A fantastic university in terms of how it looks on your CV and general job prospects but the languages department leaves a lot to be desired... The college communities are a great source of pastoral care and identity and I'm glad I was able to choose a university with a system like this.

Durham is very very small. This was absolutely fine for me but I know many who would have preferred a more 'city' experience and frequently travel to Newcastle to experience this.

Aside from heinous and sometimes rampant levels of sexism, there is a lot to choose from at least.

The Italian department are friendly and very Italian - but this appears to be the only job requirement... French department however are very good.

A lot of career support at the Students Union and simply the name 'Durham University' tends to look good.

Price of accommodation is ludicrous but the college communities are a brilliant idea.

A very good university that produces sought-after graduates. There is a high level of teaching at Durham and on the whole staff are enthusiastic about their subject area. There are endless opportunities to get involved in extra-curriculum activities, whether that be sports, music, degree related societies and many more. Although Durham is not known for its range of night-life venues, the college bars more than make up for this; they also make for an interesting bar crawl. For me, the highlight of Durham was living in college, Collingwood, for 1st year, this is where you make most of your friends and it's really nice to be able to enjoy starting university without worrying about cooking, cleaning and paying for heating!

The recent upgrade to the library provided more study spaces and computers, however during exam period it is impossible to find a seat if you arrive after 8am. The sports facilities are excellent, the only aspect that is missing is a university swimming pool; I was a member of the swimming team and we trained at the city baths, but it would have been cheaper and more convenient to have our own training pool. As a linguist, I studied interpreting, however there were often problems with the IT facilities in the languages department.

I cannot really comment on this section as I have never needed to use the student support service. However I have heard from friends that structures are in place should you need them.

To be completely honest, I'm not really sure what the Students' Union does in Durham. Due to the collegiate system, the DSU is not a social meeting place as with other universities, and each college also has its own pastoral care system. Any academic concerns are taken up with the relevant department. The DSU mainly seems to be used as somewhere to sit and eat or work between lectures.

Being a local to Durham, I knew what to expect when coming to university here in terms of the range of shops, bars, restaurants etc. I think that those students coming from London and other large cities find it more difficult to adapt to the limited options in the city. That said, Newcastle is only 10 minutes away by train and so it is easy to go there if you fancy a change of scenery and access to larger shops. There are several large supermarkets which do online delivery so food shopping is not an issue. There is a small but nice selection of bars and restaurants.

At Durham you can get involved in almost any hobby imaginable. There are usual sports clubs, music societies, outdoor activity societies but then you could also sign-up for pole-dancing or skiing. I was a member of the swimming team which was a great way to socialise and keep fit, we could train up to 6 times per week and went on regular socials. Colleges also offer opportunities to join sports clubs and societies for those who perhaps don't wish to commit themselves to the sometimes expensive and time-consuming ones at university level.

The majority of my teachers were enthusiastic about their subject area and helpful in terms of advice for essays and feedback after marking essays. I was able to take my first choice modules each year, which really helped me to enjoy my course. My only complaint about the modern languages course would be that, for me, there is too much emphasis placed on the cultural and literature modules rather than the core language modules, which for me were the main reason I chose to study languages at university. The year abroad was the highlight of my course; I lived in 3 countries and drastically increased my knowledge of the languages I studied.

Durham produces highly desirable graduates due to its long-standing reputation as an exceptional university. There are numerous careers fairs throughout the year, however I was a little disappointed that these tend to focus on graduate jobs either within finance or science. Concerning modern languages (my degree), we had the opportunity to attend talks given by professionals from the EU, UN and freelance translators/interpreters, these talks were interesting however it would have been nice to gain an insight into what other jobs are out there for linguists, apart from the obvious ones (translator, interpreter, teacher).

Living in college for the first year is undoubtedly the highlight of going to university at Durham. College provides opportunities to make friends, socialise, join sports clubs and societies and get involved in the running of college itself. Most 2nd year students 'live-out' by renting a house/flat in the city; there is plenty of choice, however prices tend to be higher than other university cities. Final year students have the option of moving back into college or 'living-out'.