How to Apply

General information about applications to Durham University is available on the Undergraduate Applications pages. The information below is specific to applications for mathematics programmes, G100, G101, G103 and G104. We have a limited number of places so the admissions process is very competitive. Please read the sections below before submitting your application, especially the Selection Process.

You should apply for full-time first degree courses (BSc or MMath) through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). We welcome applications from students of all educational backgrounds who meet our entry requirements. Some of the specific information below is relevant to the majority of our applicants who take GCE A-levels. However, we also make offers to students who are not taking GCE A-levels and we do our best to treat them equally with the A-level applicants. If your first language is not English, our standard language requirement is IELTS 6.5 with no element below 6.0. Further details relevant to non-UK applicants can be found on the University's International Students pages. To check if you are qualified, please consult the 'In Your Country' section via the following link http://www.dur.ac.uk/international/prospectivestudents/ If you are still not sure, the International Office's contact details can be found on the same page.

Offers

If you are studying Mathematics and Further Mathematics at A-level and will most likely obtain A and A* grades then we would very much like to hear from you. We recognise that not everyone has the opportunity to take Further Mathematics beyond AS-level and we have designed our first year accordingly. If your school or college offers double Mathematics you should follow this route. If it does not please ask them to state this explicitly in their reference. We will then consider your application for an alternative offer including AS-level Further Maths.

Our standard offer is A*A in Mathematics and Further Mathematics (A* in either) plus A (any subject excluding General Studies) or A* in Mathematics plus AA plus A in AS-level Further Mathematics for students not able to take Further Mathematics A2. Note that A-Level Mathematics alone is not sufficient, and we require the full A-Level in Further Mathematics if it is offered at your school/college. Offers are made on the basis of current achievements and schools recommendations, with specific focus on mathematics. We make the same offers for the BSc and MMath programmes. The European Studies programmes have a specific language requirement of grade B in addition to, or at least grade A as part of, the standard A*AA offer.

In the above offers, A* will be replaced by A for applicants who have already completed their Maths A-level before the A* grade was available.

See Alternative Offers for details of our requirements for applicants taking qualifications other than A-levels.

Selection Process

Please note that the number of offers we can make is limited and in recent years we have been unable to make offers to all the applicants we had graded as excellent. In order to distinguish between applicants, significant emphasis is placed on evidence of achievement in mathematics at AS-level (or above). We give such evidence much higher weighting than (predicted) achievement in other subjects including (predicted) achievement beyond 3 A-levels. In particular we email all applicants to request UMS marks for all mathematics modules taken so far, irrespective of intention to resit or certification. If you do not provide this information, it is very unlikely that your application will be ranked high enough to receive an offer. Without such information it is very difficult for us to distinguish between the majority of our applicants e.g. while the reference is important, it is very good for most of our applicants.

We encourage candidates to take STEP papers and/or the Advanced Extension Award in Mathematics. Other evidence of ability and enthusiasm for higher level mathematics, including achievements in Mathematics Challenges or Olympiads, is considered favourably. However, our standard offer is based only on A-levels or equivalent as outlined above.

How we select and requests for feedback

In order to select whom to make offers to, the applications are ranked by a large team of academic members of the Mathematics Department. This ranking is based on evidence of merit and potential. Our main criterion is real ability and experience in Mathematics beyond GCSE level. Almost all applicants will be on course to meet or exceed our standard A*AA offer, but in a typical year we will be able to make offers to only the top 40% of the list. Therefore our reply to the vast majority of requests for feedback for unsuccessful applications is simply that the application was ranked in the bottom 60%: these candidates are still eligible, accomplished and in the top few percent nationally but regrettably we cannot make an offer to them. Please bear this in mind before making a specific request for feedback.