University Open Days

University HE Events and Open Days

It's a good idea to talk about your higher education options in person

• UCAS events and course provider open days give you the chance to ask questions and to see what's available. If you can't visit in person, you could go to a virtual open day

• Go to a UCAS event to talk to course provider reps and to compare different courses.

• Go to a course provider open day to explore the campus and get insights from staff and students.

• Can't attend an event in person? Take a look at a virtual tour instead!

These are great chances to see where you'll be learning and where you could be living.

• Picture yourself living at the university and see if you think you'll be happy there.

• See what the course provider's facilities are like.

• Ask students and staff anything you'd like to know more about.

Heading to an open day helps you see if the place feels right. It also gives you a chance to get any answers you need before applying to study there.

Click here to find when open days are. They're well worth a visit!

But don't worry if you miss one — you can often arrange a visit on a different day, and many course providers make open day podcasts you can listen to.

• Make a shortlist- there are 395 unis and higher education colleges in the UK-so visiting them all is pretty much impossible! Whittling them down to a shortlist could take a while, so here are a couple of resources that might help: the UCAS search tool and our open days search tool.

• What to expect- don't worry; you won't just be left to your own devices when you attend an open day. Each uni will have planned an itinerary of activities that will run throughout the day — such as tours, talks, meet and greet sessions, and more. Check uni websites or speak to them to see if they have a planned timetable of activities.

• Plan ahead - it's also a good idea to have your own agenda in mind when visiting a uni or college. Consider what you'd like to find out more about, which departments you'd like to take a look at, and prepare some questions.

• Taster courses- got a couple of unis in mind? Why not see if they run taster courses? These are designed to give students a flavour of the course they're interested in applying to. Often they'll include a number of workshops and seminar sessions, led by academic teaching staff at the university, as well as campus and accommodation tours.

• Higher education exhibitions- there are over 50 UCAS exhibitions each year, right across the UK. They're an excellent opportunity for you to meet numerous unis and colleges in the same place at the same time. They're worth attending even if you're considering other options: professional bodies, recruiters and volunteer organisations exhibit too.

Not everyone can attend an open day or event in person, so we've provided a list of virtual tours and open days for course providers. You can then see the campus for yourself and find out more about the local area. 

Click here for full list of Virtual Tours

Click here for full list of upcoming Virtual Open Days