The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

Vodafone as good coverage, but has rubbish customer service, but then again, that could be said about all mobile providers. Some of the less well known companies don't have great coverage. Even Vodafone has patchy coverage in some places, but then again some of the patchy-ness I experience could be down to the fact that I have an iPhone, and they are notorious for having poor signal strength.

Hey, I'm wondering which cheap but good phone provider I should take when I'll be in Durham. The internet said giffgaff is very cheap one but I can not find anything related to the network coverage and quality? Which provider do you use at Durham? (I need Ultd web and text and prob. 100 minutes)

Have a look at this!

http://www.smartmobilephonesonline.com/?page_id=43

I've been on Tesco/O2 at Durham, and am under the impression it's one of the better networks in terms of coverage. I only lack signals in some college bars (which always seem to be bad places), and some random areas in the bizarre architecture of Trevs.

Candidates shall also study and be assessed in modules to the value of 40 credits from List A or from the Level 1 open modules offered by another Board of Studies §

In the English faculty handbook showing the modules of BA English Literature, it's given that -



Can someone kindly give an example what kind of open modules does it mean? Which all Boards of Studies offer such modules?

In the English faculty handbook showing the modules of BA English Literature, it's given that -



Can someone kindly give an example what kind of open modules does it mean? Which all Boards of Studies offer such modules?

So you would recommend Vodafone and not giffgaff? I mean giffgaff is amazingly cheep .

Does anyone know anything about the flats at St. Margaret's Garth? The CRM student flats? Are they owned by the university, or not??

No, not owned by the university, they have nothing to do with the university at all. I'm currently living in one of them. They're ok, clean, modern and in good repair. Bedrooms are a good size and have a 3/4 bed. Only draw back to the rooms is that the furniture is fixed so you can't move it around to suit you.

Kitchen/sitting room is ok size wise. It's open plan so it gets annoying if you want to watch tv and others are cooking as it gets a bit noisy. The kitchen bit isn't huge but we all tend to cook at different times so haven't had any problems so far with that side of things. There are two large fridge-freezers between five of us, there has always been plenty of space to put everything after I've been shopping.

Each flat has one bathroom with a shower, loo and sink (no bath) and another WC with a loo and small hand basin.

There are electric storage heaters in each bedroom, the corridors and sitting room/kitchen and a heated towel rail in the bathroom. The flats are good at retaining heat and I've barely had my heater on and often sleep with the window slightly open despite being a 'cold' person who usually has the heating on all of the time. Bills are all included anyway so that doesn't matter anyway.

My only gripe is that residents have to buy a parking permit off the building manager at £5 per week. It annoys the hell out of my because I wasn't told about this until after I moved in. On principle I decided not to pay the fee and instead park my car a 20 min walk away in one of the uni car parks that i have a permit for. There is a building in the complex that has a bunch of offices in and i can see an argument for charging the office workers to park here but i think residents should be able to park free of charge.

Other than the parking thing, I think they are pretty good, any problems have been sorted asap, eg our shower drain was blocked and the building manager came up to unblock it as soon as one of us went down to let him know. Minor repairs like that are sorted out pretty much straight away, or first thing Monday if it happens over a weekend. So far I've not come across any major problems but i imagine they would sort them pretty quickly.

Thanks so much for that info. I thought I had read that St. John's housed some postgrads at St. Margaret's Garth so I was a bit confused. Have you had any problems with cleanliness issues sharing a bathroom with four other people? (I'm nervous about renting a place that isn't university accommodation without even seeing it in person, and then sharing with a bunch of strangers...and I'm in the US so I can't really go scope it out ahead of time.) I know it's all postgrads, so is everyone pretty responsible/mature?

Sorry for all these questions but I'm really stressed about finding housing. So I appreciate your input as a student. I've been offered accommodation at Ustinov but I'd rather be closer to the centre of town. I've had bad experiences renting apartments in the US though so it makes me a little wary of trying to find something in Durham without being there yet.

Hello, I am a bit confused with how modules work over the year. For history do you take 2 modules per trimester or is it 6 year-round modules? Also the academic calendar says that exams end at the beginning of June and yet term doesn't end until the end of the month? What happens during that period? Lastly at which points during the year do exams take place? Thanks!

Ok, for all programmes you take 6 20-credit modules which last the whole year; Durham doesn't do semesters/trimesters like other unis do. It's true that exams finish 3 weeks before the end of term but those 3 weeks are where all the fun stuff happens; balls, college days, society trips etc etc and some departments have academic stuff then but I don't think History does (other than meeting your dissertation supervisor at the end of 2nd year I guess). Exams take place in the middle 3 weeks of the 3rd term, so next year they'll be between 13th and 31st May.

Hello, I have a few questions in mind (some of which might have been answered before), but hopefully someone can give me more clarification!

1. Does anyone know whether I can take classes in other departments without receiving the credits? eg if I do an economics degree, is it possible for me to attend music or psychology lectures just for fun?

2. Other than fostering a tight-knit community and additional support, what other benefits does the collegiate/tutorial system provide?

3. Is it common for students in the Business School to get internships in the first year? How much support does the Career's office/counsellor provide for this?

4. As someone not really into the drinking culture, will it be hard to make friends there?

Thanks!

Thanks so much for that info. I thought I had read that St. John's housed some postgrads at St. Margaret's Garth so I was a bit confused. Have you had any problems with cleanliness issues sharing a bathroom with four other people? (I'm nervous about renting a place that isn't university accommodation without even seeing it in person, and then sharing with a bunch of strangers...and I'm in the US so I can't really go scope it out ahead of time.) I know it's all postgrads, so is everyone pretty responsible/mature?

Sorry for all these questions but I'm really stressed about finding housing. So I appreciate your input as a student. I've been offered accommodation at Ustinov but I'd rather be closer to the centre of town. I've had bad experiences renting apartments in the US though so it makes me a little wary of trying to find something in Durham without being there yet.

There's 10-15 days uni shutdown in dec vacations. I understand that even the ppl with 38 week let have to vacate their rooms.
So what do students who've stayed back, not gone homeor anywhere else, do during this period? Where do they stay? There must be people staying back ryt?