Why go to Open Days ?
If you are thinking about going to university you really do need to visit first to decide if it is the right move for you. If you apply to universities without seeing what they are like, you are taking a big (and potentially very expensive) risk. You should note that departments that offer the same grade requirements may (and very probably will) teach your subject in different ways. Also, it is only by visiting them that you can start to work out if you want to be at a campus or city centre university.
The procedure
Taking time out of school is never ideal, and you should note that increasing some universities are offered Saturday visits. We would expect that a typical student would visit three to four open days.
1. Identify which open days you want to attend. This link to the excellent Opendays.com website tells you when they are (and provides a hyperlink to insitution-specific information).
2. Get a signing out form form the Sixth Form office. You will need to get your teachers to sign this off. When you hand this in you will get a University Open Day Checklist to take with you. You should use this, and keep it to help you compare the places that you visit.
3. Finally, before you go, you should read this excellent presentation from Aberystwyth University on getting the most out of your day.
Good luck, and I hope that they are helpful.
6th Form Team