Combined Honours & Natural Sciences:Durham University’s Liberal Arts Option

The Durham University Difference

We know studying abroad is an opportunity to develop skills that today’s employers seek. It is a way to prepare and distinguish oneself in an increasingly competitive market place; illuminating new paths and ideas along the way.

Durham University offers you a unique opportunity to experience the history, tradition and quality of one of the oldest and highest ranking universities in England.

Located in the small and ancient City of Durham in the heart of North East England you will have the opportunity to experience life in a traditional British University.

Why Durham University?

Since its foundation in 1832 Durham University has flourished and cemented a place of distinction both nationally and internationally. Durham City has captured the admiration of writers and artists for centuries, and as the only university in England to occupy a World Heritage Site (Durham Cathedral and Castle), it continues to capture the attention of travellers from all over the world.

Durham University is England’s third oldest university, founded after Oxford and Cambridge, and one of the UK’s leading research institutions. As Durham University is one of the top 100 universities in the world, Durham lecturers and tutors are acknowledged experts and leaders in their field, allowing you to be taught by some of the leading minds in the world.

Like Oxford and Cambridge, Durham University is a collegiate University. Every student at Durham University can choose a College to belong to, and there are 15 Colleges to choose from. Although the Colleges are purely residential facilities and not used for teaching, they are more than just a place to eat and sleep. Styles of College range from the brand-new state of the art, to traditional historic buildings such as Durham Castle!

International Office

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Combined Honours & Natural Sciences

Castle courtyard

Durham Cathedral

Owengate, Durham City

The Collegiate experience

Combined Honours & Natural Sciences

Living in one of Durham’s fifteen Colleges is more than just living in University housing. College life is a big part of what makes Durham so different to almost anywhere else. Many of our students say that the College system is one of the best aspects of university life. Ask Durham students about living and studying in Durham and they’re sure to mention their College, even years after they’ve left!

With their variety of character, location, age, and size; it is an essential aspect of the student experience to carefully research which College would provide the best match for your personality and non-academic interests. Every College is its own Community, each with its own: bar and dining facilities, TV room, laundry services, sports teams and facilities, clubs and Societies.

Durham’s Combined Honours programmes, Combined Arts and Combined Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences offer you the opportunity to study two, three, or four subjects at one of the most prestigious universities in the UK.

The Combined Honours programmes provide a Liberal Arts alternative to our single honours and joint honours programmes, in which students concentrate on just one or two majors throughout their degree.

Similarly, the Natural Sciences programmes provide an alternative to Science single honours programmes, which encompasses both joint honours and broad-based science degrees.

In both Combined Honours and Natural Sciences degrees, students can choose classes from two, three or four subjects, making interdisciplinary connections. This gives students choosing to study on the Combined Honours or Natural Sciences degrees choice, flexibility and depth, ultimately allowing each individual student to design their own degree.

Since the programmes are so flexible, you could:

• Study two subjects equally,

• Major in one subject whilst studying other subjects alongside it,

• Follow your interests wherever they may lead, across several subjects.

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Getting involved in College life is a wonderful way to meet new people. We try to take your College personal preference into account at the time of your application; however, placement in a particular College is ultimately based on availability.

Take a virtual College tour: www.durham.ac.uk/tour

or research individual Colleges at: www.durham.ac.uk/colleges

Combined Honours & Natural Sciences

South Bailey, Durham City

A great place to study... nearly one thousand examples of stunning Norman architecture, Durham is the only university in the world to be located in a UNESCO world heritage site, and is a major blockbuster movie location for films such as Harry Potter.

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Durham City

Combined Honours Arts

If you study Combined Arts, you will be focussing on subjects in the Arts and Humanities, but you can take up to half of all your classes from subjects in the Social Sciences or Sciences.

In the Arts and Humanities, the principal subjects available to you are:

Classical Past (Cl)

Latin and Greek (Gr)

Latin (La)

English Literature (EL)

History (Hi)

History of Art (HA)

Music (Mu)

Philosophy (Ph)

Theology and Religion (Th)

French (Fr)

German (Ge)

Spanish (Sp)

Arabic (Ar)

Italian (It)

Russian (Ru)

Like must undergraduate programmes in England, the Combined Arts degree is three years in duration. If, however, you study one or more modern languages throughout your degree, you will take the four-year version of the programme. This will allow you to spend a year overseas, studying or working, between the second and final years of your studies at Durham.

www.durham.ac.uk/combined.honours/arts

Combined Honours Social Sciences

If you study Combined Social Sciences, you will be focussing on subjects in the Social Sciences, but you can take up to half of all your classes from subjects in the Arts and Humanities or in the Sciences.

In the Social Sciences the principal subjects available to you are:

Anthropology (An)

Archaeology (Ar)

Business and Economics (incorporating Management (Bs/Ec)

Education (Ed)

Geography (Gg)

Government and International Affairs (incorporating Politics and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies) (GI)

Sociology (So)

Criminology (Cr)

Sport (Sp)

www.durham.ac.uk/combined.honours/socscience

Combined Honours: Additional Information

It is also possible, both in Combined Arts and Social Sciences, to take an extensive range of classes in two subjects in the Sciences – Mathematics and Psychology. If, however, you think that you might wish to major in one of these subjects or to study other subjects in the Sciences, we recommend that you consider applying for the Natural Sciences programme, the equivalent of the Combined Honours programmes for science students.

In many subjects listed you will be able to choose from a wide range of classes in each year of your studies. In others, only one or two classes may be delivered in any particular year, and so these are not available as majors.

Your overall combination of subjects and classes are subject to the approval of the Director or Deputy Director of Combined Honours.

You can find more information on all of the classes that are currently available in each subject at:

www.durham.ac.uk/faculty.handbook

“I applied to other universities to do Philosophy and Italian, but the flexibility of the Combined course here allowed me to add Arabic as well, which has been a very good decision… The flexibility of this liberal arts degree is incomparable to any other course… the opportunities are endless. Constructing a course that is entirely my own is the perfect challenge.”

Delaney, Combined Arts student.

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Ma

Py

CSCh

Bi

Ps

ES

Bs

Ph

EcAn

Gg

Ar

“Reading Natural Sciences at Durham University allows me to combine my passions for studying both Physics and Classics at the highest level. The academic standing here is well established but this combination demonstrates both the commitment of the University to students and that Durham is unique in what it can offer.”

Zahra, Natural Sciences student.

Natural Sciences

If you study Natural Sciences, you will be majoring in Science subjects. However, you may still take up to half of your classes from subjects in the Arts or Social Sciences. The Natural Sciences programme offers a multidisciplinary degree course that allows students to study two or more science subjects often as part of a named joint-major degree.

In Natural Sciences, the principal subjects available to you are:

Biology (Bi)

Chemistry (Ch)

Computer Science (CS)

Earth Sciences (ES)

Mathematics (Ma)

Physics (Py)

Psychology (Ps)

The graph above shows the subject combinations available to take as a joint major student, which provide guaranteed combinations on the timetable.

The subjects in purple are those that are available as an integrated four year Masters degree. Psychology is the only subject in the Sciences that is not taught to year 4.

The subjects in red denote subjects in the social sciences that work well in combination with science subjects, and are guaranteed timetable groupings. Other subject combinations are available, but if you wish to major in them they you may wish to consider studying the Combined Honours programme.

Natural Sciences students study their chosen subjects to the same depth as single-major students, although they may not have the same breadth of options available to them towards the latter stages of their degree. Taking core classes in any subject will allow a student to transfer to a single major degree programme after their first year, should they wish to do so.

The guiding principal of our degrees is research-led teaching. Students are taught by leading researchers at the cutting-edge of their fields, so degree programmes are constantly updated to include the most recent research results.

Our students also conduct original research: in most programmes final year students undertake a research project, which involves joining a lab-group and working alongside world-class professors. They produce original work, which is often published in academic journals.

www.durham.ac.uk/natural.sciences

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Durham Castle

Entry Requirements: Natural Sciences

We are looking for students with a strong background in the sciences, and you should be able to demonstrate this through the subjects that you have studied at High School level.

For some classes specific subject background is required as follows:

• Biology is required for Biology classes

• Biology and Chemistry are required for Cell Biology classes

• Mathematics is required for Economics classes

• Mathematics and Physics is required for Physics classes

• A very strong Mathematics background is required for Mathematics classes

• Chemistry and Mathematics are required for Chemistry classes

Please note that due to limited space in the laboratories there is a restriction on the number of people wanting to study Chemistry within Natural Sciences.

Our usual entry requirements are:

• GCE A level: A* A A

• Scottish Advanced Highers: A1 (in a specified subject) and A A

• International Baccalaureate: 38 points

If you are currently studying under the US system we are usually looking for the following:

• A High School Graduation Diploma with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or better, SAT Reasoning scores of 670 or better and two or three SAT Subject scores of 720 or better. (In place of SAT exams we will accept ACT scores of 30 or better).

• Four AP examinations at grade 5 (preferably in related subject). (In place of AP examinations we will accept College or Honors level classes at A grade (GPA 3.5))

• Or an Associate Degree with a CGPA of 3.5 or better.

For students wishing to take any of the subjects requiring a background in Mathematics we would expect scores of 4 or better in AP Calculus BC, or an equivalent College level programme.

Entry Requirements: Combined Honours Arts & Social Sciences

We are looking for students with a strong academic record and the potential to benefit from the distinctive opportunities which are provided by Combined Arts or Social Sciences. In evaluating applications, we therefore take into account:

• The academic qualifications and grades that you have achieved in the past few years;

• The academic qualifications and grades that you have been predicted to achieve in the future;

• Your ‘personal statement’(a short essay in which you tell us about why you believe you would be an appropriate candidate for the programme, and tell us about your personal interest and aspirations;

• A reference from a teacher or guidance counsellor.

Our usual entry requirements are:

• GCE A level: A* A A

• Scottish Advanced Highers: A1 (in a specified subject) and A A

• International Baccalaureate: 38 points

If you are currently studying under the US system we are usually looking for the following:

• A High School Graduation Diploma with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or better, SAT Reasoning scores of 670 or better and two or three SAT Subject scores of 720 or better. (In place of SAT exams we will accept ACT scores of 30 or better).

• Four AP examinations at grade 5 (preferably in related subject). (In place of AP examinations we will accept College or Honors level classes at A grade (GPA 3.5))

• Or an Associate Degree with a CGPA of 3.5 or better.

If you plan to take any classes in certain subjects – notably English, History, Music, and Maths – you must have studied the subject to advanced level in your final years at school or college. This also applies to French and German, and you must have studied a modern language to an advanced level in order to take ‘fast track’ modules in Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Russian, but there are also opportunities to take classes at the beginners’ or intermediate level in French, German, Spanish and Mandarin.

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Owengate, Durham City

Costs

Application

Studying in England is much more affordable than you might think. Most undergraduate degrees in England can be completed within three years, and US students can pay for their studies with the US Federal Student Loan.

For more information about the costs of study at Durham University please visit our website: www.durham.ac.uk/international/apply/fees

All applications to Durham University should be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). www.ucas.co.uk

You can apply any time between mid-September and the end of June, and you may apply for a maximum of 5 programmes in the UK.

Guidance on making an application to Durham University can be found on our website, www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply, or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Further information

For more information about studying Combined Honours Arts or Social Sciences at Durham University, please contact Dr Colin Crowder.

T +44 191 334 1016E combined.honours @durham.ac.uk

For more information about studying Natural Sciences at Durham University, please contact Dr James Blowey

T +44 191 334 1028E natural.sciences-director @durham.ac.uk

For more information about being an international student at Durham University, please contact Beth Sutcliffe

T +44 191 33 46323E international.office@durham.ac.uk

Connect with Us

For links to our social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, please visit:

www.durham.ac.uk/international/interact

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Durham City

University College

Durham Cathedral