Durham University sends admissions facts to the government Durham University Vice-Chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman today sent government ministers and officials an update on his university s activities to attract students from schools in the state sector, and invited them to do more homework before pronouncing on university admissions. Durham is a world-class university.
Admission is competitive and is based on academic performance and the ability to achieve.
It is our job to open up more opportunities to these children and to mature students from similar backgrounds. We know from many generations of students at Durham that there are people in those schools and from those backgrounds who have the ability and potential to succeed at the highest level and we are working hard to get them to apply. We need to change the perception among some applicants, and some teachers, that universities with high entry standards like Durham are not worth applying to and we are working on it. Durham has six specialist staff working on schools liaison, backed up by 40 admissions tutors from academic departments and 200 student mentors who accompany them on schools visits, at higher education fairs and helping to show school pupils around the university. University teams are carrying out 180 visits to schools and FE colleges in the North East to encourage applications.