choice, and you'll almost always bump into someone you know due to Durham's size. For the people that do find this limiting (though I've known people who went to Klute every week in their first term) there's always the option of a £5 train to Newcastle, or just bear with it until the holidays, where you can refresh yourself and take a break from Durham. And for those who just don't enjoy clubbing (there are more of you than you'd think!), there are plenty of society socials to go to, or always the option of movie nights in college, meeting up with people in a bar, and so on and so forth. I've only been out drinking a handful of times in my first term (I mainly blame bloody Freshers' Flu - TWICE), but rarely felt limited in my choices when I've not gone out.
Date: 20/11/2009 Comment: This is about nightlife in Stockton/Middlesbrough. Asides from pre planned events from colleges and societies, there are usually set nights to go out at certain clubs. Che bar in Stockton has a student night on Mondays, so very popular. It usually has a theme and always has extremely cheap drinks. Usually a pound each before eleven and £1.60 after. Another favourite is Cornerhouse in Middlesbrough who has a student night on Thursdays. It's a bigger club than Che and is also a fan of theme nights. Drinks are again pretty cheap and taxi fare is generally a quid each. On Fridays, Queen's students often go up to Durham for Planet of Sound at the DSU. The free X1 service runs til about 2am so it's possible to get back down to Stockton again. What's local transport like?Username: Awoodrow2 Date: 11/06/2011 Comment: Local transport is not used on a regular basis in Durham, as everywhere is within walking distance. There is a bus station, but is usually only used if you don't feel like walking to Maiden Castle (sports centre), or if you're on a society event going outside the city. Trains have nothing to complain about, but I only use them infrequently. Location of the train station (up a ******* hill) is often irritating.
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