An Open Day guide for prospective students

When I was deciding where to apply for university, I attended three Open Days, including one at Leeds Beckett. I found it very helpful to see the universities I was interested in applying to in person. Being able to tour a campus, view the facilities, and see where I might end up studying and living made me able to make more informed decisions when it came to submitting my UCAS application. I also found it very helpful to have the opportunity to ask current students and staff all the questions I had in person. As, even though you can email or send the university instant messages online, it’s very different to actually chatting with someone in person. 

Why attend an Open Day

If you’ve not been to an Open Day before you may be unsure why they’re held and what they involve. An Open Day is designed to allow prospective students the opportunity to explore the campus, speak with current staff and students, attend informative talks, and view accommodation. It is essentially an opportunity to find out if you want to apply to study here. When I started thinking about applying to university I was very eager to attend Open Days so I could find out more about the universities I was interested in. A lot of prospective students attend Open Days with a support figure. I was confident that I wanted my mum to come along with me, and she was eager to attend and support me during the day, as deciding where to apply is a big decision. If you’re thinking about attending an Open Day with a parent, guardian, or another support figure, I think it’s a really great idea, as afterwards you can chat to them about what they thought of the university. 

Be prepared

Open Days are very busy with lots of activities and events going on. This is why I think being prepared is important, especially as you’re navigating yourself around an unfamiliar place while trying to weigh up the pros and cons of studying here. If you’ve booked onto one of Leeds Beckett’s Open Days, you’ll be sent a guidebook by email before the day itself. Here you’ll find a full list of all events, their locations, and the timings. I went through my guidebook and made a note of what I wanted to go to and planned my schedule before arriving on the day. I decided to attend course talks, take campus tours, and speak to current students, all of which gave me a good feel for the university. As I was able to see where I would be studying and view the social places like the SU. Having my mum with me on the day was great as she was able to help me navigate all of these events. She also found it useful to accompany me, as she had lots of questions herself and was interested in seeing where I may end up living and studying. 

Attend talks and speak to a range of people

At an Open Day, you'll be able to attend a talk on a particular topic. I found all of the talks at Leeds Beckett’s Open Day helpful because they covered everything from university life to student support, and they answered a lot of the questions I had. As I was attending the Open Day with my mum, we went along to the informative parent/supporter talks. These talks run throughout the day and provide advice on everything from student finance to supporting a child through the university application process. My mum had a lot of questions, and at the end of this talk, they included a question and answer session with members of the student support teams which she thought was very handy.

At Leeds Beckett, you can attend the following talks: 

• Welcome talks
• Subject talks
• Accommodation talks
• Student money advice talks
• Student life talks
• Parent/Supporter talks and Q&As

In addition to attending talks, there are also various stands you can visit where staff and students will be on hand to answer your questions. These include stands for university life, student support, and subject information. As I’ve said, I had a lot of questions, so being able to visit these stands was so useful.

Explore the city

The final piece of advice I want to share with you is to spend part of the day away from campus exploring the city of Leeds. While the course content, university facilities, and impression of the tutors are important, so is the fact that you’re going to be spending the next few years of your life living in this city. Having a walk around the city centre, seeing what the shops and bars are like, and having lunch at Trinity Kitchen, is a great way to get a better sense of what it might be like living and socialising here as a student. I also appreciated having a walk around as it made me feel a little less lost when I actually moved here. My mum also loved exploring Leeds with me and even now, four years later, she loves it when she recognises the name of a place I tell her about!

Overall, when it came to making my decision of which universities I wanted to apply to, it was beneficial to see Leeds Beckett’s amazing course facilities and tour the campuses on an Open Day. If you're considering applying to Leeds Beckett, I'd definitely suggest booking a place on an Open Day.