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Original poster

Uni open days. What happens and how expensive are they?

99 replies

CrapBucket · 18/06/2022 22:29

DS is much keener on going to uni open days with his friends than with me. That's fine and I'm glad he is independent.

But I am on a tight budget and would appreciate some advice on (a) what do the open days entail, will they be structured so he is actually engaged or is it a good laugh and chance to piss around with friends (b) apart from travel costs what spending money would you reasonably recommend he needs for meals - I'm thinking of covering his train costs and £20 a day for food (based on a supermarket meal deal lunch and fast food for tea) - or is it like theme parks/festivals when they have a captive audience and charge an absolute fortune?

I am totally happy to go without myself, to invest in his future but less happy to do that for a series of fun weekends away...

We don't qualify for pupil premium so there is nothing official for me to apply for but I could see this getting expensive!

OP posts:

IStandWithMaya · 18/06/2022 22:35

Travel and food is all you should be paying for. Some departments lay on a lunch buffet, but many don't, so don't rely on it.

thefirstfortyeight · 18/06/2022 22:37

I agree, just travel and food.

Has he got a railcard, if not it might be worth getting - you can get them with Tesco points.

justasmalltownmum · 18/06/2022 22:38

When I went, I went with friends, listened to the few heads of subjects, did some tours. Asked questions, got a feel of the campus. Nothing expensive at all.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Cost of living General food Higher education

GMH1974 · 18/06/2022 22:39

I've found train fares to open days stupidly expensive. Book well in advance

HilaryBriss · 18/06/2022 22:40

They are structured, assuming he attend all the events that are happening, nobody will be making him go to each session!

Foid depends which uni he is going to, some might not have a supermarket with a meal deal but the Uni food outlets will be open and aren't that expensive. A campus uni probably wont have a McDonalds/KFC for example but in a city based one there may be ones close by.

lljkk · 18/06/2022 22:40

£20 would be very generous, I'm sure DS could have managed with £10-£16 for 2 meals.
They vary in format, some even offer a full free meal (meal vouchers), snacks, hot drinks. Think we got fully fed at Leicester & ARU.
I probably gave DD a packed lunch and £5 for snacks when she had Open Days at London Unis (plus train fares).

Might be time to get your son a young person's rail card?

AWobABobBob · 18/06/2022 22:40

I mean if he's old enough to be starting uni soon is he not old enough to be paying for his own train fare and lunch and sorting this kind of thing out himself?

Hawkins001 · 18/06/2022 22:44

Usually it's traveling and food expenditure, mainly it for open days, as far as I remember.

underneaththeash · 18/06/2022 22:45

Coaches are often much cheaper - look at those too.

tunnocksreturns2019 · 18/06/2022 22:49

£10 would’ve been more than enough for food/drink at our uni open day today, and lots of talks/tours etc to keep students busy all day (they do need to book talks in advance and choose to engage)

boxaround · 18/06/2022 22:49

Definitely get a railcard if he's going to several.

The days are structured but it's up to him to plan his day and turn up to the right talks in the right departments.

Food wise the food outlets have always been open on campus and are reasonably priced - we only grabbed a sandwich at lunch then had dinner when we got home, so £20 for food is probably way more than needed.

Has he made a short list or is he approaching it a bit randomly?

Undertheoldlindentree · 18/06/2022 22:50

I would go over the schedule for the day with him in detail beforehand. If his friends are interested in different courses, he may well get dragged along with them miss the sessions he needs to attend - often in different rooms/buildings/sites at different times. If he's interested in more than one course/talk at the same uni, he might have to plan quite carefully.

Don't underestimate how long it takes to find where to go after arriving, though there should be plenty of help on hand from student guides. Sometimes there are coaches or hopper buses from the train or coach station to campus and again to view uni accommodation. Sometimes you need to book an accommodation viewing time when you arrive, just to make sure it all fits in with the various talks.

We found there were usually free bottles of water and often vouchers sent beforehand or given on the day for a free coffee/tea. Beyond that about £5-8 needed to buy a meal deal or pizza in the student cafe as you're normally charged the non-student price. Your £20 a day budget sounds about right to include the uni lunch, plus takeaway breakfast (Greggs?) or food on the homeward journey. They're long days!

KnitOnePearlOneDropOne · 18/06/2022 22:51

The money you are suggesting is fine.

The structure will vary from uni to uni and from department to department.

SunnyAgain · 18/06/2022 22:54

A packed lunch and snacks/drinks from home would work out cheaper than buying food while out.

RaaRaaLaLaLa · 18/06/2022 22:57

My dd took a sandwich with her.

Kite22 · 18/06/2022 23:02

We always took a packed lunch and then got 'something' to eat somewhere, depending on lots of things. If it is a long travel time you are probably missing a couple of meals. Most Universities will have several food outlets, and we always went into the City which gives you all the National chains from McDs to Wetherspoons.

spotcheck · 18/06/2022 23:03

Unis don't charge anything.
I would suggest you go to at least a few with him. This is a very big decision and he may need an extra set of ears to digest it all. Plus, this should be all about him- what uni HE wants to go to, and the subjects he is interested in.
If he does all this with friends, he may end up getting swept along to unis which aren't his choice, and may go to subject talks which aren't his choice either.

Also, many universities do student finance talks, and other ones which may be of interest to you.

Seriously, you should go

SavoyCabbage · 18/06/2022 23:14

I think it's completely fine for them to go on university open days without their parents. Especially with friends.

Original poster

CrapBucket · 18/06/2022 23:29

Thanks all. I really appreciate the info. It's early days and he will be much more likely to aim for uni going with friends (even haphazardly) than me dragging him. Until recently he was thinking apprenticeship or forces. I work 6 days a week so hard to attend myself, but will try and make it to one or two though.

He doesn't have a part time job so no way of funding it himself. Tbh he has enough on his plate with studies and me and his dad splitting up recently, I don't want a job stealing his concentration/energy, and I am happy to pay his way short term. He can repay the favour when he's a high earning graduate 😉

For the more local ones he can take food - this weekend's involves nights away.

As an aside it is so annoying that uni is such a fucking middle class privilege thing to get into. Even the open days assume so much about people's circumstances.

OP posts:

spotcheck · 18/06/2022 23:32

By the way, some unis offer help with open day transportation for students who meet widening participation criteria

Kite22 · 18/06/2022 23:37

To answer the other bit...
(a) what do the open days entail, will they be structured so he is actually engaged or is it a good laugh and chance to piss around with friends (b) apart from travel costs what spending money would you reasonably recommend he needs for meals - I'm thinking of covering his train costs and £20 a day for food (based on a supermarket meal deal lunch and fast food for tea) - or is it like theme parks/festivals when they have a captive audience and charge an absolute fortune?

No, they aren't 'structured' if he is thinking of going "for a laugh" with his mates, no-one will be checking where he has been or what he has attended, but you get a timetable of when various talks are and then there are usually accommodation tours and there is usually a hall somewhere with stands from some of the societies and clubs and things like DSA or welfare support. Some places have shuttle buses running into the City Centres or down the the sports centres if they are on a different site and so forth. To get the most out of a day it helps to be quite organised as to where you can fit in (for example) accommodation tour around the talk for your subject (which could well be different from mate's?).
b) No it isn't like street food / festival - usually you can get meals in the canteens and usual places that are on campus , many of whom see it as a chance to 'show their wares' so you can get ordinarily priced meals out, but remember there can be thousands there with the same plan so it makes sense to take packed lunch and snacks and then perhaps a tenner to get himself something at some point when he can fit it in.

I agree with others, it is worth attending some if you are able to - I realise all our circumstances are different - but I think all of my dc were a bit non-plussed at the first universities they looked at - I think because it was all new and they didn't really know what they were looking for. All of them got more out of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ones as they then had something to compare.

DeliciousViolets · 18/06/2022 23:49

I don't think your son needs to go to lots of open days. If your ds has a favourite go there and then visit a contrasting one e.g. a city based uni, a campus based one and one with lower grade requirements for the course he wants as an insurance choice. Just to give a general idea of what different unis are like. Lots of students end up at universities that they never considered and it works out fine.
It's definitely not worth putting yourself under financial pressure for. He doesn't need to go to lots just as a jolly with mates.
Also this year, most universities are doing online or hybrid open days and students sign up for question and answer sessions and lectures online.
Coaches are a lot cheaper than trains often.
Does his school do any trips to universities? My Ds school takes them to Leeds and also some to Oxbridge. In addition he's visiting 2 other universities and going to online open days for 2. I'm only going to 1 as none of his friends are going to that one and he particularly wants to visit it.
He can take a water bottle and pack lunch to save money.

Undertheoldlindentree · 19/06/2022 05:01

Another thought. We have a great uni in our cit, with a well-regarded course for the subject my DC was interested in. He had no intention of going there but went along to the open day as a comparator. It was the first one we went to and took just two hours out of our day with zero travel. Gave a good idea of what to expect at the others.

Zippy1510 · 19/06/2022 05:37

Our open days are pretty much a welcome talk and a tour. Not an entire day of activities. On campus food is fairly cheap though/ similar to meal deal supermarket prices.

ColmanFlamingo · 19/06/2022 05:48

It might be nice to go to a couple of open days when DS has got a good idea of which Unis are likely to be the ones he picks.
I went to open days with my DD and treated her to lunch out each time. It was lovely to go with her and we popped into lectures, tried food, looked at accommodation and wandered around the campus and I got to see the young lady she was growing into. I look back fondly on the trips we had. We even took her Grandma on one visit!

But I don't recall spending money apart from parking and lunch out. He'll be fine with train fare and £15?

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