Frequently Asked Questions
The Student Recruitment and Admissions Office is responsible for managing the admissions process within Durham University for full and part time undergraduate courses. Academic Departments are responsible for considering each application and making offers and passing successful applications to one of the sixteen colleges for consideration, whilst the Student Recruitment and Admissions Office ensures that this process occurs as fairly and as transparently as possible and that decisions are communicated to UCAS within agreed deadlines.
The questions below have all been asked by our applicants or their parents at one time or another, and are intended to provide further information regarding the application process, some of our requirements, our collegiate system, the University and life as a student.
If you find that your query is not addressed or if you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Student Recruitment and Admissions Team directly. Our email address is admissions@durham.ac.uk.
How does Durham treat the new A* Grade at A Level?
For the 2011 entry admissions cycle, no conditional offers have included an A* grade at A level requirement, with the exception of Mathematical Sciences programmes (A*AA at A level or equivalent).
For the 2012 entry admissions cycle we will have an entry requirement of A*AA at A level or equivalent for the following programmes, to assist us in recruiting the most academically able students with the greatest merit and potential for undergraduate study:
- BSc and MChem Chemistry;
- Combined Honours in Arts;
- Combined Honours in Social Sciences;
- BA Economics (including Year abroad), BA Business Economics (including Year abroad), BA Economics with French;
- BA English Literature, BA English Literature and History, BA English Literature and Philosophy;
- BA Geography, BSc Geography;
- BA History;
- LLB Law;
- BSc and MMath Mathematics (including European Studies);
- BSc and MSci Natural Sciences;
- BSc and MPhys Physics, MPhys Physics and Astronomy, MPhys Theoretical Physics;
- BA PPE.
In arriving at this decision we have carefully considered the academic profile of our A Level applicants entering in 2010 and the average performance of those students in undergraduate studies at Durham University. A move to A*AA for some of our highly selective entry programmes will aid in differentiating between many highly qualified applicants and more closely reflect the typical academic profile currently necessary to compete for an offer.
Our admissions selectors will continue to consider applicants who are not necessarily predicted to meet the typical entry requirement for our programmes. If through other evidence in their applications such applicants show the required level of merit and potential for undergraduate studies at Durham University, our selectors may make achievable offers to them.
Where applicants have completed their A Levels prior to the introduction of the A* grade at A level different requirements will apply and these will be stated on Durham University's website and in UCAS Entry Profiles.
For applicants with non-A level qualifications, equivalent typical entry requirements for these programmes will be adjusted accordingly, and published on the University's website and in UCAS Entry Profiles.
For all other programmes not requiring A*AA or equivalent, schools and colleges are encouraged to include A* grade predictions in the UCAS reference where appropriate but an A* prediction will not be a required criterion to receive an offer.
We will review our policy annually in time to advise students before the start of the admissions cycle, using information gained from applicant performance and in light of developments at other universities that offer competitive entry courses.
