Durham's first university students are boring (4)
I believe the answer is:
dull
'are boring' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'durham's first university students' is the wordplay.
'durham's first' becomes 'd' (1st letter of 'durham').
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'students' becomes 'LL' (two abbreviations for learner).
'd'+'u'+'ll'='DULL'
(Other definitions for dull that I've seen before include "Not interesting" , "Monotonous" , "Thick" , "Dreary" , "Apathetic" .)