News

Durham attracts more applicants from state schools & ‘non-traditional’ areas

(20 October 2005)

Durham University generated a record high number of applications this year, according to the latest figures from the national admissions agency UCAS.

And they show that Durham has pulled in more applicants from State Schools – up by 9.3% – and more from Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPNS) – a rise of 11.9 %.

Durham’s total number of applications was 28,168 for the 2004-05 admissions cycle – an increase of 2,824 or 11.1% on the same point in the previous year. This is better than the national increase of 7.9 %.

The figures also underline Durham’s increasing international profile. Applications from overseas applicants went up by 35.4%.

Vice-Chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman said the latest figures more than made up for the recently published national Performance Indicator figures for state schools and LPNs, which reflected a slowing down of growth in those key areas for widening participation in higher education.

He said: “Those recent figures were based on two years ago. This new data is bang up to date. It shows how work by Durham’s staff and students in schools and other special projects is taking effect and attracting more applicants from areas where there is little or no pattern of going to university.

”This improvement, and the rise in international applications, came before we were named University of the Year by the Sunday Times last month. This underlines our position as the North East’s premier university and our admissions team could be even busier this year. We want to keep on attracting the ablest students, regardless of their background.”

Mr Matthew Andrews, Director of Undergraduate Recruitment, added: "Our team in the Undergraduate Admissions Office is working harder than ever to ensure that all students, regardless of background, aim for an education at the right university for them and that more talented students consider applying to Durham.

“On top of our extensive schools liaison programme we organise activities such as our STARS programme, which provided an educational opportunity for 4,000 state school students from the North East in 2004/5, and just this summer alone we organised over five weeks of summer schools for more than 650 students."

The Durham team is very aware of concerns that students will have about tuition fees and have recently appointed a dedicated Admissions Adviser with responsibility for providing information, advice and guidance on student funding and finance. For students who need it, from 2006 Durham is offering up to £12,000 in non-repayable support from the Durham Grant Scheme.