Visiting university campuses

[Nobledeedsandhotbaths]

We are looking to call in at a few university towns that DS is interested in over the course of the summer. Just wondering if anyone knows whether it is possible to wander onto university campuses and have a look around, or if they are technically private property? Obviously the non campus ones will be fine but I wasn't sure about the others - York, Warwick, Birmingham etc.

I think it would be difficult for them to police if you are on foot and don't attempt to enter any of the buildings. Finding somewhere to park might be an issue. You might need to find a public/retail car park close by.

One thing that you won't get though is the the normal 'vibe'. I always advise prospective students to visit during term time if they can so that they get a proper feel for the place.

Despite that, I think it would be a good idea to do it.

Thank you. Yes, I realise that you won't be getting the vibe, but hopefully it will at least be something, in case we end up with only virtual open days.

I work at a campus-based university. Members of the public are currently allowed to wander around the grounds -what they actually say is that members of the local community are welcome to use the grounds for exercise, bit I'm pretty sure they're not stopping people to make sure they're local. You wouldn't be able to enter any buildings.

So far as Birmingham goes, the university railway station and the bus stops outside are used by patients, visitors & staff going to/from the Queen Elizabeth and Birmingham women's hospitals, so nobody's going to stop you around there. As GCAcademic says, many people will be using local university campuses for exercise, so it's not very likely there'll be any problem just walking around outside.

There won't be an awful lot to see at Warwick (or York, from what I can remember): apart from the arts centre - which is closed - it's really just concrete buildings arranged around a large piece of land. You really need there to be people around to get a feel of what it's like as a university campus. You'll get a bit more of an idea somewhere like Nottingham.

For any of these, it's quite important to find out what it's like getting to them by public transport from the city centres and the places where students mostly live after first year. The bus journey to Warwick University from Coventry city centre takes quite a long time and mostly involves waiting for traffic lights. I don't know what it's like from Leamington Spa, where a large proporion of students choose to live. Getting to the Nottingham campus from the city centre takes a while but there are loads of buses so it's pretty easy. I think a lot of students live around Beeston, which is much closer to the university.

As I said, the Birmingham campus has its own railway station, two stops from New Street and on a line going through several affordable areas on the route out to Bromsgrove/Redditch. It's a pretty easy bus journey from the city centre or from places like Selly Oak. (Well, you could probably walk from Selly Oak.)

Last I heard, the actual campus at UoB was still closed (DD came home in March, but a couple of weeks ago, I collected DS1 from the house he was sharing near the Grange Road gate). However, the university has posted some walks around the area on the intranet (a part of it for which you presumably don't need a login as I got there by googling 'Birmingham university campus closed' or something similar)
intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/coronavirus/Walking-routes.aspx
www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/3069138886 if you are in the area anyway.
If you start put from Selly Oak station to join that one, you can see a bit of the general 'post 1st year accommodation' area, as well as some pretty, posh bits. Or walk up alongside the canal from University station and round Edgbaston Park Road back down onto Bristol Road.

Did your DS do the Virtual Open Day for the course he is interested in? DS2 is looking at History of Art and he had the option of Jube 24th or 25th.

We found that most Universities had maps for self guided tours on their websites.

That's all so useful, thank you. We'll definitely do some research about each place before visiting so that we get to look at relevant areas. Yes, DS is working his way through online open days but is getting a bit lost off with them now. It would be so good to have some actual, real life ones!