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The overall ranking is decided by students from this institution rating them in a 2026 Whatuni review. This forms the basis of the Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs for short).
4.03.83.788 Student reviews
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*Students got a small reward for their timeThoroughly enjoyed everything so far
Enjoyable but also stressful with financial issues
Not good at all, would not choose to come to Durham if I was given another choice. Here's what happened to me in my third year: All accounting and finance students are required to write a 12,000 word dissertation with help from a dissertation tutor. My dissertation tutor is the best you could ever have. He provided me with a new direction for every meeting and denies everything he said in previous meeting. After the submission of my first draft, he completely changed my title so all the research done for my first draft were no longer applicable. (Do note that he only listed what I have to do and never gave me the chance to interpret my idea, let alone discuss the topic with him). The most amazing part of my experience was the last meeting with him. The model he suggested did not return feasible results so I came up with another model (as observed in a research similar to mine) and wanted to discuss it during the meeting. But before I even proposed it, he asked my which courses I'm looking to apply for postgrad. Dunno why he asked but I said that I'm quite interested in pursuing my studies in the area of Finance. Then all of a sudden he just rashed out and told me that I have poor quantitative skills and no uni, he repeated "NO UNI" would ever accept my application for a Finance course. And vuala, this is experience with Durham uni.
Generally positive
I don't really use union. very expensive housing. career service for students
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.
Great university to be at. The College system is fantastic both socially but more than anything for the accessibility it gives to play play sports. Anyone can play any sport that want at any level which is something few universities an boast.
Overall the uni is fantastic, helpful lecturers and friendly people. All societies are student led so there are lots of opportunities to get involved. Some minor issues with the way my course is run, means that I am rating a little lower.
Good uni with a great reputation but where is £9000 going? Think the college system is fantastic because of the community and support system it creates. Durham is a lovely city to be a student in - not fantastic nightlife but a decent amount of shops, cafe's and restaurants.
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!
Durham is a well-respected, beautiful university, with lots of tradition but plenty of innovation as well. Emphasis is on expanding the university experience to create well-rounded individuals. I have really enjoyed my time here!
Durham is an excellent place to study with a good academic focus whilst giving a wide range of extra curricular opportunities to develop well rounded self aware individuals.
Excellent quality of life, solid teaching with leading academics, something for everyone in its own distinct style. It's a bit old-world, but very pleasant for being so.
I'm a first year student and I'm having an absolutely amazing time here at Durham. The experience you have here cannot be captured in this kind of standard review (e.g it doesn't matter the SU is poor because College is more important).
Studied here but lived at home as I live not too far away. I tried living in the accommodation initially but hated it so much i moved out after the first term. Full of middle-class posh boys with absolutely no class or real intelligence. It has a nasty, competitive atmosphere throughout. Any college 'bonding' or 'rivalry' is forced, immature and embarrassing. What an absolute joke this uni is. There is no real history to the university, it is all forced. The university tries too hard to be Oxford or Cambridge. The real history of Durham is of the working class people who have lived there and in the nearby pit villages and towns for centuries. The whole feel of the university and most of it's staff and students goes against this completely and therefore ignores it. Take a look for yourself - go on the Durham website and choose a department - every page basically includes a long description of how the uni ranks in the country and gives meaningless statistics relating to its status. Do you honestly believe a real top uni would feel the need to prove itself so much? The course was a shambles and a complete waste of time. Staff and professors are generally rude and unhelpful led by baby-boomers who don't seem to realise how unimportant they really are in the world. Got accused of collusion for doing nothing wrong (I was acquitted after an official hearing). The office in charge of students does not respond to emails (not a delayed response they just don't respond at all), so when I was acquitted they did not even tell me. Honestly, the standard of work was so poor I could have done the degree in 6 months.
I think Durham is an outstanding university. The students enjoy a very high standard of living and the university is viewed as being very prestigious. The work load is heavy. The sporting facilities are excellent and therefore Durham do extremely well in sport. The city is a fantastic place to live.
The city is good and the people are beautiful. If you don't know english you can learn it for free from University.They help international students much.Beautiful campus, love it!
4.2
