Student Support at Durham

University is often an exciting chapter of our lives and at Durham, we want every student to reach their full potential. So, whether you want to develop your academic skills or need help because you’re feeling overwhelmed, there is support available for you. 

Our services are: 

• available to all students at Durham, no matter what you study, how you study or whether you live in or out
• easy to access via the Student Support Portal (coming soon) or in-person in your Department or College. All our staff are trained to help you get the support you need
• wide ranging - from a cup of tea and a chat to specialist mental health and disability support, advice is available on a wide range of topics. It is never too early or too late to talk to someone
• joined up, so no matter how you first contact us, we can help you find advice from the people or teams who can best support you.

For most students, your College team will be your first point of contact for wellbeing support. If you have an academic-related concern or an issue is having an impact on your studies, you may choose to contact a Department team first. We recognise that situations are often complex, so our College, Department, mental wellbeing support and other specialist services work together as needed.

If you are a current student, you can find out more about the services available to you and how to access them by speaking to your College or Department Student Support Team or by clicking on the link to the Student Support Hub in the side bar.

College Student Support Teams

• All students have membership of a College and have access to its support team no matter what you study, how you study, or where you live.
• Each College has a dedicated student support team to support you throughout your time at Durham University. This team is available during office hours.
• The team can advise you on issues affecting your wellbeing and help you to access other support services across the University.
• Each College has Student Welfare Volunteers who can provide you with information about support services at Durham and how to access them. They run wellbeing events to help you proactively manage your health and wellbeing.
• Out of office hours, you can contact your College RSA (Porter) who will be able to route urgent concerns to the appropriate on-call duty officer - this will be a member of College staff from your own or another College. This service is available to all students, whether they live in or out of College.
• In a life-threatening emergency, ring 999. Once you have phoned the emergency services, you should alert the University's Security Hub to the incident. You can reach them on 0191 334 2222 - calls to this number are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by a trained Security Operator. Alternatively, you can alert your College RSA (Porter).
• College RSA phone numbers can be found on the Emergency Contacts page. Save your College RSA’s number in your phone in case of emergency.  

Department Student Support Teams

• Staff in Departments can help with academic-related concerns which may have an impact on your studies. These teams are available during office hours. 
• Each Department has a dedicated Student Support Officer or Manager who provides support to help students engage effectively and/or progress satisfactorily in their studies. They can help students access other support services across the University.
• If you're a taught student, you will be allocated an Academic Advisor, Year Tutor, or equivalent in your academic Departments. They will provide academic support and guidance relating to discipline-specific skills, module choices and feedback on academic performance and progression. 
• Your module teaching teams will provide module-specific advice and feedback on module content and assessed work.  
• If you’re a research student, you can speak to your supervisor about academic support.
• Each Department has a Learning and Teaching Team and a Postgraduate Research (PGR) Co-ordinator who support the administration of all taught and research programmes respectively. They can help you with queries relating to your course, such as timetabling, and with accessing information on your courses.

Mental Wellbeing Support and other Specialist Services

Your College and Department Student Support Teams can direct you to our specialist services, which include Counselling & Mental Health, Disability Support, Student Finance and Academic Skills.

You can read more about some of these services on the Student Support and Wellbeing page.