Ustinov College

Ustinov College is a constituent college of Durham University. Founded in 1965 as the Graduate Society, it achieved full college status in 2003 and adopted its current name from the then-chancellor of the university, Sir Peter Ustinov. It is Durham’s first and only exclusively postgraduate college, mostly reading for PhD, MA, MSc, and LLM degrees, and is the largest college by number of students both full and part-time. The college is located on Sheraton Park in Neville's Cross having previously based in Howlands Farm at the top of Elvet Hill. The college body is diverse and comprised a community of scholars from over 100 nationalities. Members of Ustinov College are termed Ustinovian and instead of a formal tutorial supervision, the college runs its own mentorship programme. Ustinov is the only college in Durham to offer boarding to families and partners of its students and pride itself in an egalitarian and modern approach to collegiate life. The college has no regular formal halls nor does it require its members to don their gowns. It is also unique, by virtue of having a graduate-only community, in having a Graduate Common Room. However in September 2025 Durham University announced that it would be housing around 90 undergraduates at Ustinov (Sheraton Park site) from 2025, though they would be affiliated to other colleges - St Aidan's College and Van Mildert College - and will have limited access to Ustinov facilities.