Calling all prospective students: A guide to Durham’s colleges

Whether you’re already in the process of securing your place at Durham or only browsing options to apply for on UCAS, an awareness of Durham’s college system is essential for any prospective student. Thankfully, Durham, Oxford, and Cambridge are among very few universities in the UK where your choice of college will have a meaningful impact on your campus experience. In light of this, we’ve listed some key things to look out for when deciding where you’re going to live for your first year.

Keep in mind that none of these are make-or-break distinctions when it comes to your campus experience. I’ve yet to meet a single student who regrets their college. Each one has its own distinct array of traditions and communities that you’ll remember fondly many years after you’ve graduated.

Bailey colleges vs Hill colleges

Of the seventeen colleges at Durham, five of them are listed as ‘Bailey’ colleges, while the rest are ‘Hill’ colleges. The colleges on the Bailey are among the oldest in the university and are located within the city centre. They’re therefore ideal for anyone who enjoys a busy and eventful campus life. Bailey bar crawls are also a very popular activity for Durham societies in the evening. So you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to know people who might share your interests if you’re living here.

However, unless you’re a heavy sleeper, you’ll want to invest in some ear plugs if you end up living close to the nightclubs. These areas can get very noisy depending on the night. I can testify from first-hand experience that trying to sleep on Saddler Street while Fab’s is at peak capacity is not for the weak-willed.

If you’re looking for a quieter environment and don’t mind a longer walk into the city centre, the Hill colleges may be what you’re looking for. Just prepare for a long uphill journey at 2am after you’ve been on a night out with your friends, especially if you live at one of the further colleges like South, Stephenson, or Josephine Butler. Each of these is about a 30-40 minute walk from Market Place. So you’ll also get a good cardio workout when you’re travelling back home with what you bought from the charity shops that day.

Accommodation blocks

As a University College (or ‘Castle’) student myself, I must affirm this: don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll definitely get a room in the castle itself. Many colleges will have multiple accommodation blocks around campus, some better suited to your needs than others. These are usually allocated based on your preference for single and shared rooms or catered and self-catered accommodation. Castle, for example, has four other accommodation blocks besides the castle itself, three of which are catered.

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Make sure to familiarise yourself with how many accommodation blocks your top choices have and where each one is located. St Cuthbert’s Society has the main Bailey campus and the Parson’s Field site, a twenty-minute walk across the river. Castle’s self-catered block, New Kepier Court, is similarly a fifteen-minute walk from the castle, and feels like its own community. Whether you prefer to be at the heart of college life or further afield, make sure to keep this in mind.

How close are you to your lectures?

As fun as it is to consider proximity to various clubs, bars and shops when choosing your college, there is also this pesky thing called a degree that you’ll need to get on with at some point. Your college could end up saving you a lot of travelling time depending on where your lectures, seminars and workshops are typically located. History, for example, holds most of its lectures in Elvet Riverside, only a brief walk from the Bailey colleges.

On the other hand, the psychology and law departments hold theirs in the Teaching and Learning Centre. This is only a short walk downhill from where most of the Hill colleges are.

These lecture allocations are usually based on where your course’s department is located. So it’s worth spending some time researching which college is closest to your department building. Inevitably you’ll be attending multiple mandatory 9am contact hours per week. You’ll probably thank yourself for choosing a college that’s within a reasonable walking distance.

What if I don’t get my top choice?

In all honesty, no matter which college you’re allocated, you will almost certainly have a phenomenal time at Durham. Each college campus has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. You’ll understand most of them within the first few weeks of your first term. And in your second year your assigned college will matter a lot less in your daily life. By then most of your peers will be living in student housing across campus, no longer confined to their college. Wherever you are, you’ll definitely meet plenty of lovely people who’ll define your best university memories.

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