Durham University - DUR
speciality: Sociology

Durham University is an outstanding institution that combines academic excellence with a rich sense of history and community. The teaching quality is consistently high, with passionate lecturers and strong support for students. The collegiate system creates a welcoming, close-knit environment, and the city itself is beautiful, steeped in heritage yet vibrant with student life. Overall, Durham offers a world-class education in a uniquely inspiring setting.

Durham University is incredible. As soon as I entered the stunning campus, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. The professors are highly qualified professionals who genuinely enjoy teaching and are dedicated to our success. In addition to teaching, they guide, support, and challenge us to think creatively and unconventionally. The classes strike the perfect balance between theory and practice with real-world case studies, innovative research, and hands-on projects that make learning interesting and addictive. From leadership and sustainability to entrepreneurship and creativity, our instructors use every resource at their disposal to prepare us for the future.

Durham University’s teachers are very great! They bring a plethora of knowledge and expertise to the classroom, making each presentation both fascinating and enlightening. They are always willing to offer advice and help, going above and beyond to ensure student success. The campus is great, with modern amenities and a lively culture that promotes personal and intellectual development. Durham University students feel like they are part of a close-knit community that encourages them to pursue their passions and realize their greatest potential. It’s an incredible experience that I’m grateful to be a part of.

I’m really impressed with the courses at Durham. The education’s top-notch, and the programs are really relevant to real-life situations. The lecturers are great, and being in the city centre makes everything easily accessible. I love the diversity and vibe here. The lecturers are super supportive, and there’s a great range of sports facilities. The campus is beautiful, and the events are always fun. Plus, the library’s amazing. it’s a great place to study and get work done. Everything is just top top quality.

The connection between professors and students at Durham University is incredibly stimulating. Professors are personable and sincerely concerned in their students’ progress. Classes frequently feel like two-way conversations, with lecturers encouraging questions and discussions. This fosters a collaborative environment in which students feel comfortable expressing ideas and requesting assistance as needed. The lecturers clearly care about developing strong, supportive ties with their students.

I’m currently a second year student studying Criminology. Overall, the programme has been an excellent fit for me and I am having the best time. My lecturers are passionate about the field and incredibly knowledgeable, with several bringing real-world research experience into the teaching, grounding the many theories we cover into practical application. As you progress through the degree programme, you are given the opportunity to cater the modules to your interests, allowing for a personal course of study that challenges you intellectually and keeps you motivated. Campus life at Durham is unlike any other university, and the collegiate system means you find friends for life from day one. Studying in such a beautiful city surrounded by hundreds of years of history is truly a privilege.

Durham offers strong academics and a campus with a lot of history. The student community is active, with many societies and events to get involved in. The city is small but has a lot to offer, with good green spaces and a quiet, focused environment.

One downside is that the international student community is relatively small, which can sometimes make it feel a bit less diverse. The cost of living can also be higher than in some other student cities, which is worth considering.

Overall, I’d recommend Durham to anyone looking for a solid academic experience and a close-knit community.

The teaching quality is excellent, and it is clear that the lecturers geniunely care about teaching alongside research. The collegiate system has enabled me to make close friends in a smaller settings, while through clubs and societies I have met people from the wider university. A word of warning that I wasn’t aware of before coming here is that there is a housing crisis, and finding student accommodation for the second and third year is a challenge.

The Liberal Arts programme at Durham University is an incredible, unique course offering students the ability to mould a degree that is completely unique to their specific interests. The nature of the programme means that you are actively encouraged to adapt what you study as your interests develop across your time at University, making it the most versatile and dynamic programme on offer at Durham. Durham itself is a beautiful, small city in a wonderful part of the UK, and the collegiate system enhances the community feel of the surroundings, making for an incomparable University experience. Whilst it may not compare to the experience of attending University in bigger cities, it is expanding, and with Newcastle only a few minutes up the road, there is still plenty to explore in the area.

My experience at Durham has been a predominantly positive one. I would recommend the university to people who want to study at a collegiate university which ranks high but are not (yet) ready to live in a big city.

LIBERAL ARTS
Liberal Arts is an incredibly flexible degree, which allows you to combine various subjects from the Humanities, as well as from the Social and Natural Sciences. This means that you can design your own degree programme for yourself, picking and choosing subjects and modules that interest you. Throughout my degree, I studied English Literature, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Business.
An additional bonus to Liberal Arts is that the staff is kind and helpful, you can turn to them with any problems you might have. They helped me immensely with my studies, module choices, year abroad applications, amongst others.
A disadvantage of this course is that it lacks the kind of community that single honours programmes have.

LECTURES, SEMINARS, RESOURCES
Having experienced the teaching styles of various departments, I can tell you that the style, quality, and workload differ tremendously across departments. Overall, all the departments are helpful, but teachers in certain departments tend to be more available than others. The lecturers are generally knowledgeable and passionate about their subject. The lectures and seminars are mostly useful and of a high quality, but this also differs across departments. Students studying Humanities and/or Social Sciences normally don’t have many contact hours. The workload throughout the academic year is manageable, but during exam season it becomes quite heavy.
The library offers a wide variety of books, although depending on your modules it might not have everything on your reading list.

COLLEGE SYSTEM
Durham operates a collegiate system which assists students with the transition from living with your parents to living alone. If you have any mental health issues, difficulties with your studies, or any other problems, your college will help you solve them. Most colleges are catered, which means you won’t have to worry about cooking. Depending on your college you also have access to various facilities, like libraries, study rooms, gyms, common rooms, music rooms, etc. Furthermore, you can get involved in college sports and/or other college-level extracurriculars. You shouldn’t just think of your college as an accommodation which helps you with your problems. Colleges are communities with their own unique characteristics, and with fun events like college day, formals, and balls.
A disadvantage of the college system is that the facilities you have access to highly depends on your college and not all colleges have the same facilities.

EXTRACURRICULARS
Durham offers a wide variety of university-level extracurriculars. You can get involved with volunteering, sports teams, the film society, one of the many theatre or musical societies, amongst others. You will most certainly be able to find a society that offers something you are interested in. This will also give you the opportunity to make friends relatively easily and connect with people who have the same interests and passions as you.
University-level sport can be very costly, and not all university-level sports are on and are taught on the same level.

COMMUNITY
While you will most certainly find your people and community, Durham lacks diversity. Elitism is well and alive in Durham, as most students are posh, rich, and white. Internationals and/or minorities might feel excluded, discriminated against (by locals and students), and they might feel like they don’t belong to the elitist cliques students form. Nevertheless, in my experience, most students find their community and make plenty of friends.