The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

Hi, this is a bit of a general question, but I was wondering how hard is Durham university regarding work? I know it will obviously depend on the subject- I have applied for ancient, medieval and modern history. Do you spend most of your time working and reading outside of lectures? Thanks

Hi, this is a bit of a general question, but I was wondering how hard is Durham university regarding work? I know it will obviously depend on the subject- I have applied for ancient, medieval and modern history. Do you spend most of your time working and reading outside of lectures? Thanks

Does it snow in Durham every year?

I think it depends a lot on the individual. If you manage time well and work smartly and efficiently there's plenty of time for fun alongside studies. If you don't want to do that I guess if you coast and scrape through with a minimum there's also the time for social stuff. History is hard work (friends doing the course definitely put the work in!!), and humanities tends to mean fewer contact hours and more self study. But there's no reason you can't have fun and do well. First year doesn't "count"... but it's about getting used to expectations and finding what works for you with techniques and time schedules.

My general perception is that we're less intense than Oxbridge but moreso than a lot of other Universities, even ((some?)) other russell groups. Expect to work hard, we're a University and a good one at that, but don't worry too much about it, it is manageable and you get time for fun stuff too.



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Is it an accurate assumption to say that the breed of students that go to Durham these days are posher and a bit different to those of other top 10-20 UK universities?

Depends on the college, but generally we do have a high proportion of independent/selective school students, possibly second highest to the likes of Oxbridge/St Andrews/ possibly Imperial.

But do any students from the very top schools (Eton, Winchester, Harrow, Westminster, Buckingham, Rugby etc) go to Durham? From my own experiences, only a few (5-10) pupils would consider Durham as being good enough.

My college alone in my year has at least 5 people from Eton. They were the group who won the show Egg Heads on TV a couple of days ago.

Durham actually wrote to Harrow telling them that they would use a weighted formula to assess how well their students did relative to their school's performance as a whole. I think Harrow is too prestigious for Durham anyway.

Durham actually wrote to Harrow telling them that they would use a weighted formula to assess how well their students did relative to their school's performance as a whole. 'I think Harrow is too prestigious for Durham anyway.'

Wow...


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Well Harrow is one of the UK's most prestigious schools, only rivalled by Eton, Winchester and Westminster? You won't get in without being both clever and very rich.

How common is it that people change from chemistry to natural sciences when they arrive in October? So far I've been getting mixed messages about this.

Hi, I had a question about eating in the dining halls -- do most people eat inside / would it be rude if I didn't? (ie filled a container with my food and left)...I know it's an odd question it's just that eating in front of others makes me quite anxious.

Durham is one of the best Universities in the country. Just because you go to the likes of Eton, Winchester etc doesn't give you a free pass. You still need to get the grades like the rest of people applying to get into Durham.

Suggesting that Durham is somehow beneath Harrow students is absolutely absurd.


Posted from TSR Mobile

I would agree that Durham is a UK top 10 university (just), but approximately half of students from Harrow and Eton are expected to target Oxbridge and the Ivy League universities.