Preliminary College Membership Allocation Process – Undergraduate Students (2025 Entry) 

Once you receive an academic offer from Durham University, you'll have the chance to rank your preferences for College Membership. 

Steps to Follow: 

1. Receive an academic offer from Durham. 
2. Access the UG Applicant Portal via the link provided in our communication. 
3. Rank preferences for College Membership (up to all 16 Colleges) 
4. Submit prior to the deadline 2pm on 09 May 2025. 

You may update your preferences any time before the deadline on 09 May 2025. We will use your most recent preferences when preliminarily allocating membership to a college. 

We cannot guarantee membership to one of your top college preferences and encourage you to rank all 16 Colleges.  

Important Dates: 

• The allocation process is set to begin the week of 12 May 2025. 
• If you receive an academic offer after the allocation process has started, you will have 14 days from the offer date to submit your preferences. Once you’ve done this, allocation will occur the next working day. 

Receiving Your Preliminary College Membership: 

Once the preliminary college membership allocation process begins, you will be notified via email of your preliminary college membership allocation. Once you have received an allocation for preliminary college membership, this is part of your wider offer from Durham University. 

Preliminary College Membership will not be changed upon an applicant’s request. Changes will only be made following a recommendation by Durham University Disability Support Services to meet or mitigate for an applicant’s needs. 

Disability Disclosure Form and Your Preliminary College Membership:

If you have submitted a Disability Disclosure Form and received confirmation of a decision on your submission before the preliminary college membership allocation process begins, that decision will be considered when the preliminary college membership allocation process runs.

If you have submitted a Disability Disclosure Form and not received a decision before the preliminary college membership allocation process begins, the preliminary college membership allocation process will run as normal. Once a decision has been made regarding your submission, this may require a transfer of College. In these instances, the College Membership and Accommodation Office will be in touch with you directly to discuss.

How the Membership Allocation Process Works: 

All applications are considered, and membership in our colleges is not allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We use a computerised auto-allocation system to ensure impartiality. 

The computerised auto-allocation considers: 

• Your ranked college preferences. 
• The distribution of students across departments. 

These factors determine your preliminary college membership. 

Final College Membership Allocation: 

Your final college membership allocation will be confirmed following 14 August 2025. Please note that while we will aim to keep you in your preliminarily allocated college for membership, we may have to change your college. For details on college confirmation following A-Level Results please see here.