Rooms....

You’re not allowed to nail things to your walls in your room, but by all means use bluetac to put up your favourite photos, posters and all that jazz. College provide you with a few pillows, a thin duvet, and duvet cover, but most people prefer to use their own bedding, so if you want to bring your own covers/pillow/duvet by all means do. A sleeping bag is always useful if you’re letting mates from home visit. College will provide you with a desk, chair and lamp as well as broadband connection, mirror, wardrobe and cupboards.

It’s useful to bring extension leads for all your appliances but all electronic appliances must be checked by the maintenance team in fresher’s week, just to make sure they are safe.

It’s also pretty important to make sure you have some sort of insurance for your belongings before arriving. Unfortunately there have been a few break-ins to the college in previous years, so it’s best to make sure your belongings are covered, just in case.

In your pack you will also find the room allocation form. In first year some people will have roommates (approx 2/3rds), so it’s important to fill out the forms as honestly as possible so that you can be matched with someone you will get along with. The room allocation is not actually completed until the 28^th September, so you won’t know if you’re sharing until you arrive. It may seem a daunting prospect at first but our method is very good at matching people up, and it all adds to the excitement. It’s important not to stress too much about it before you arrive.

If you have a medical or other important reason for not being able to share, PLEASE do let us know on the form, and all information will remain confidential.

Clothes....

Durham can be rather chilly in the winter months. Hats, gloves, scarves, warm jumpers are all quite obviously useful to help prevent you from freezing.

There are also events that are Formal (Suit & tie / Smart Dress) or Black Tie (Dinner Jacket & Bow Tie / Ball Gown), so either go out shopping before you get to Durham or there are one or two good shops in Durham where you can purchase a dress or suit in the first week. Also, there are loads of bar events and corridor parties which are fancy dress, so come prepared – Jungle is key, as well as back to school, bad taste – you name it! So bring any good dressing up stuff with you, it’s always useful.

Laundry wise we have washing machines, tumble dryers and irons at college. Make sure you also bring a drying rack for your wet clothes.