Fair Access and Widening Participation

At Durham we welcome students from all backgrounds. We focus on encouraging everyone who has the merit and potential to succeed regardless of background, every applicant who has the ability and desire to study with us is given this opportunity.

We are always finding initiative to support students from underrepresented backgrounds, beginning from pre-application up until the time of their studies in the university. We target prospective students that are currently underrepresented, including students:

• from areas where participation in higher education is low;
• who are home students with Black heritage;
• who are care-experienced;
• who live with disability;
• who are mature students.

*The previous Access and Participation plan with impact report (2019-20) and Access Agreements (from 2006 to 2019) can be found here.

*The Student Fees 2024-25 Summary can be found here. 

The Widening Access and Participation Team work with a range of stakeholders, including schools and colleges, parents and carers and other like-minded organisations to ensure that entry to university is based on merit and academic potential, and not social background, ethnicity, gender or other irrelevant factors. Much of their activity is focused on North East students in local schools and colleges to increase. Many of their activities include collaborating with current Durham University students so that prospective students can get a real and genuine understanding directly from those who have experience.