Theoretical Physics

Lectures are the starting point of the learning process. You will actively engage with the topics introduced in lectures through a combination of laboratory classes, problem exercises, tutorials and workshops.

Laboratory classes give you the chance to plan experiments and to interpret data. You will also be set regular problem exercises which develop your theoretical understanding and problem-solving abilities; these exercises form the basis for discussions in small-group tutorials. 

Assessment

Assessment is mainly by end-of-year examinations and by project reports and presentations. 

The range of assessment methods is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the course content, test your capacity to solve problems, enhance your written and oral communication skills, and assess your ability to relate your learning to real-world scenarios.

A level offer – A*A*A including Physics and Mathematics.

Contextual offer – A*AB including A*A in Physics and Maths (either way round).

BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma/OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma – D*D*D and A levels as above.

IB Diploma score – 38 with 776 in higher level subjects, including Mathematics (maths analysis & approaches) and Physics.

In addition to satisfying the University’s general entry requirements, please note:

• We also consider other level 3 qualifications, including T-levels.

• We welcome applications from those with other qualifications equivalent to our standard entry requirements and from mature students with non-standard qualifications or who may have had a break in their study.

• Entry requirements for all four Physics degrees are the same and transfer from the BSc degree to the MPhys degree is possible and is based upon first and second-year examinations.

• We may request further information such as UMS marks and/or predicted grades if this information is not available on the UCAS application. This is to ensure that we have an equal amount of information for all applicants. If for some reason this cannot be supplied, the candidate’s application will not be disadvantaged.

• If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take an International Foundation Year pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre.

• We are pleased to consider applications for deferred entry.

Science A levels

Applicants taking Science A levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This applies only to applicants sitting A levels with an English examination board.

Alternative qualifications

• Other UK qualifications

• EU qualifications 

• International qualifications

International students who do not meet direct entry requirements for this degree might have the option to complete an International Foundation Year.

English language requirements

Country specific information

Full Time Fees

The tuition fees shown for home students are for one complete academic year of full time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees for subsequent years of your course may rise in line with an inflationary uplift as determined by the government.

The tuition fees shown for overseas and EU students are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and will be subject to an annual inflationary increase and are expected to rise throughout the programme of study. The fee listed above is for the first year of the course only; fees for subsequent years will be confirmed not less than 3 months before the start of the academic year to which the increase is intended to apply and will be published on the Finance webpages.

In deciding the annual level of increase the University will take into account inflationary pressures on the costs of delivery. Tuition fees will rise annually by up to the higher of;

1. 6%, or,
2. the latest annual percentage increase in the Consumer Prices Index.

Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.

We seek to develop the practical and intellectual skills sought by employers and we are regularly ranked among the country's top performers for graduate employment. Our graduates have progressed to careers in business, industry, commerce, research, management and education, and typically more than fifth of our graduates go on to study for higher degrees.

The Department also has an impressive track record of spin-out technology companies that commercialise our knowledge in areas of semiconductors, composites and advanced instrumentation. Examples of high-profile employers include BT, Procter & Gamble, Rolls Royce and BAE Systems.

With recent ground-breaking discoveries in astronomy,  the Universe, subatomic particles and nuclear fusion there’s never been a better time to study physics. Join one of the UK’s leading teaching and research departments and become a part of this exciting discipline.

When you study physics at Durham you will work with experts across a range of specialisms to explore subjects such as the Big Bang, black holes, the Higgs boson, high-temperature superconductors, lasers, cold-atom Bose-Einstein condensates, biophysics and more.

Our undergraduate physics degrees offer outstanding teaching, learning and employability outcomes for students. We offer four Institute of Physics accredited BSc and MPhys qualifications which share a common first year. Course content ranges from fundamental topics, such as elementary particle physics and cosmology, to applied areas which include material physics and biophysics.

All courses allow you to select a number of modules tailored to your interests and career aspirations, and the course structures have been designed to provide flexibility in your final choice of degree. This means, depending on modules chosen, you need not make a firm decision about your course until the end of the second year. You also have the option to apply for a year-long work placement or study abroad opportunity with one of our partner organisations.

For more information see our department pages.

Rankings

• World Top 100 in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2023

• 2nd in The Guardian University Guide 2024

• 3rd in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024

• 3rd in The Complete University Guide 2024

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see the Physics Department pages.

Research Excellence Framework

• 96% of our research outputs are world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021).

Facilities

Our Department lies in the heart of the University on the main campus among the science and engineering departments and the University library. The main Department building houses all the lectures and teaching laboratories as well as some of our world-class facilities such as our Cosma 8 supercomputer, which has the processing power and memory of about 28,000 home PCs. This enables scientists to simulate the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day with unprecedented accuracy.

We also have state-of-the-art scanning electron microscopes (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM) and focused ion-beam microscopes (FIB) that are accessible to staff and students from physics, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering and biology areas. Students who undertake a project in observational astronomy will have access to the telescopes sited on the roof of the Physics building as well as our remotely operated telescope (0.5m) on La Palma.

The Department also includes the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, which is home to the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology and the Institute for Computational Cosmology.

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