Durham dubbed elitist and middle class by 2013 statistics

The Times University Guide 2013 has found Durham to be ‘middle class’ and recent statistics highlight continuing elitism – Olivia Le Poidevin reports.


Get your jodhpurs at the ready, squeeze into those red trousers and don your tweed jacket, because its official – Durham is one of the most elitist universities in the U.K.

According to The Times University Guide 2013, Durham is the 5th most ‘middle class’ university and it also comes in the top five for lowest percentages of state school admissions with 59.2%, a close second to Oxford with 57.7%.

A sight too common in Durham’s student households?

These statistics go from bad to worse when put into context – private schools only make up 6% of UK secondary education.

An astonishing 40.8% of Durham students are from independent schools, falling only a few percentage points behind the predictably privately educated students of the Courtauld Institute of Art, 54.1% of whom are from independent schools.

But is this blatant elitism really a problem? Or should we blissfully revel in our middle-class milieu?

A member of the middle class milieu?

A third year Economist student agreed with the statistics: “I think Durham caters for the elite, it’s set up to accommodate publicly educated people. It may not be so much Durham not wanting the state educated folks but more the state educated people choosing elsewhere.”

The third year went on to add that “my [public] school always pushed Oxbridge, Durham and the London universities on us as it looked better for them, and with a strong history for many years of students going there I feel private schools have stronger bridges to these unis [than state schools].”

Durham students certainly have a taste for the finer things

A chemistry student added “Yes, Durham has a large proportion of privately educated students, but I think that that is more down to the fact that Durham is such a good university and that on average more private school students tend to have better grades and therefore are eligible to apply for Durham compared with state schooled students.”

Not everyone was so measured in their response and it was clear that some students found elitism to be rife, especially in social circles.

Patty McCabe, a History student from Hatfield said: “There is a very problematic, significant minority who are content in maintaining an outward reputation of elitism. The college system, and the structures of the degrees at Durham actually lend themselves very well to meritocracy, and accordingly elitism is to be found by large within ignorant social circles.”

A Durham cuppa

Clara Sheppard, a History and Education student said “There are obviously certain traditions such as formals, high tables, gowns etc which could be seen to alienate people from state schools who aren’t used to such rituals.”

It wouldn’t be hard to accuse some Durham colleges of playing up to the ‘elite’ card, with Castle’s notorious June Ball costing a jaw dropping £120 – the equivalent of 26 quaddies!

Clara went on to say that “Durham has more of an issue with regard to ethnic diversity – my best friend didn’t apply for this reason, its reputation for being white, middle class. ”

Is Durham too white?

According to 2013 figures, international students only account for 12.9% of Durham’s student population, more than half of that of Warwick’s 25.5%, and three times less than London School of Economics with 42.3%.

Whilst it may be elitist other statistics show Durham in a far better light, with the best quality of life out of 91 UK universities as surveyed in a Lloyds Bank report and a 92% graduate employment record.