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 are UCAS applications assessed?
Admissions staff look carefully for evidence of merit and potential in the UCAS application, including an individual assessment of:
- A-Level (or equivalent) grades;
- GCSE (or equivalent) grades;
- the personal statement;
- the reference;
- the development of study skills;
- motivation for the degree programme applied for;
- independence of thought and working;
- skills derived from non-academic extra-curricular activities such as engagement in sport, the arts or voluntary and community work;
- contextual consideration of merit and potential (see also www.durham.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/faqs/?faqno=2036).
Academic attainment is the single most important criterion for selection. If an applicant has not achieved or is not predicted to achieve our typical offer for a course they will not be made an offer. If an applicant meets or exceeds our typical offer admissions selectors consider all of the above methods for assessing merit and potential. No one element is treated as more important than another, and none of them is a mathematical function. Selectors look at the overall achievement of an applicant as well as merit and potential and this is a multifaceted and complex process. This is why we ask academic staff who will be teaching our students to undertake this task.
