Questions for Current Durham Students! x

I have another question! What are the colleges like / what are the stereotypes and are they true/accurate?

I'm not a law student so couldn't answer the original post, but maybe I can help with this one.

The colleges are generally separated into Bailey colleges, located on the Bailey in the town centre and generally older, and more modern Hill colleges South of the river.

In the Bailey colleges, the accommodation is mostly catered and most are shared bathroom and kitchen, but some self-catered and ensuite options are available. The most well known Bailey college is Castle college, where some of the residents actually live in the castle although this isn't guaranteed. Most of the accommodation on the Bailey is townhouses and shared flats, but there are some newer builds too.

The Hill colleges are located south of the river Wear, and are generally more modern, in particular the youngest colleges South, Josephine Butler, Stephenson, and John Snow. Most of the Hill colleges, like the Bailey, are catered and shared bathroom, but the aforementioned newest ones are almost fully ensuite and self-catered. They are somewhat more remote, maybe 15-20 minutes into the town centre, but they are very close to the science site. They do lack some of the 'atmosphere' that the Bailey colleges, especially Castle, have, but the hill colleges have a reputation for being more laid back and spacious, and also the scenery is quite a bit greener.

The Bailey colleges have a reputation for attracting the private school, upper middle-class students (which is not entirely untrue) but that's no hard and fast rule and certainly no indication of their character. As a hill college resident I can't comment on the validity of the reputation but often, with a few exceptions, the Bailey colleges are more in demand (again especially Castle) so there is a somewhat higher chance of being reallocated. Regardless of college there will always be a mix of the upper, middle, and lower classes. If you want to feel like you're in Oxbridge, the Bailey colleges are a decent approximation of that feeling.

The hill colleges, as said before, have a more laid-back reputation (critics would say boring) but some of them are known for their range of societies; Collingwood is 'the sporty college' and Van Mildert and Trevelyan are very musical. Every college has a range of societies, but these are the stand-out ones.
The big price to pay is the longer walks into town for shopping and lectures, if you're a humanities student.

I personally, as a science student, don't have such a long walk and can order food deliveries so the distance isn't a problem.

I'm glossing over a lot of information here and probably have allowed some of my biases in, so I would really recommend that you look on the durham website to investigate the different colleges, and covid-permitting, you should attend an open day and look at as many of the colleges as you can.

If you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them!

THANK YOU SO MUCH this was so helpful!! I applied to Castle when I did my UCAS last month but now I am really worried and kinda regret it - I really want to be in one of the Bailey colleges as they are closer to my subject building and am worried that I am going to be pooled to another college if I get an offer. If this did happen, would I be able to change my college once I got there?

THANK YOU SO MUCH this was so helpful!! I applied to Castle when I did my UCAS last month but now I am really worried and kinda regret it - I really want to be in one of the Bailey colleges as they are closer to my subject building and am worried that I am going to be pooled to another college if I get an offer. If this did happen, would I be able to change my college once I got there?