How to apply

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) handles applications for all undergraduate courses eg BA, BSc, MEng, MPhys, MSci. Applications are made using the secure, web-based service UCAS Apply at www.ucas.com

You may apply for up to five courses and you should list your choices in alphabetical order, not in order of preference. You will need to include the UCAS code for each university you apply to – for Durham University choose D86 – and the code for the course or courses you are interested in. You can find the right course code on our website course search or on UCAS Course Search

Personal Statement

The personal statement is an opportunity for you to demonstrate why you want to study the course you’re interested in and why you’re suitable. You can find hints and tips on how to write a personal statement and what you should include here.

Colleges

Durham is a collegiate university which means we are made up of a number of college communities – to which every student belongs. You can find out more about all of Durham’s colleges here.

When you apply you can state a preference for a particular college by using the appropriate college campus code (See table below).

You don’t have to include a college preference at the application stage if you don’t want to – if you want to make an open application then use campus code O and the university will allocate a college to you.

You shouldn’t apply for the same course at more than one college as this will not increase your chances of receiving an offer and will limit the number of courses you can apply to.

What happens next?

Once you’ve submitted your application to UCAS they will let you know they have received it and send a copy of your application to all of your university choices. Selection processes vary between universities and courses so don’t worry if you don’t hear from your choices straight away. When the universities you have applied to are ready to make their decisions they will send these to UCAS and you will be able to view them on UCAS Track. 

International applicants

If you are an international applicant, as well as submitting your application through UCAS you will also need to send scanned copies of your qualifications (including your score in any English language test you have undertaken) to our Recruitment and Admissions Office. Please make sure that you include your UCAS personal identification number (PID), your name and date of birth in your email.

Durham University International Study Centre

The Durham University International Study Centre is based at the Queen’s Campus inStockon-on-Tees, 

and offers both International Foundation Year and Pre-Masters pathway programmes to help international students prepare for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at Durham University. Once successfully completed, students can progress to degree level study at Durham University. Find out more information on how to apply.

Contacting Durham University

You can contact us using our webform or by telephone, Monday – Friday 9.00 – 17.00 on +44 (0)191 334 1000.

Contacting UCAS

If you need to contact UCAS then you can find a lot of information on their website at ucas.com, or you can reach them with a direct message on Facebook or Twitter.

If you still have a question you can give them a call:

UK number 0371 468 0 468

International number +44 330 3330 230

Their normal opening hours are Monday – Friday, 8.30 – 18.00.

If you have hearing difficulties and are in the UK you can call the Text Relay Service on 18001 followed by the relevant number. If you are outside of the UK then you can call +44 151 494 1260 (text phone) and you’ll need to ask the operator to dial the relevant number.