Durham University is not what it seems, do not go here! Please read!

Durham is not diverse, simple as that. The fact you have to compare the prices to London also speaks volumes about how expensive it really is.

"No one goes to Durham for the nightlife" - Go elsewhere if you want a better time. Going to Durham doesn't put you above most of the other Russel Group Unis.

Durham is widely regarded as superior to most RG universities, that's just a fact.

In terms of diversity, I think we should value intellectual diversity over anything like skin colour. What you think matters, what you look like does not.

In terms of diversity, I think we should value intellectual diversity over anything like skin colour. What you think matters, what you look like does not.

Haha what sort of stem out of interest? (Actually rejected oxford for durham btw)

I've been debating whether to post this for a while, and I'm doing so using my friends account who has kindly allowed me to post my experience regarding Durham University. I just want to say that this is just my experience and others may have a different experience as I was 1 of 20 thousand students so make of it as you wish.

Where to begin? I believe there are so many things wrong with this University that made it quite a terrible experience from my perspective. There's two main topics that I'll delve into, the student population and the actual University itself.

Diversity & Inclusion:

I thought I would start here as it's the thing that sticks out the most in my opinion. Before I go into the actual University itself it is important to understand the historical context of the city and surrounding area to fully understand the unnatural and uncomfortable environment that is present as a result of this. Durham county itself is a very working class area that was a traditional mining area and suffered greatly from Thatcher's policy to shut down mining operations and as a result, many people lost their jobs and the economic situation deteriorated heavily, leaving many destitute and unemployed. To this day, Durham is still very working class and still recovering from the closure of the mines.

The student population drastically juxtaposes the socio-economic class of the people who live in the city and surrounding area. Middle-Upper class kids from affluent areas in the UK and Chinese students that are the children of the elite in China, walking around in £1000s worth of clothing on a daily basis. They have no regard for the people that are struggling to make ends meet in the city that they have come to, to get their education. There is a Town v Gown mentality. A few years ago - Trevelyan College rugby club planned a “Thatcher v the miners”-themed social, asking members to dress in “flat caps” and “filth”. For inspiration, the team were to: “Think pickaxes. Think headlamps. Think 12% unemployment in 1984”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/26/student-rugby-team-forced-to-cancel-event-mocking-miners-strike

This should give you an idea of the type of students that go here. Of course it's not everyone, but it's arguably the majority. By the way, if you include grammar schools (which in my opinion is a lot closer to a private school than your average comprehensive), most of the students come from this type of environment. If you're a BAME student or a working class white kid you will find it hard to fit in with most of these students. All the activities and 'formals' are pretentious. There are summer and winter balls and it's all just pretentious to be honest. The nightlife is very poor, cringey and corny music. Newcastle is 15mins away on train so that's a plus. I haven't even mention the ridiculous amount of money all of these events cost, it's not very inclusive for those who are poor or less fortunate.

I haven't even touched on the micro-aggression and casual racism from the students. I was literally asked on my first day "if I was from the hood?" Like wtf. Honestly if you're from London, or even Brum or Manny I'd strongly advise you to go to an equally as good university such as Manchester or Leeds, Nottingham or the London unis. You'll have a much better time. You won't be scorned for listening to any decent tunes (hip-hop/rnb) or surrounded by Oxbridge rejects.

There's so much else to say but this post is getting long, the point is, Durham can be very isolating if you're not from a certain background and honestly you'll have a better time elsewhere.

£££ - Money

Okay, this is about the University itself. I honestly believe Durham only cares about making as much money as possible. Not only do they charge the most absurd amount of money for every activity, society and college fees, but the accommodation fees are a damn right rip-off.
Most students will live in a Durham college in their first year, where most colleges are catered. For this you are charged a whopping £7,894. If you're fortunate enough to get a self-catered college, it will cost you 5.5-6k for the academic year so that is for around 36-40 weeks. It's honestly a huge rip-off. Many times you won't even be up to get breakfast served in the catered colleges and a lot of the time you would rather go eat out with a friend or two.

A gown, which I found to be very pretentious is £53, which you need to get at the beginning of freshers. Then you have to pay a JCR fee of around £150-200 which varies between the colleges in order to go to events at a supposedly cheaper rate. The summer and winter balls are like £80. College library fees is another £20. Like seriously, this University is a money making scheme. The accommodation is more expensive than some halls in LONDON.

Against the wishes of the local community, the University is continuing to build more Colleges to cater for more and more students, despite the increasing strain on resources. The main library already gets very packed especially during term time so I fail to see how they are going to cater for the extra students. The University loves international students and is trying to get as many as possible, because they are a cash cow for the Uni. The quality of teaching is being diluted, super big classes with very minimal spending to improve facilities to match the rate of rapidly increasing student numbers. Every year without fail, they will increase the cost of accommodation prices and even outside of college accommodation there is a monopoly on student houses in the area so it is all just very expensive.

I'm losing my patience to continue writing but all in all, Durham feels like a factory, trying to get as many students as possible in order to extract as much money as they can from them. It's a public boarding school environment full of rich kids and the like.

Don't make my mistake. Go to Leeds/Manchester/Nottingham if you want an equally as good degree but have a WAAAY better time.

Wow! I've actually heard a lot of people talk about issues with Durham and I'm so glad to be informed of what it is really like. I was looking at actually moving there permanently and applying for a PGCE but not anymore.

Thank you, but I could never afford the rent I would need to live off campus in private accommodation

I apologise in advance for reviving an old thread but I have a durham offer and this has somewhat concerned me, especially regarding money

I'm just wondering, what's bad about being an oxbridge reject? Like why is it so horrible to be surrounded by them, surely most people who apply will be rejected so I'm just curious

I'm most concerned with the quality of the course than the nightlife but the things I have just mentioned worry me a bit so if any of you are still around then I'd appreciate some insight

Many universities would have students who were rejected by oxbridge. I think it is about 1 in 5 that are successful. You should not use that to judge the uni.

Durham is a great uni from what i have heard. Many of the points shared by the OP have been similar to other unis. I disagreed with the accommodation point. Yes, the london halls could be cheaper in first year then you live out and get ripped off by greedy london landlord or agents.

You should consider all your options and make an informed decision. Maybe visit the unis and check out the local areas. Good luck

thanks, I really appreciate this! I genuinely think the course for my subject looks better at durham than the other unis I've applied to. Yeah, it's just I was rejected from oxford and I wouldn't see why people would avoid me simply because of that. I'll continue to think about it but maybe applying for a self catered college will help with the cost element

thanks, I really appreciate this! I genuinely think the course for my subject looks better at durham than the other unis I've applied to. Yeah, it's just I was rejected from oxford and I wouldn't see why people would avoid me simply because of that. I'll continue to think about it but maybe applying for a self catered college will help with the cost element

No problem. I don't think you would be shunned because your Oxford application was unsuccessful. If asked, you don't mention that you applied to Oxford.

It is up to you but I’d suggest selecting a college like Hatfield or St Mary’s as they apparently have good college reps.

Would you say John Snow and Josephine Butler are inclusive/ less prejudiced as a general assumption? Just trying to decide which colleges to put as a preference

No problem. I don't think you would be shunned because your Oxford application was unsuccessful. If asked, you don't mention that you applied to Oxford.

It is up to you but I’d suggest selecting a college like Hatfield or St Mary’s as they apparently have good college reps.