The strong tradition of theological teaching in Durham gave rise to various attempts to form a university within the city itself, notably under King Henry VIII and then under Oliver Cromwell, who issued letters patent and nominated a proctor and fellows for the establishment of a college in 1657.

[19] In 1835 a fundamental statute was passed by the Dean and Chapter, as governors of the university, setting up Convocation and laying down that Durham degrees would only be open to members of the Church of England.

A parliamentary bill proposed in 1907 would have fixed the seat of the university in Durham for only ten years, allowing the Senate to choose to move to Newcastle after this.

[53] In 2001, two new colleges, John Snow and George Stephenson (after the physician and the engineer) were established at Stockton, replacing UCS, and the new medical school (operating in association with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) accepted its first students.

[60] Between 2010 and 2012 the university was criticised for accepting funds from controversial sources, including the government of Iran, the US State Department, the prime minister of Kuwait, and British American Tobacco.

[78] Separately, the university announced that it had raised £225 million to fund its estate masterplan through the private sale of long-term bonds to British and US investors.

The Bailey and Palace Green form the historic centre of the university and contain five colleges as well as the departments of music, history, classics and ancient history, and theology and religion, the Institute of Advanced Study, Palace Green Library (housing the university's special collections), the archaeological museum, the Durham Union Society, and the Assembly Rooms Theatre.

Durham Students' Union is based in Dunelm House, just north of Elvet Riverside, linked to the peninsula area by Kingsgate Bridge.

[106] The Leazes Road site on the north bank of the Wear, opposite the Racecourse playing fields and Old Elvet, was home to the School of Education and Hild Bede College.

In preparation for redevelopment, departments and facilities were relocated from Leazes Road in 2022,[107][108][109] and Hild Bede college moved temporarily to Rushford Court in the viaduct area in summer 2024.

[129][130] The Waterside Building, home of the business school's Department of Management and Marketing from 2024, is on the east bank of the River Wear north (downstream) of the city centre, in the Durham Innovation District.

[137] A 'strategy refresh' was approved in 2023, which included establishing a new cultural quarter on the old swimming baths site in Elvet and developing interdisciplinary science research and laboratory facilities at Upper Mountjoy.

It hosts parts of the Business School and of the Centre for Catholic Studies, with the university having committed to leasing the East Wing until 2027 and to establishing a residential research library at Ushaw.

[146][147] In 2012 the university, together with the British Library and Durham Cathedral, purchased Europe's oldest intact book, the St Cuthbert Gospel, for the nation for £9 million.

The role of the chancellor is mainly ceremonial; The vice-chancellor and warden is the chief executive officer of the university and is appointed by council after consultation with senate.

[256] The High Fliers Research UK graduate market report for 2024 placed Durham 9th in its table of universities targeted by the largest number of top employees.

[285] Durham was criticised in 2017 for not accepting as many students from low participation neighbourhoods, and from state schools, as might be expected from its admission standards and course offerings.

The centre provides access to Durham degrees for mature students who show academic promise but do not hold the traditional entry requirements.

[307] Approximately 200 student clubs and organisations run on Durham's campuses, covering academic, arts, culture and faith, hobbies and games, outdoors, politics, law and music interests.

The report of this commission was published in July 2020, highlighting that there were multiple problems with bullying, discrimination and a lack of diversity, and that many students came to the university with a "sense of entitlement".

The report also found that the lack of diversity was "at the root of a number of discriminatory and exclusionary behaviours", including racism, sexism, and disrespect of working class students.

[326] The programme runs projects such as summer camps for children from the Youth Engagement Service and fostered backgrounds along with providing coaching at local schools as well as participating in sports in action.

[340] Notable former editors include George Alagiah,[340] Hunter Davies,[341] Piers Merchant,[342] Sir Timothy Laurence,[343] Jeremy Vine[340] and Harold Evans.

Tracing its roots back to the early 1950s, and known under its current name since 1988, the group consists of six writer-performers (auditioned, interviewed and chosen each Michaelmas Term) and produces a series of shows each year.

[383] Dunelm USA, formerly the North American Foundation for the University of Durham or NAFUD, is a philanthropic body in the United States that hosts alumni events and fundraises for Durham-related projects.

[388] Notable figures in law have included two Supreme Court justices, Anthony Hughes[389] and Jill Black,[390] and a Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland.

[391] Alumni and staff in religion have included two archbishops of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey[392] and Justin Welby,[393] as well as Libby Lane, the first woman bishop in the Church of England.

[394] Durham graduates in the military have included two chiefs of the general staff (professional heads of the British Army), Richard Dannatt[395] and Mark Carleton-Smith.

[396] In science, Durham graduates include cosmologist John D. Barrow, winner of the Templeton Prize;[397] particle physicist George Rochester, co-discoverer of the kaon;[398] geophysicist and statistician Harold Jeffreys, winner of the Royal Society's Copley Medal;[399] geologist Kingsley Charles Dunham, director of the British Geological Survey;[400] and astrophysicist Rosemary Coogan, European Space Agency astronaut.

[401] Alumni in business have included Richard Adams, fair trade pioneer and founder of Traidcraft,[402] and Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project.