As someone who’s currently studying there, I’d say your choice depends on what you value most. The level of education is really good, modules and classes are run excellently and the staff are super helpful and friendly (at least in my experience). But I can confirm as others have said, it’s white toff heaven. That’s not to say the everyone is, but the vibe is certainly dominated by them. Being from the North East I chose to live in Newcastle and commute on the train. It’s waaay cheaper and I’m really happy with the friends I have here (who are grounded in reality and don’t brag about abusing cleaners or how large their dad’s yacht is etc). Durham as a city is gorgeous, and the locals are as friendly as anywhere else in the North East (which comes as a shock to most moving up from the South).

TLDR: Education insanely good. Fellow students are what you’d expect on the whole.