How often do people from Durham Uni get hired for FO roles?

@gemwilliams1555  I work at EB and went to target undergrad and post grad and some parts of what SLB00 said are correct - it is a strong school in general but only a semi-target for IBD.

Just want to give some context from recruiting stand point on just IBD (because that is what you want to know) 

Durham unfortunately is not viewed as equivalent to UCL in recruiting (I am not referring to how smart the people are/ how good the teaching is etc just purely on placement because at the end of the day that's what it matters) - the definitive target pool of undergrad unis are Oxbridge/LSE, Imperial and UCL in that order, with Oxbridge and LSE being very difficult and pointless to really separate the two (there are arguments supporting either one is better). Personally in my EB there are more Oxbridge people. You can also add Warwick to the list, they have a good representation on the street but perhaps after UCL but 100% better than semi-targets.

Now semi-targets gets a bit blurry because aside from a few main feeders - Durham, Bristol, KCL, Exeter (esp. through industrial placements) and Bath (also through IP), the rest of the good unis such as Nottingham and Edinburgh are more hit and miss (i.e. maybe through diversity recruiting or through specific uni events rather than just normal cold applying online) . For sure, exceptions exist and plenty of bright students from Notts/Edinburgh etc make it but having done experience at BB and EB in FO (IB & S&T) there is not really a clear pattern to say they are solid semi targets, nonetheless great unis. Also, all the target unis that aren't oxbridge/LSE are considered "oxbridge rejects" too, the only reason why Durham is more similar is because they run a college system similar to oxbridge whilst the rest of the targets dont. Not that it matters but really no need to label your uni as "oxbridge reject" as it is just demoralising. 

So back to your original question - you will be more than fine being at Durham albeit you should try extra hard to land any finance experience in your first year summer and put a lot of effort into joining clubs and doing extracurriculars. Get in the recruiting pipeline early by applying to Spring Weeks and use any diversity programmes if you qualify, then once you get the first branded spring you can use that to apply to summers or just convert your springs. Convert your summer and you're in FT IB as you wanted. If you really want to beef up your CV then consider doing a finance masters at LSE, Oxbridge, LBS, Imperial and maybe UCL/Warwick, in that order. Non-finance masters could be good too for brand name although you will have to explain why didn't you do one (just blame it on costs, £35k for a masters degree is stupidly expensive). For non-finance (STEM preferably to draw some commonalities with finance) then just do Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial and the rest are all pretty even. All in all you are in a good place. 

Side Note: if you are ultra keen to get into target then during your first year in Durham re-apply to undergrads again and only quit Durham if you get into one of the targets. Personally dont think you need to do it but if you were to do it its best to do it asap to not waste youth.