What happens at an open day?
There are two main types of open day at Oxford: college and department. Both provide an excellent opportunity to find out more about the University. We encourage prospective students and teachers to come and visit us, as we feel this experience is extremely important in encouraging students to apply here and helping them to make the appropriate choice of course and college.
College open days allow prospective students to visit a particular college. A normal pattern would be for the Tutor for Admissions to talk about the college facilities and the Oxford application process in general. There are usually meetings with subject tutors, enabling students and their teachers to ask detailed questions about specific courses. Students will be able to meet current undergraduates to discover more about student life in college.
The majority of departments also hold open days. The format of these varies between subjects. However, all offer the opportunity to meet teaching staff and to find out about courses in detail. The Science open days include demonstrations, hands-on experiments, discussions with staff and undergraduates, and departmental tours covering teaching and research facilities. Prospective science students are encouraged to attend the Science open days, as a great deal of their teaching will take place within their department. Many colleges hold their open days at the same time as the Science open days, allowing students to attend both in one visit to Oxford.