When is it too early to attend university open days?

[Comefromaway]

Is the end of Year 10/start of Year 11 way too early or is it good to start early because of fitting everything in during the firsy year of 6th Form/college?

I emailed Surrey about a specific aspect of their entrance requirements for Btec students (as ds is currently deciding what course to follow after GCSE's next year) and they responded and also invited him to an open day in the autumn but I'm wondering if it's really worth it yet. (Don't think we can afford for him to live in Guildford anyway but wondering about visiting Liverpool or Salford)

Errol I agree 100%. Unfortunately there's a huge number of kids who don't do this and are then disappointed when they are rejected because they're not studying the correct subjects. Websites, Open Days, emails to Admissions Teams, all are great research to prevent huge disappointment further down the line.

Couldn’t agree more with Boys and Errol. Can never understand why some young people start A’levels, race off to open days without ever having looked at the entry requirements on the university website.

Saying that, I was at a talk at Dc’s School where the advice was not to work backwards but just choose 3 favourite subjects to ensure the best grades. This must be confusing for students, it’s a bit of both really.

Shimy It is confusing for students. I can see why the schools recommend that as a selection method as both the school and kid benefits from good grades. But I see the other side where someone's set their sights on a course only to discover their A level choices were way off the mark. You're right to say there needs to be a bit of both.

There is no need to visit universities before A levels. It is very important to be aware of entry requirements though but these can be easily found on websites and careers fairs.

The problem is that many parents and young people don't think of this. I used to attend pre-16 careers events on behalf of my university and always got asked why I was there....and those were the ones that came to speak to me. Plenty didn't bother and probably still wonder why a university was there!

By all means students should choose their favourite subjects BUT they have to be within the acceptable range of subjects for a particular area that they will eventually choose to study in. I get that mostyoung people won’t know exactly what they want to study yet but, they will at least know what they are unlikely to pursue at university plus strength in GCSE subjects will also act as a filter.

I think schools are maybe not doing enough in this area(too much focus on league tables). Even if parents haven’t been to university before, schools advice should be bridging this gap so that no one is confused.

I think it’s never too early! Get him looking around and thinking of his future is great

I also think it's helpful to visit before you choose your A levels to inform that decision.

Have to agree. My son regrets not choosing A level Further Maths as he did far better than expected in his GCSEs, and now wants to do a Maths degree, but the Unis that he's interested in want Further Maths. We knew that Oxbridge wanted FM, but didn't realise some other RG unis wanted it too until the open days. School/teachers only mentioned Oxbridge in the sixth form prospectus and options choice leaflets!

but, they will at least know what they are unlikely to pursue at university

This is so true. DS has learned a lot about himself by doing a few open days. There are a couple of uni's he certainly doesn't want to go to (inc Leeds which he hated!), and some potential subjects are now off the list. Good that we're narrowing it down a bit.

I'm a planner so probably would have visited 20 given a chance.
DD visited precisely 4 in the space of 5 weeks. Suited her. No spreadsheets to see here.

Depends on the child. Too early for DD, exactly right for DS.

Depends on the child.

This is so true. DS1 wasn't ready to start even thinking about it until the beginning of Y13. DS2 already knew what course he wanted to apply for and had a shortlist of suitable places by the end of Y11. I'm hoping the others might be somewhere in between.