You’ve probably heard from your teachers, friends or parents about university open days and campus tours. But what exactly are they, and what can you get out of them? Let’s go through everything about uni open days step by step.
Updated: 15 Apr 2025
An open day is when a university opens its doors to prospective students, letting you take a good look at the learning facilities, accommodation and social spaces. You get to speak to lecturers and student ambassadors to get a better idea about your potential degree programme and life on campus. It’s a great way to help you decide if a certain uni is the right fit for you.
NEXT: How do you find open days?
Since you’ll be going to your chosen university for three years or more, you want to make sure you've made the most informed choice possible.
You’ll find lots of information about universities on their websites (and on ours, too!), but there are some important aspects about a uni that you can only experience on campus, which is what open days are great for.
This includes seeing the facilities first-hand, checking out the accommodation options, meeting some of your potential lecturers and simply just finding out what the uni’s atmosphere is like.
NEXT: See our ten top reasons to go to an open day
Universities host open days throughout the year, but you’ll often find many unis choose to run open days between October and December in the autumn/winter. That’s because this is around the time students will start thinking about their uni choices.
NEXT: See all upcoming open days on the Whatuni Open Day Calendar
Don’t worry if you can’t make a specific open day for a uni you’re interested in – get in touch with them and they might be able to arrange a private tour for you.
There are also open days in the summer, usually around June and July, as this is when some students might be thinking about changing their uni choices through Clearing.
NEXT: Find out more about when open days are happening
Found an open day you want to go to? Perfect! Open days are free to attend but you’ll need to book your place on them. Luckily, you can do this through Whatuni or the university’s website. Make sure you register your spot early, as spaces can fill up quickly.
If you miss an open day for a uni you wanted to visit, don’t panic. Like we said, open days happen throughout the year, so you’ll likely get another chance to check out the uni fairly soon.
NEXT: How do you book a place on an open day?
All universities do open days slightly differently, but most of them will start around 10am and run until around 3pm. Sometimes they’ll host open days in the afternoon or evening, which is handy for students who could have school or work during the day.
Here are some examples of activities that you might get up to on a uni open day:
Campus tours
Practice lectures
Subject talks
Accommodation tours
Student meet and greets
Many unis will publish a timetable ahead of their open day, so make sure you check that out beforehand.
NEXT: What's available on open days?
Once you’re booked on an open day, you should plan how you’re going to get to the uni. If you’re getting a lift or you’re driving, look up a route and see how long it takes to get there so you can arrive on time.
If the university has posted a timetable for the open day and you have options for what you’re doing while you’re there, pick out the activities you want to attend and plan your day. We’d also recommend setting some time aside to explore the local area to give you a better idea what it would be like to live there.
Got some questions about the uni that you can’t find out the answer to online or in a prospectus? Write them down in advance and plan to ask them to a lecturer or current student at the open day.
Pack a small bag to take with you on the day. We’d recommend bringing a notebook, a pen, a bottle of water and a phone charger just in case. There’s usually no dress code for open days, but we’d say you should wear some comfy shoes, as you’ll probably be on the move quite a bit during your visit.
NEXT: Find out how to make the most of your open day visits
Bringing someone with you on a university open day is good for getting a second opinion on the uni. A lot of students will bring a parent with them, which is handy for getting a different point of view on where you could study.
Bringing an older sibling can be useful, especially if they’re already at uni or have been to uni before. They’ll be able to point out things that they’ve experienced that you might not have even thought of.
If you’ve got a friend who’s also thinking about going to the same uni, it can be good to bring them along for a second pair of eyes.
That being said, your open day visits are about finding out what you need for your future, so many students choose to go to open days alone. If you do bring someone, keep in mind that this is about your uni life, so make sure you see what you went to the uni for instead of letting them take over.
NEXT: Check out the pros and cons of bringing someone with you on open days
Your degree programme is important, but so is the environment you live and study in. While you’re at an open day, you should keep an eye out for these sorts of thing:
Check how far apart the necessities are from where you'd be living
See what the Students’ Union is like
Explore the study areas
Food prices on campus
Think about part-time work opportunities
NEXT: Our top picks for things to look for on open days
Open days are the perfect time to ask questions to students or staff at the uni. Have a think about what you need to know before you head to campus and write down any questions you might have. Here are a few top questions to get you started:
What are the best and worst parts of going to this uni?
What are the study resources like?
What student support is available?
What's the accommodation like?
Why should I choose this university?
NEXT: Check out our top ten questions to ask on an open day
There’s no definite number of open days you should go to. It really depends on how you feel about your situation.
If you’ve got no idea what to expect from uni, we’d say it’s good to go to quite a few open days to get a better idea of what’s available. If you’re feeling confident about what you’re looking for, you probably only need to go to a couple of them.
You might get lucky and find your perfect uni on your first open day, or you might go to ten open days and take your time picking your top three from that list.
NEXT: How many open days should you go to?
Getting the most out of these visits is as much about what you do after the day as before and during it.
Set up a list of the pros and cons – so that you can easily compare with other universities you visit; talk to the people you went with to get their opinions and look over all the reading material you picked up during the day.
If you're still unsure about the uni, you can always arrange a second viewing during term-time or a direct call with one of your potential lecturers to help you make a final decision.
NEXT: Steps to take after an open day
We reckon uni open days are well worth the time. Researching unis online and getting prospectuses is important, but you have to remember that you’re getting information given to you by someone else. Going to an open day, seeing the campus with your own eyes, talking to lecturers and getting an idea of the atmosphere is an invaluable experience for making a personal choice that’s yours and yours alone.
NEXT: Check out the pros and cons of going on open days
Universities need students in order to survive financially, and open days are a prime way for them to sell themselves to prospective students. They'll be looking to show themselves in the best light.
It’ll be a useful experience, but it won’t be a completely accurate reflection of what everyday life will be like at uni. As long as you keep that in mind though and try to be realistic, you won’t be in for a nasty shock come enrolment time.
If you want to get a more realistic look at what a university is like, many universities will be happy to give you a private tour during term time – just make sure you book in advance.
Now you have an idea about what to expect and do on open days, it’s time to see what events are coming up...
NEXT: Check out all upcoming events and book an open day now