Young Carers

A young carer is someone, who is under 18 years and looks after someone in their family who is ill, disabled, has a mental health condition or who misuses drugs or alcohol. They may be a young carer if they are looking after their brothers or sisters because their parent cannot do the physical day to day tasks needed to look after them.

Adult Carers

New College Durham is a secular institution, providing teaching and learning to young people and adults from a wide range of backgrounds and faiths. We recognise the diverse nature of our local populations and warmly welcome students of all faiths or none.

The College is a place of work and study. Its policies, mission and values aim to create the best possible learning environment and progression opportunities for all students from all local communities. The College has in place robust equal opportunities policies, which ensure that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of religion or belief, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.

As a way of ensuring equality of opportunity, the College is managed as a secular environment, meaning it does not endorse any religion, faith or culture. This enables the College to be as fair as possible in its treatment of students.

Quiet Room and Contemplation Facilities

New Colleges, as a secular organisation that respects the personal lives and personal choices of its users, recognises that some students and staff may wish to engage in quiet reflection, contemplation or prayer during college hours.

For this reason, a quiet room is provided. This space is a quiet, clean and clear area accessible by students and staff of any religion or none, providing their use of the room does not create disruption, contradict college rules or values, or result in any inappropriate behaviour unrelated to contemplation or prayer. Beyond the provision of these quiet spaces, the College does not provide any equipment for contemplation or prayer, nor does it permit students to store items or documents in its quiet room. Students and staff are however able to take into the quiet room the items they need (for example, religious texts).

The quiet room is maintained and monitored to ensure it remains neutral, safe and accessible areas for all students and staff.

Guidance to provide clarity on the purpose and use of the room is available within the room and on the College’s virtual learning environment or from the Students’ Union Office in SP10.