Why do unis have open days on the same day?

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so many other days in calendar

are they hoping to poach each other future undergrads?

13 of Sept seems to be very popular....

There are more universities than there are Saturdays or Wednesdays! Plus some schools will only allow pupils to miss so many days for Open Days. So the more that can be at the weekend the easier it might be for students to attend.

well - it looks like if someone won't start in y12 they will miss on some open days

so far I haven't see nWed - only Sat open days, but only looked at 4 unis

As Going said - because there's a LOT more universities than Saturdays!

I think most people narrow them down via the prospectus and other on-line information first, and then only visit those they are going to put on their form.

To be fair, they are there in the Autumn of Yr12, the Summer of Yr12 and the Autumn of Yr13 - I'd have thought there were enough opportunities there.

We have Saturday, Friday and Monday open days. Bearing in mind that staff are not paid extra for Saturday open days and don't get a day off in lieu there is resistance to increasing the number of those. Weekday open days can really only take place in vacation since so many staff are involved and so many rooms are needed. 13th September is probably popular because schools are back but universities are mostly still in vacation time.

Everything chemenger says. (Although admin staff do get a day off in lieu for working weekends). Academic staff don't and extra childcare costs etc are not covered either bitter

Also, universities have a lot of other things going on such as big conferences (they make money from those), television/film shoots, and so on. Mostly forced on us because, believe it or not, fees plus whatever state funding we receive doesn't actually cover the cost of a UK degree.

Most universities do smaller visit days throughout the year, generally most Wednesdays. So there really are a lot of opportunities to have a look around. And there's nothing to stop you doing it over 2 years.

We also do student led tours every week, if there is demand, usually somebody on the staff can be found to answer questions if needed.

Ditto. Either we work in the same place or most universities do much the same thing

I found that most universities seemed to have their open days Wednesday (plus some Saturdays), which I found really frustrating as it meant missing the same day of college repeatedly! And it was the same case with post offer days - nearly all Wednesdays!

That's because Wednesday afternoon in most universities is a "free" time (ha!) with no scheduled teaching. It's when student sports activities happen, and academic staff have meetings, research seminars etc. So it's about the only time during term time that we can host visitors outside of a rather packed teaching schedule, as space and staff time are pretty scarce resources in most universities nowadays.

Some schools will also take that into account when timetabling - running fewer classes on a Wednesday as they know pupils may be going off to Open Days.

We have 3 that DS would like to have seen on the same day! 13th Sept again! Popular day!

Are we the only university that does not have an open day on the 13th?

We have a couple of clashes too.
Can anyone give feedback on Bath, Reading and Durham (Queens Campus)?
Any views would be appreciated! Thanks.

Queens is Stockton on Tees and therefore very different to the experience at Durham. DD had friends at Bath and I would highly recommend the experience there. Reading is highly regarded for some subjects but does not really compare with Bath or Durham these days. My DD's subject was not a strength at Bath for example and Reading was never on her radar. Of course, most people like where they actually go so you just have to get the information that is relevant to your child, their course and what they want from a University. Just visiting the towns will give you some idea of which might be a good place to live.

Thanks Milly. Reading is a potential insurance choice. We are going to see Bath on 13th so DD will hopefully like it there.

Can anyone give feedback on Bath, Reading and Durham (Queens Campus)?
hellsbells it's difficult to give reliable information about universities generally, and wholesale "Oh such & such a university is good" is probably not very valuable. What sorts of specifics do you want information on? Are you interested in particular subjects or disciplines or degree programmes? Is it the accommodation, or the welfare provision, or the nightlife?

The thing is, that the UK is blessed with pretty much universally excellent universities. This is because (unlike the US for example) we have a national system of QA (quality assurance) wit the requirement that we academics review fitness of provision every year, and our External Examiners (senior academics from other universities) have to see all our paperwork related to courses & modules and assessment of those courses. Most Departments have at least 2 External Examiners, and often more depending on size of student body.

Then there are 5 yearly QAA reviews. And the NSS (whatever it's worth ...) All of this information is in the public domain via the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and the Higher Education Statistics Something or other (HESA).

So you can be pretty sure that wherever a student goes, they'll get a good value education in general terms. But it's the specifics that are generally what applicants are looking for, and what they comment on in things like the NSS.

So it's the specifics that we can help you with here, as there are several academics who post regularly here (I post when I have a deadline looming -- terrible procrastination and no will power!) Or we can direct you to other expert sources of information.

Are we the only university that does not have an open day on the 13th?

We don't. Ours was a while ago.

But most universities run more than one Open Day a year so ask about further ones if you have clashes this w/e

Hi upthechimney. Thanks for your reply. Just trying to get a feel of the places really. DD is checking out course contents online etc. Does anyone know how expensive it is to live in Reading as it looks like accommodation is only guaranteed if you firm the uni? Is the Stockton campus of Durham a poor relation to the City site etc.? Is a still a reasonable place to live with a good social scene?
Thanks

Am interested in replies about Stockton campus too if anyone has any.