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Total Students
22,365
Home
15,470
International
6,900
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a UK government assessment of how well universities deliver teaching, learning, and student outcomes.
It helps you compare universities based on the quality of their teaching and student support and is widely used in rankings.
Overall Silver
Teaching Silver
Student Outcomes Gold
Global Rankings
Not all universities appear in every global ranking. Many rankings consider the TEF and the National Student Survey as key indicators of teaching quality and student satisfaction.
Durham University Courses
National Student Survey Results 2025
Durham University University Level Scores
Durham University received positivity scores of 92.1% for teaching and 86.5% for learning. Click the tabs below to see detailed student survey results and an explanation of the scores.
Teaching on my course
Theme 1 of the UK’s National Student Survey asks final year students to rate the teaching they have experienced on their course.
It asks students how clearly tutors explain ideas, how they bring the subject to life, and how well they inspire learning. It’s one of the best ways to gauge students’ direct experiences of teaching quality at the university.
| Metric | Value | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Positivity measure | 92.1% | The percentage of students who answered positively to the Theme 1 questions about the teaching on their course, for example rating it “good” or “very good”. |
| Difference to Benchmark | 3.2ppt | How far this university’s score is above (+) or below (–) its benchmark, in percentage points. |
| Benchmark | 88.9% | The score we’d expect for this university given its mix of students and subjects, based on results across the whole sector. It lets you compare very different universities fairly. |
| How confident can we be? | ||
| Materially above benchmark | 89.9% | How confident we can be that this university’s true score is at least 2.5 percentage points above its benchmark. The higher this is, the more certain it is that students rate the teaching better than expected. |
| Broadly in line | 10.1% | How confident we can be that this university’s score is within 2.5 percentage points of its benchmark, in other words about what you’d expect. |
| Materially below benchmark | 0% | How confident we can be that this university’s true score is at least 2.5 percentage points below its benchmark. |
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These three figures always add up to around |
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Learning opportunities
Theme 2 of the UK’s National Student Survey asks final year students to reflect on the learning opportunities they have experienced during their course.
It covers how well the course has offered opportunities to explore ideas in depth, bring together information from different topics, and apply learning in new or practical ways. This theme gives prospective students a sense of how effectively a course supports exploring the subject matter intellectual growth.
| Metric | Value | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Positivity measure | 86.5% | The percentage of students who answered positively to the Theme 2 questions about the learning opportunities on their course, for example “very often” or “to a great extent”. |
| Difference to Benchmark | 1.2ppt | How far this university’s score is above (+) or below (–) its benchmark, in percentage points. |
| Benchmark | 85.3% | The score we’d expect for this university given its mix of students and subjects, based on results across the whole sector. It lets you compare very different universities fairly. |
| How confident can we be? | ||
| Materially above benchmark | 1.9% | How confident we can be that this university’s true score is at least 2.5 percentage points above its benchmark. The higher this is, the more certain it is that students rate their learning opportunities better than expected. |
| Broadly in line | 98.1% | How confident we can be that this university’s score is within 2.5 percentage points of its benchmark, in other words about what you’d expect. |
| Materially below benchmark | 0% | How confident we can be that this university’s true score is at least 2.5 percentage points below its benchmark. |
| These three figures always add up to around 100%. Together, they show how sure we can be about where the university really stands. | ||
| Response rate | 64.6% | The percentage of eligible final-year students who answered the questions in this theme. |
Location
Durham, North East
Distance to London 269 Miles (433 KM)
Driving To London 4 hours 57 min
Public Transport To London 3 hours
Nearest Airport Newcastle International (NCL)
Miles to Nearest Airport 25.2