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Durham Castle Courtyard

August Confirmation and Finalising your College Allocation

All offer holders will have received a preliminary college allocation prior to the publication of 2025 exam results. We will try to ensure offer holders that successfully achieve a place at Durham remain with their preliminary allocated college wherever possible.

However, it is important to understand that this may not be possible in all cases.  

Following the publication of exam results on 14 August 2025, the University may change an applicant's college allocation if:

  • An offer holder has a medical condition which cannot be met by their preliminary allocated college
  • There is insufficient accommodation availability in a college to make every successful offer holder who met our Accommodation Guarantee, an offer of accommodation  from the University
  • An offer holder did not meet the conditions of our Accommodation Guarantee, but later requests an offer of accommodation

Where we need to change an offer holder’s preliminary college allocation, the University will prioritise keeping offer holders in their preliminary allocated college in the following order:

  1. Offer holders who placed Durham as their firm choice AND who met or exceeded the conditions of their offer
  2. Offer holders who are accepted to Durham despite not meeting the conditions of their offer AND who placed Durham as their firm choice (near miss candidates)
  3. Offer holders who placed Durham as their insurance choice
  4. Offer holders accepted through clearing
  5. Offer holders who originally declined or did not meet the accommodation guarantee, but later request an offer of accommodation

It is important for offer holders to note that once results are published and it is necessary to reallocate offer holders, we will not take account of any previous preferences and will allocate randomly to colleges with space to make accommodation offers.

We will communicate with you at each stage to confirm your finalised college allocation.  If we need to reallocate you, we will contact you directly to confirm.