Which schools do Durham Students come from?

By Josh Eaton

In data obtained by Palatinate, only three schools in the top 10 feeder schools students by Durham University are state-funded schools. This comes just weeks after The Times ranked Durham to be one of the worst Universities in the country for social inclusion. 

Eton College sends the most students to Durham, with a staggering 230 pupils funnelled into Durham’s lecture halls between 2018 and 2023. The prestigious boys-only boarding school, famous for producing over 20 British Prime Ministers including David Cameron and Boris Johnson, costs around £53k a year in school fees. The school sends nearly a third of its cohort to Oxbridge.

A Durham University spokesperson said: “We encourage applications from students from all backgrounds with the aspiration [and] potential to succeed at Durham University. We have made great progress in diversifying our student body in recent years, such that for academic year 2023/24, around one in five of our undergraduate home students came to us through widening access schemes.”

Only three state schools make the top ten list. Durham Sixth Form Centre is the second largest feeder school, rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted and ranks above the national average in exam results; it sends an average of 36 students per year to Durham University. Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, an ‘elite state school’, sends an average of 35 students per year to Durham.

In response to this, Durham University claimed “We spend around £14 million a year on access and success initiatives for less advantaged students.  And as a university rooted in the North East, we are working hard to recruit pupils from state schools across our region, which has the country’s lowest A-Level attainment rate and lowest higher education progression rate amongst 18-year-olds. This is why we are expanding our work with state primary and secondary schools, further education colleges and other North East universities, to raise aspirations and improve levels of attainment from an early age.  We are determined to continue progress in widening access to and participation in higher education in the years ahead.”

Eton College sends the most students to Durham, with a staggering 230 pupils funnelled into Durham’s lecture halls between 2018 and 2023

One former student who attended Durham Sixth Form College told Palatinate, “[A lot of Durham Sixth Form students come to Durham University] because it was just very prominently displayed at all the future plans events it was always at the forefront. We also had access to some of Durham University’s buildings for stuff like EPQ so the idea of going to Durham was always in our heads. It was nice seeing people I went to school with, it was always easy to find people to hang out with so I guess it was like a pre-built social life. In that way it definitely helped with the transition. On the other hand, there was always the risk that you’d retreat into the people you already knew rather than meet new people so I see how it could be a hindrance [to some].”

Whilst 61% of domestic Durham students are state-educated, the data shows that Durham’s student recruitment is much more concentrated in private schools. In the 2021-22 academic year, the average student intake per non-state school was as high as 4, whereas this figure was less than 2 for state school equivalents.

Only three state schools make the top ten list.

One student who attended Wellington College, the third largest non-state feeder school to Durham since 2018 told Palatinate, “[Having many classmates at the same University] didn’t make any difference for me. I had a [friend from school] in Collingwood [with me] so it was a bit easier on the first day because we were able to go around together at the start. In the year below us at Collingwood, there were about four guys from my year [at school] who had taken gap years and I noticed them hanging around together a lot of time – I have seen it make a difference, just not for me personally”. Wellington School, a private day and boarding school in Somerset, charges fees of up to £47.7k a year and sends an average of 23 students to Durham University per year.

Image: Wikimedia Commons