Durham vs St Andrews

uk2026

6

Hi, I’m an international student who’s got unconditional offers for both Durham and St Andrew’s studying history, and I’m stuck trying to choose between the two!!
I do love small communities so am not bothered by that aspect of either uni.
I am wondering about the accomodation and if it’s a lot harder to find and manage at St Andrew’s? Visiting Durham I did love the college communities and how easy accommodation was for first years.
At St Andrew’s is there a very tight knit student community?
I was also wondering about the academic community and if St Andrews feels like a more studious environment with academically-minded people? Obviously all universities will sort of have that, but at Durham I didn’t really get that atmosphere that I was hoping for.
What is the teaching like at both universities? Is one better than the other in terms of the education you get?
I was also wondering about the types of people that make up the student body; at Durham everyone was very welcoming, is St Andrew’s the same? Is there a sort of specific type of people that go there and if you aren’t like that you feel isolated in the community?
Also wondering if the weather of St Andrew’s puts people off!
Thanks, I would love to hear anyone’s input and experiences!! :smile:

Reply 1

slaybrams

7

Original post

by uk2026

Hi, I’m an international student who’s got unconditional offers for both Durham and St Andrew’s studying history, and I’m stuck trying to choose between the two!!
I do love small communities so am not bothered by that aspect of either uni.
I am wondering about the accomodation and if it’s a lot harder to find and manage at St Andrew’s? Visiting Durham I did love the college communities and how easy accommodation was for first years.
At St Andrew’s is there a very tight knit student community?
I was also wondering about the academic community and if St Andrews feels like a more studious environment with academically-minded people? Obviously all universities will sort of have that, but at Durham I didn’t really get that atmosphere that I was hoping for.
What is the teaching like at both universities? Is one better than the other in terms of the education you get?
I was also wondering about the types of people that make up the student body; at Durham everyone was very welcoming, is St Andrew’s the same? Is there a sort of specific type of people that go there and if you aren’t like that you feel isolated in the community?
Also wondering if the weather of St Andrew’s puts people off!
Thanks, I would love to hear anyone’s input and experiences!! :smile:

St Andrews definitely has a small community feel to it!, Durham is a lovely place but you get a very mixed range of people who end up there - oxbridge rejects - people local to the area - international students. Most people i know who go to Durham say its full of snobs who hate the locals and make fun of them - which would personay put me off but the city itself is really nice and a goo location. St Andrews is further out, and it being a scottish uni you do a 4 year rather than a 3 year course. For history specifically maybe have a research about the area itself - does scottish history interest you? or history across the north east? The architecture too.

I can't help with the teaching at Durham, though i have a friend who does english at st andrews and she absoutely loves it, and says all her lecturers are amazing and so so helpful.

Reply 2

DurhamRep Rosie

Official Rep

9

Original post

by uk2026

Hi, I’m an international student who’s got unconditional offers for both Durham and St Andrew’s studying history, and I’m stuck trying to choose between the two!!
I do love small communities so am not bothered by that aspect of either uni.
I am wondering about the accomodation and if it’s a lot harder to find and manage at St Andrew’s? Visiting Durham I did love the college communities and how easy accommodation was for first years.
At St Andrew’s is there a very tight knit student community?
I was also wondering about the academic community and if St Andrews feels like a more studious environment with academically-minded people? Obviously all universities will sort of have that, but at Durham I didn’t really get that atmosphere that I was hoping for.
What is the teaching like at both universities? Is one better than the other in terms of the education you get?
I was also wondering about the types of people that make up the student body; at Durham everyone was very welcoming, is St Andrew’s the same? Is there a sort of specific type of people that go there and if you aren’t like that you feel isolated in the community?
Also wondering if the weather of St Andrew’s puts people off!
Thanks, I would love to hear anyone’s input and experiences!! :smile:

Hello!

I’m a second year Psychology student, and thought I’d give you my perspective on studying at Durham. 😊

Choosing between two great universities is really difficult, so I understand the confusion. I knew I wanted to go to Durham after I attended an offer-holder day, visited my college (St Aidans), got to explore the facilities, meet the staff and knew I could envision myself there.

I’m glad you found everyone to be welcoming in Durham! In terms of being academically-minded, there’s no shortage of opportunities at Durham to challenge yourself and learn new skills: if you take a look at the list of societies offered, you’ll see that people have so many different interests (and subject-specific ones) if you’re looking to meet students similar to you. https://www.durhamsu.com/groups

The staff on my course are brilliant, and always offer opportunities for drop-in sessions, support in assignments and are generally really approachable. My cohort is quite large, meaning you get to meet new people consistently and there’s a real range of interests and experiences. Everyone is super friendly, and I find the atmosphere on campus to be really lovely.

If you want to hear more about other student’s experiences, you could take a look here (https://durham-student.org/studying-in-the-uk-and-why-i-chose-durham/ ) or here (https://durham-student.org/sam-why-i-chose-durham/) to see what helped others to decide!

I hope this is helpful, let me know if you have any questions! 😄

-Rosie (DU representative)

Durham vs St Andrews

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