International Students Before You Arrive

Welcome and Orientation 2023

A member of staff and an Open Day Ambassador behind a welcome sign

International Students

There are lots of things you can do to get a head start on student life before you arrive! Here are the key tasks to complete so you're ready to study, live and socialise as an international student at Durham:

Start planning your Welcome Week events

1. Enrol online

This is the first and most important step you should take before you arrive. Enrolment opens six weeks before the start of your programme. Once you have completed your enrolment, then you'll be able to access your university IT account.

How to enrol

2. Get connected with My Digital Durham

Once you are enrolled, you get access to a range of digital services such as your university email account, FREE Microsoft 365 and Office subscription, plus a range of teaching and learning apps to help you with your studies. View the interactive pdf and video

Visit My Digital Durham

3. Get to know your College

Your College is waiting to welcome you, visit their Welcome webpages to find out everything you need to know about arriving and joining their community

Visit your College Welcome webpage for information

A student conservator studying artefacts under a microscope in the Conservation lab

4. Get to know your Department

There are a number of different ways you can get to know more about your department before you arrive, including looking at our Freshers webpages, logging in to Sharepoint/Learn Ultra and watching videos.

Visit your Department Welcome page for information

A group of students studying together on laptops

5. Access the Transition into Higher Education online course

To make the transition to university as smooth as possible, we’ve worked with students to create an online pre-arrival course for you to complete called Transition to Higher Education. Use our virtual learning environment to try out some new academic skills and get familiar with our digital tools.

Access Transition into HE from 18 August

Students studying in Teaching and Learning Centre

6. Choosing optional modules

You can begin selecting optional modules after 1st September, and after your Department has been in touch to offer you guidance, so you can make informed choices about your modules. Please do not select optional modules before this time.

Find out more

7. Register with a local doctor

We take your health and wellbeing very seriously. We encourage you to start the process of registration with a doctor in Durham before you arrive, so that you can access healthcare when you need it. This is especially important if you have an ongoing health condition or require repeat medication.

Your first week in Durham – University Welcome and Orientation Week Events Timetable

The Timetable has been designed so College events don’t clash with any of your academic departmental events, but offer you lots of opportunities to meet your fellow Freshers, find your way around and settle into student life.

To help you keep track of where you need to be, and what you need to do during your first busy days at university, in your College and your Department, we have created a day-by-day University Induction Planner. This should help you to plan your schedule, so you don't miss anything - from being issued with your Campus Card or meeting the staff in your Department, to trying out for a sports team or joining a student society.

Create your Personal Welcome Week Planner