Long established as a leading alternative to Oxford and Cambridge, Durham has a collegiate structure and picturesque setting that attracts a largely middle-class student body.

However, although more than a third of undergraduates come from independent schools, the university is recruiting more applicants from non-traditional backgrounds.

Those who receive offers without interview are invited to a special open day to see if Durham is the university for them.

Since around 80 per cent come from outside the northeast of England, most are seeing the small cathedral city for the first time.

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The proportion of regional students is much higher at the Stockton campus.

Applying

Applications are made to one of the 15 colleges, all of which are mixed since the decision of St Mary’s to abandon its women-only tradition from 2004. The newest, Josephine Butler College – a self-catering college with around 400 bedrooms – accepted its first intake of students in 2006.

Colleges range in size from 300 to 1,100 students and are the focal point of social life, although all teaching is done in central departments. There are significant differences in atmosphere and student profile, ranging from the historic University College, in Durham Castle, to modern buildings on the city’s outskirts.

Although not quite as outstanding as the results published in 2006, the latest National Student Survey scores still placed Durham among the top 20 universities for student satisfaction. History, archaeology and English produced particularly good results. Winning a place is far from easy – entrance requirements are among the highest in Britain – but the dropout rate of less than 3 per cent is also among the lowest in any university.

Six subjects (chemistry, applied mathematics, geography, law, english and history) reached the pinnacle of the last Research Assessment Exercise, and 14 others were considered nationally outstanding. Most of the teaching ratings also produced high scores.

Biological sciences, physics and chemistry are particularly strong on the science side; history, philosophy, economics and theology among the stars of the arts. A £3-million grant to establish a centre for fundamental physics should place Durham at the forefront of world research on the structure of the universe.

Development

The Calman Learning Centre, on the science site, incorporates lecture theatres, seminar and conference facilities and a “techno café”. Durham is generally quite traditional. Wherever possible, teaching takes place in small groups and most assessment is by written examination. However, the establishment of the Queen’s Campus, in Stockton-on-Tees, broke the mould of tradition. Initially a joint venture with Teesside University, Stockton is now Durham’s own venture into community education.

Entry standards are 360 points at A level, compared with an average of 479 for the main university, and subjects such as business, primary education and psychology have helped broaden the university’s intake. The university has spent £500,000 improving social facilities for the 2,000 students there.

The Stockton campus has also seen the fulfilment of Durham’s long-held ambition to restore the medical education it lost when Newcastle University went its own way almost 45 years ago. In another joint project, this time with Newcastle, 95 students do the first two years of their training on Teesside, concentrating on community medicine, before transferring to Newcastle to complete their training.

Medicine has added to the 200-plus undergraduate study programmes. Undergraduates are also offered a variety of generalist “free elective” modules, such as environmental economics and personal language learning. The aim is to make Durham graduates even more employable.

Student scene and sport

The university dominates the city of Durham to an extent which sometimes causes resentment, but adds considerably to the local economy. For those looking for nightlife, or just a change of scene, Newcastle is a short train journey away. Sports facilities are excellent, and Durham is among the premier universities in national competitions: it came sixth in the national student championships in 2007.

Among the alumni are former England cricket captain, Nasser Hussain, current opener Andrew Strauss and rugby World Cup winner, Will Greenwood. The university runs Centres of Excellence in cricket and fencing, and has plans to build on its existing strengths in rowing, rugby and hockey.

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