Durham University

HISTORY: Durham University has been at the fore of European scholarship for hundreds of years prior to its founding by an act of Parliament in 1832. Centred around Durham Cathedral, now part of Durham’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the scholarly monastic community gave Durham an unrivalled reputation for learning, and the university maintains this reputation today.

LOCATION: Durham is a beautiful and historic city offering a huge range of attractions, places to visit and activities, including: • Sports and Wellbeing Park • Botanic Garden • Oriental Museum • Palace Green Library and Gallery • Assembly Rooms Theatre • Gala Theatre and Cinema • The Riverwalk leisure complex.

RANKING: Durham is a top 10 UK university - ranked 4th in the Guardian University Guide 2021 and 7th in The Complete University Guide 2021. Durham is also a world top 100 university, ranked 86th in the QS World University Rankings 2021.Durham University is currently ranked 149th in the Times Higher Education rankings. Durham is ranked between 201-300th in the Shanghai Tong Jaio rankings. Durham is a member of the Russell group of universities. University of Durham is ranked 23rd in the National Student Survey Satisfaction rankings.

INTERNATIONAL: Durham has nearly 5,000 international students that make up about 25% of the total student population and come from over 150 different countries.

SIZE: There are approximately 20,000 students at Durham in total-approximately 4,000 are postgraduates and 16,000 are undergraduates.

EMPLOYMENT: HESA govt statistics show that 92.7% of Durham’s graduates are in employment or in further education 6 months after graduation. Durham is in the World Top 100 in the QS World University Rankings 2021 for employer reputation, with 85% the University's international graduates in work and/or further study six months after graduation 2016/17.

FACILITIES: Durham is committed to the wider student experience-85% of the University's students are involved in sport, music, theatre, volunteering or student enterprise. Durham has 86 music societies, including 28 different University music societies, 50 college societies, and eight chapel choirs. Durham also has more than 700 college sports teams across 18 sports. Durham is ranked No 1 in team sports according to BUCS – the British University and College Sports league. £2.4m was recently invested in the new Assembly Rooms Theatre in the city centre, and the University has 3,000 active student volunteers. Durham is ranked No.1 UK university for team sports and has been since 2013, and students enjoy training and competing at the University's multi-million pound sports centre in Maiden Castle. There are more than 200 student societies to join, covering cultural, academic and general interests.

ACCOMMODATION: Durham operates a collegiate system. Every student is a proud member of a college, and every college has its own character and traditions. Many of Durham's international students choose to live in their college. All of Durham's colleges offer events, traditions, support and facilities and offer a close knit college community. All colleges remain academically diverse communities and the University aims to allocate each student to their college preference where possible. College accommodation is guaranteed to all first-year undergraduate students. In Years 2 and 3 (and Year 4 if applicable) a choice can be made between college accommodation or moving out to privately rented accommodation in Durham City. The University’s Accommodation and Allocations Office offers help and advice to students looking for private accommodation.Durham has 15 colleges and all offer a range of catered, part catered and self catering options. Accommodation costs also cover utilities bills, such as cleaning costs. There are both short let and longer let options-short let just covers the academic year of 28 weeks, while the longer term lets are typically 39 weeks.The lowest price for a single room with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities is £108.42 per week. An example price for catered accommodation is £170.87 per week at St. Aidan's.

COST: International undergraduate tuition fees: Fees for Arts & Business studies subjects start at £22,700 rising to £28,500.

SUBJECT AREAS: REF (Research Excellence Framework) was an independent government review conducted into the quality of research at UK universities and published in December 2014. This information highlights subjects of specialism within each university. We have listed all subject areas where at least 60% of the research conducted in these specific fields has been graded 3 or 4 stars. (4 stars being the highest ranking REF award). For more information, please visit the REF Information page.

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