Introduction
One of the oldest colleges in the University,
St Chad's is spread out among superb historic locations in mediaeval Durham.
We pride ourselves on maintaining the very highest academic standards,
with students studying for everything under the sun in a relaxed, supportive atmosphere. We're
small enough to make our claim to
being a community more than mere rhetoric, but we're also large enough to
give people plenty of scope to be themselves.
 Chad's students come from all over the UK, from
Europe and from over twenty different countries overseas. A large majority of our UK students come from the
state sector, and everyone who makes the grades is invited to apply.
The College has the best possible completion rates
of any higher education institution, and Chad's students do remarkably well:
for several years now, virtually all of our students graduated with
a good first or second class degree. Ideally-sized at just over 500 students, the College offers
students the twin advantages of being part of a small, supportive, historic
college, while being fully part of one of the larger and best universities in
Britain.
Fantastic
Spirit...
Every college says it's
friendly and has great spirit, and that's no doubt true. But what makes Chad's
just a bit different is not only
 the College's relaxed atmosphere, but the
way students and staff work together. At St Chad's, students
share in the actual governance of the College, which is a self-governing institution
recognised by the University. Because we share governance with
students, there is
little of the 'we-they' atmosphere you often find in large institutions. This is a real community for real adults
–– some young and
some a bit older –– who
are keen to take personal responsibility while still having the time
of their lives.
The
College has strong rowing, football and rugby traditions for men and
women
 (our men's rugby team was at the top of the University's premiere
league for most of 2006-7), and we field teams in virtually every sport.
There is a well-equipped gym in College, which supplements the
University's offerings.
The
College not only supports sport, but also supports the arts, being the home of the
Durham Media Academy, offering organ
scholarships, positions for artists and poets in residence, music summer schools, and promoting just about everything
else you can think of, including a jazz band, a rock-n-roll band, an orchestra, and a top-notch college choir,
headed by our Director of Music.
Strong academic tradition...
 Unlike
most Durham colleges, St Chad's has its own
academic staff
appointed by the College itself -
Fellows - who
engage primarily in research. Their research areas include urban
regeneration, social media, international affairs and espionage, social
justice, entrepreneurship, geo-physics, philosophy, English Literature,
economics, sociology, ethics, education, theology and spirituality.
Many of the research interests of the thirty-or-so fellows and research
associates feed directly into the College's Collegiate Studies
Programme, which supplements the formal departmentally-based studies of
our students. In addition, the College has a number of visiting
fellows each year, many of whom are resident in College: we want
our students to benefit from the College's in-house research and
especially from the University's incredibly rich research environment.
Each student is assigned a College tutor, who is
generally a member of the University's teaching staff or a professional from the
North East. Tutors are there to support students and to help them find
their way through college and university structures. Tutors are often the
first port of call if a student is facing difficulties - whether he or she
simply wants someone discreet to speak to or wants more particular help.
Though some of the College's tutors have training in medicine and counselling,
they are encouraged not to provide medical advice or counselling per se, but to
refer people to professionals outside the College. Because of the range of
College tutors (St Chad's has over 40 tutors for its 400 students ), students
are asked to specify the type of tutor they'd prefer - in terms of age, their
academic discipline, whether they work within or outside the University, etc.
The College also sponsors or hosts several academic programmes,
including the Durham Regional Development Group; the North East Institute for Theological Education (NEITE), which trains people in church
ministry off-site throughout the North East; and the Durham Media Academy, a
College-based
professional academy for professional media training run entirely by active
professionals in the field. St Chad's students are able to take in-house
offerings at no cost, and they are able to enrol in the courses designed for
professional at reduced rates.
The Collegiate Studies Programme
To help students make the most of
their time at university, St Chad’s has a unique
Collegiate Studies Programme (CSP).
CSP offers students opportunities to acquire a
range of life experiences and skills to complement those obtained through
university courses. CSP aims to help students develop their critical abilities
and self-knowledge. The programme also gives students an opportunity to
get out of Durham and to discover the rich social and economic history of the
North East. The programme also offers one-off modules in management and
people skills, which are useful for employment, volunteer service and life in general.
Libraries & IT
St Chad’s has seven library rooms located in its Main Building, making
it one of the largest college libraries in Durham. These are an
excellent resource for St Chad’s College students, providing a variety
of study environments and a large stock of books. All library rooms have
hard-wired and wireless internet access.
The College libraries are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for all members of St Chad's College. The holdings
are generally catalogued on the
University's electronic catalogue, and
catalogue searches can be restricted to St
Chad's College libraries. Students and staff are able to order books for
the College through the College's librarian.
The Reserve Library is open when a member of library
staff is on duty and the opening hours are displayed on the door.
All bedrooms are wired for internet access, and the
College strongly urges students to bring or acquire a computer when they
come up to Durham. The libraries have a number of
computers, as does the College's computer room.
An
Enchanting Location...
St Chad's College is
remarkably situated, with the Main College buildings occupying a dramatic site just fifty metres from Durham
Cathedral -- a World Heritage Site. Beyond the back gardens, the
land falls away into the wooded gorge of the River Wear which girds the high
peninsula, once the citadel of the Prince Bishops and a symbol of Norman power.
 The focus of Main College is the
Quad -- a glass-covered courtyard that is the venue for most large
College events, and which links the Junior Common Room, the College Bar, and the
Dining Hall. The Quad becomes a heavily-used study hall during the
revision and exam periods: it also has wireless internet access (all our
student rooms have hard-wired internet access).
The Main College buildings all front onto the Bailey, a mediaeval street that traces
the spine of the peninsula southwards from the Market Place to Prebends Bridge.
The College comprises the equivalent of 14
listed, Georgian fronted buildings, plus a large Victorian postgraduate hall --
Trinity Hall -- with full en-suite facilities just off the peninsula.
Interiorly, all the buildings have older Jacobean and Tudor
elements, not to mention all the facilities you'd expect in a modern college,
such as a formal dining room, three (soon to be four) libraries, common rooms, meeting rooms,
two college bars and kitchenettes galore. All the College's buildings have been
renovated in the past six years, and the new glass-covered Quad was opened in
the summer of 2003.
People-Centred
 As
important as buildings are, a College is not about buildings but about people.
The College was founded over a century ago precisely
to provide for students who could not afford to go to Oxford or
Cambridge to obtain a first class education. Times have changed, but today that
century-old commitment means that the College promotes as diverse a culture
within the College as possible. In fact, the very success of St Chad's College
depends on bringing people of differing backgrounds and opinions into
conversation and collaboration with one another. Though the numbers vary
from year to year, in 2005 St Chad's had students from over twenty-five
different countries.
The College honours the equality of women and men; it is committed to overcoming
prejudice. It operates an equal opportunities policy for both staff and
students; and it has robust mechanisms designed to deal effectively with
discrimination and harassment.
The College is particularly committed to internationalism, co-sponsoring, for
instance, the annual Traidcraft Fellowship, which brings people from developing
countries to St Chad's for up to a year, and supporting the Ruth First
Fellowship, which brings a postgraduate from South Africa to study for a year.
In addition, there are a number of other visiting fellowships (up to ten per
year) for scholars from
around the world.
Much more could be said about the College, and anyone
interested in applying is encouraged to look through the rest of the website and
to visit the College in person.
Applying to Chad's
 To apply to St Chad's, prospective
applicants must specify St Chad's as their choice of College on their UCAS form,
and they must satisfy the academic requirements of a University Department.
At Durham, students are first
accepted by a University department. If accepted by a department, then a place
in a College is guaranteed. Once a student is accepted by a Department, the
Department sends the UCAS form to the preferred College; if that College is
full, then the form is passed to another college, and so on until a place is
found.
If you are interested in applying to St Chad's, you are advised to apply as
early as possible as this will maximise your chance of receiving an offer by the
University and by the College.
Click for
more information on St Chad's College
Admissions.
St
Chad's College
University of
Durham,
18 North Bailey,
Durham DH1 3RH.
General Enquiries: 0191 334 3358
Fax: 0191 334 3371
E-Mail:
St-Chads.www@durham.ac.uk
|
