Student Beans’ Best University Guide: Durham University
Everything you need to know about Durham University.
Described as a ‘perfect little city’ by writer Bill Bryson, Durham is full to the brim with historic landmarks and independent businesses.
Durham University is consistently one of the highest-ranking universities, and for good reason — the uni boasts above average course satisfaction, great postgraduate career success and an abundance of top level first-class degrees.
In our Best University Guide, we also crowned Durham as fifth top university city vegans due to its 60 plant-based friendly restaurants in the city,
Vibe Check
Let’s break down some key facts around Durham University:
- Students at universities in the North East are one of the LEAST likely to fall victim to Freshers Flu, with only 11.4% claiming to catch it (compared to 27.8% of Welsh universities). Check out our handy guide to battling Freshers Flu here.
- Durham Uni’s celeb alumni is pretty sparse, however, presenter and journalist Jeremy Vine did study at this Northern uni, receiving a 2:2 in English
Want to keep up with Durham University News? Have a browse at Durham’s student newspaper, Palatinate.
Picture this
The North East is known for its bars and club scene, but if you’re more of a coffee connoisseur…you’re still in luck.
According to Google Maps, these are the top cocktail and coffee spots you should be visiting that are close to the Durham University Campus:
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Getting in
Students at Durham University are a clever bunch, with the university boasting an average entry tariff of 182 UCAS points. Using the UCAS Calculator, this could look like three A*’s and a B at AS Level, making it one of the uni’s with the highest average entry tariff.
Student satisfaction
It would be fair to say that the majority of Durham graduates are happy with their university experiences – 83.9% are satisfied with their course and 84.8% are satisfied with the teaching. Both these factors come in comfortably above the national averages.
The student to staff ratio could do some work, with 13.5 students to every staff member. At Oxford, this figure is more around the 10:1 ratio but it could be worse — some unis share one staff member between 26 students!
Future prospects
Most of Durham Uni’s 2021 graduates came out with top grades — almost half graduated with a first and another near-half completed with a 2:1. Only 5.6% didn’t secure either of these top grades.
After graduating with top grades, 89% of Durham graduates find a career after 15 months. This is well over the national average of 78% but falls short of top of the leaderboard’s Oxford and Cambridge’s 93% career success rates.
Contact
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 1000
Web: www.durham.ac.uk/study/askus
Accommodation: durham.ac.uk/colleges
Popular FAQs about Durham University
How many students at Durham University?
Durham University had a student population of 20,268 in the 2020/2021 academic year.
When was Durham University founded / how old is Durham University?
Durham University was founded in 1832, making it just under 200 years old.
How hard is it to get into Durham University?
Every course will have different entry requirements, but the average entry tariff of Durham University students is 182 UCAS points which could look like three A*’s at A Level and a B at AS Level.
Data has been used from the following sources:
- www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2021/sep/11/the-best-uk-universities-2022-rankings
- www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-16
- www.universitycompare.com/rankings/accommodation
- www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/publichousesandbarsbycityregion
- www.tripadvisor.co.uk
- uk.indeed.com/career/lecturer/salaries
